Sept. 15, 1911 



hig. 1.— D. c. Gilhara, Sohuylkill Haven, Pa., showing the various steps in wrapping sections of comb 

 honey in transi.arent paper. Mr. Gilham has followed this plan for some time, and believes that the re- 

 sults justify tlie lalior. 



WRAPPING COMB HONEY IN TRANSPARENT 

 PAPER FOR MARKET. 



BY D. C. GILHAM. 



Last season I erected a building 20X40 ft. 

 for a work-shop and storehouse. At each 

 end I partitioned off a space 10X12 ft. for a 

 room, one of whicli is my office and the oth- 

 er the honey-room, in which I ]Hit up my 

 honey for market. The woodwork in both 

 these rooms is finished with a mixtitre of 

 beeswax and turpentine, and all who have 

 seen the result think it is very nice. 



Wrapping each section of honey in trans- 

 parent paper may seem like a lot of work to 

 some bee-keepers; but after following the 

 plan for some time I have come to the con- 

 clusion that the results justify the labor; 

 furthermore, I can do the work in very 

 much less time than when I began. The pa- 

 pers that I use are of good paraffined stock, 

 and on one side, properly located from the 

 edges for folding, my name and address are 

 printed in green letters under a i)icture of an 

 old straw skej). 



When ready to wrap my honey, the first 

 thing I do is to lay the cartons or wrappers 

 on the table, face side down, and fold over 

 one edge of the paper at the proi)er place. 

 One must know just where the bend must 

 come; for instance, I turn over the edge of 

 the paper until it meets the first letter in 

 the word "Apiary." This first fold, I be- 

 lieve, is necessary in order to make a tight 

 wrapi)er. 



1 then take a section of honey, place it on 

 the carton, and Ijring the pai)er i\\) over it. 

 the first fold preventing the carton from 

 slipping around the section, thus making it 

 possible to draw the paper tight. I use a 

 little paste to hold the wrapper in position 



until I can put on the binder tape. A very 

 small quantity of this i^aste. made from dex- 

 trin, is all that is necessary, as it sticks very 

 tight. Finally I fold tlie ends down, using 

 a little dextrin to hold them, and the section 

 is ready for the binder, which prevents all 

 leakage in case the comb shoukl be broken 

 so that the honey runs out. I jirefer to put 

 up several dozen sections anil then put the 

 binder on all of them at once. I believe 

 that two persons coukl work more than twice 

 as fast, although I have never had any help. 



There are several different stvles of bind- 

 ing-machines, but I think all of them are 

 on the same principle. The roller-moi^tener 

 is filled with water, and dampens the felt 

 cover in revolving. Thus as the adhesive 

 paper passes over it, it is moistened ready 

 for the package. To get the required length 

 of tape necessary, I lay my rule in front of 

 the machine and draw the end out the prop- 

 er distance, then raise my left hand while 

 holding the tape, and tear "it off at the knife. 



Schuylkill Haven, Pa. 



[The i)lan of enclosing comb honey with 

 a transparent wrap])er has been suggested 

 before. On page 1500 of the December 1st 

 issue for 1907. 5lr. H. A. Sackett described 

 and illustrated a similar wrapjjcr. Among 

 the advantages mentioned was the ])rotec- 

 tion afiforded the honey from the dust, files, 

 etc., while the honey itself showed through 

 the i^aper very distinctly. An objection to 

 these wrai^pers was made some time ago by 

 a large dealer who claimed that, while they 

 might be all right for retailing comb honey, 

 they would not stand shipment very well, 

 as a little leakage causes the papers lb stick 

 together to such an extent that they are torn 

 to pieces as sections are removed from the 

 shipping-cases. If we understand our cor- 

 respondent, he does not ship his honey, but 



