380 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



literature has got to stop. I don't see what 

 this world is coming to, any way. 



Mr. W. T. Richardson, of Ventura Co., after 

 disposing of his (lO-ton crop of honey, and 

 finding that he would get no honey this year, 

 has gone east, accompanied by his wife. He 

 will spend several months with friends in the 

 New England States. Mr. Richardson is not 

 enjoying good health; and it is hoped that 

 the journey, and the rest from the busy cares 

 of a busy life, will have a beneficial effect. 



COMB-HONEY SHIPPING-CRATE. 



Getting Combs Well Attached to Sections ; Bottom 

 Starters Emphatically Indorsed. 



BY R. C. AIKIN. 



I observe that a very large crate for comb 

 honey is advised. The idea is to crate 100 to 

 200 pounds or more in one big crate, and put 

 handles or some sort of lug or projection on so 

 that two men can handle by taking hold one 

 at each end or side. Such a crate has never 

 seemed to me to be what we want. I think if 

 I were a freight-handler I would lose my pa- 

 tience when I came to handling such a clumsy 

 aflfair. How is it with our extracted-honey 

 packages ? I can pick up one 60-pound can 

 and put it where I want it, and do it with 

 comparative ease ; but the two cans in a box 

 make a package that is a back-breaker. I can, 

 and sometimes do, pick up a box of two 60- 

 poimd cans, and carry or load and unload it, 

 but usually at the cost of backache. I have 

 seen the time when I would have gloried in 

 handling a package of 100 to "200 weight ; but 

 now that I know the folly of such things, I 

 want to save my own and others' weak backs, 

 and also make it easy for those whose backs 

 are yet good to do their work without the ne- 

 cessity of breaking them. 



It is claimed that the big crates will, because 

 of their size and weight, be handled always by 

 two men, picking them up and carrying them 

 instead of throwing or tumbling. I think I 

 should be tempted to tumble the big thing 

 over and over if a helper were not at hand, 

 while with a small package I would pick it up 

 and transfer it to where I wanted it. I think 

 others would do likewise. 



I once moved eight tons of comb honey. It 

 was all cased in 24-section cases — double-tier. 

 I was loading a car about ]4 mile from the 

 honey-house. I backed a one-horse express 

 wagon up to the honey-house door, picked up 

 the cases one at a time, walked to the door 

 and gave them a push, shoving or sliding 

 them into the wagon. The first ones in I sent 



sliding forward so as to fill the front without 

 having to get in to carry them forward. I 

 would load from 800 to 1000 pounds at each 

 trip, putting the most of it on the wagon with- 

 out having to get in. I would then drive to 

 the car, and unload by setting them one by 

 one into the car-door, an assistant remaining 

 in the car to pack while I went for another 

 load. In this way I loaded at the honey- 

 house, and unloaded at the car, the entire 

 eight tons in less than ten hours. The pack- 

 age that will be handled with ease, rapidity, 

 and (it seems to me) with the greatest safety, 

 is one that one man can pick up and carry 

 without any heavy strain. 



I have devised a crate for comb honey that 

 seems to me an improvement on any thing I 

 have seen in that line. My object was to com- 

 bine lightness and cheapness in construction, 

 a size that would make it easy to handle by 

 one man, and so constructed that it would 

 always be carried and set with the sections on 

 ed£-e. It would be very hard to describe it so 

 as to make it all plain, so I have asked the 

 editor to have it illustrated. 



Look at the engraving, and j^ou will see 

 that the crate is made in a very simple man- 

 ner. Four of the faces are smooth — that is, 

 the boards are nailed on the outside. The 

 other two faces have the boards nailed on the 

 inside, thus forming a sort of panel on these 

 two sides. These panels form a very conven- 

 ient handhold so that it is very easy to pick it 

 up by clasping a hand on each side with the 

 fingers under the rim, very much as a hive, 

 super, or case is picked up by inserting the 

 finger-tips in the notches in each end. If you 

 attempt to pick it up with either of the two 

 paneled sides next to you, there is only the 

 smooth boards to hold to ; hence you would, 

 99 times out of 100, pick it up with a hand in 

 each panel. 



Now, if this arrangement will cause the 

 crates to be picked up uniformly, as described, 

 then if the sections are put in so as to run par- 

 allel with the paneled sides, that insures that 

 they will always stand on edge. A section is 

 safe so long as it is on edge, no matter which 

 edge is up. There are only six positions in 

 which it can be placed, and four of these are 

 safe. The crate is designed to hold two cases, 

 making a 50 to 60 pound package, but may be 

 larger or smaller. It is also a little larger in- 

 side than the outside of the case, the extra 

 space (an inch or so) to be filled with excel- 

 sior, crumpled papers, shavings, straw, or 

 other material that will cushion. 



