913 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



CONVERSATIONS with DOOLITTLE 



At Borodino, New York 



SHIPPING C03IB HONEY. 



||^*^" " The season for &hipping comb 

 ■B^l honey is here, and I am lucky 

 (^^kI enough to have some to ship to a 

 ■|H| distant market. But how to fix it 

 ^^H for safe shipment is something I 

 do not feel competent to do. How 

 is this best done?" 



I used to ship my comb honey by canal in 

 my earlier years of shijoping to New York, 

 and found this much better than sending by 

 express, as nearly all comb honey was sent 

 in the 70's. Boats on the Erie canal would 

 stop at a i^laee about 15 miles distant and 

 take a few thousand pounds of extra freight 

 on top of their loads of grain if they were 

 notified beforehand. By having the honey 

 there on the arrival of the boat my whole 

 crop would be put on in an hour or so, and 

 I could see that it was carefully handled and 

 put on top of the leveled grain, while the 

 captain Avould see to its careful handling 

 at its destination. 



Next to the boat comes freight. At first 

 sight it would seem that express would be 

 safer than freight, on account of the heavy 

 shocks freight-cars are liable to receive, 

 and it was with much trembling that I 

 loaded my first freight-car. Wool-sacks 

 were filled with straw and put in each end 

 of the ear to give a cushioning effect in- 

 stead of a thump when the cars were cou- 

 pled. Much to my satisfaction this carload 

 went thru in perfect shape, this giving me 

 great confidence for the future. 



Since then I have had some small break- 

 age, but I still adhere to that way of ship- 

 ment where the canal boat cannot be used 

 from the start to destination. 



Much can be done by the beekeeper to 

 avert the matter of broken comb honey. 

 The first step is to produce the article in 

 the best shape by having the combs built 

 solid to all four sides of the section ; and to 

 do this to a certainty it is best to use full 

 sheets of very thin section foundation, fas- 

 tening it in good and true with a good foun- 

 dation fastener. Comb honey in which the 

 combs are attached only partially to 

 the sides and bottom of the section should 

 be sold in the home market rather than ship- 

 ped long distances. Then the combs should 

 be built evenly in the sections so that no 

 " fat " or " lean " combs will have to be ex- 

 perimented with to keep the nice cappings 

 from touching each other. The only sure 

 way to secure such combs is to use sepa- 

 rators, then the cappings of the honey will 

 not scrape off in shipping. 



Care should be used in packing, to see 

 tliat the honey is all of a thick ripe gTade, 

 and all sealed, in perfect condition and 

 strongly built. If there is any unfit to ship 

 long distances, use it at home, put it back 

 in the hive for completion, or dispose of it 

 as " chunk " honey. Don't allow it to go 

 with the long-distance honey, for damaged 

 honey means low prices for all, and the ulti- 

 mate harm to the market for others. To 

 gain the best results in shipping comb honey 

 it should be well cured; and to gain this end 

 it should be kept in a warm, dry, well-venti- 

 lated room for from thres to five weeks. 

 The temperature nearest 85 to 90 degrees 

 will do the best curing. Five weeks of such 

 cui'ing will cause any honey in the few un- 

 sealed cells that may be next the section to 

 become so thick that it will not run, even 

 tho the section is laid down flat or handled 

 at any angle. When thus ripened it will 

 not get thin enough to run before it reaches | 

 the desired destination, even tho the weath- " 

 er while it is in transit be damp, foggy, or 

 rainy. The merchant to whom it is con- 

 signed should be instructed to keep the 

 honey on its arrival in such a place as it 

 was during the five weeks previous to ship-' 

 ment, in order that it may reach the consum- 

 er in a shape that will lead him to enlarge 

 his purchases of the product as the years eo 

 by. 



Shipping-crates should be made to hold 

 eight twenty-section cases to insure the 

 most care in handling by freight men. The 

 practice of shij^ping comb honey in single 

 20 to 24 section cases, that can be easily 

 thrown about, is not to be tolerated, espe- 

 cially in small or less than carload ship- 

 ments. By making the crates large enough 

 so that they will require two men to handle 

 them- -say those that will hold from 150 to 

 200 pounds gi'oss weight — such will not be 

 thrown about, but picked up and set down 

 more carefull3\ If handles are furnished 

 they will be used. 



If in addition to the glass that shows the 

 nice comb in the outside cases, the crate is 

 marked with a request to handle with care; 

 placing it crosswise when loaded on a wag- 

 on, and lengthwise in the car, the shipper , 

 will have little to fear in regard to its ar- 

 rival at its destination. Say a kind word 

 to the freight agent or the one under him. 

 Give each a section of honey wlien you pass 

 3'our shipment on, and it will pay big in 

 dollars and cents, to say nothing of the 

 satisfaction such a course will bring to you. 



