Mlll'ST, liVJll 



fi I, K A N I N (i S IN BE K (' (' 1, T V H 



459 



timo to come. If the producer will pay out 

 :i little more for good oontaiuers, the buyer 

 will be more likely to pay more for the 

 lioney. Good containers have a salvage 

 value, wliile poor ones are often worse than 

 junk. Don't forget that. 



The California Honey Producers' Co-op- 

 erative Exchange, the Colorado lioney Pro- 

 ducers' Association, and other societies of 

 oiganized beekeej>ers have been urging on 

 their members the importance of good con- 

 tainers. The managers of these organiza- 

 tions know only too well that the complaints 

 they have had are on account of leakage 

 that has spoiled the whole shipment in 

 some instances. This causes no end of con- 

 troversy between the producer, managers 

 of the associations, the railroad companies, 

 and the buyer. No one is satisfied. The pro- 

 diu-er as well as the buyer loses money, and 

 the railroad company is inclined to advance 

 its rate. In the mean time the manager 

 of the association gets between the bu/./. 

 saws on all sides. 



Mr. Justice, former manager of the Cali- 

 fornia Exchange, has been urging au extra- 

 lieavy tin can with 1%-inch screw cap; and 

 Mr. Rauchfuss of the Colorado Honey Pro- 

 ihu-ers' Association has been recommending 

 something similar; and they ought to know, 

 be.ause they have had experience, if any 

 one has, of the loss that their members have 

 sustained on account of poor containers. The 

 A. I. Root .Company knows something about 

 the loss to producers and the trouble that 

 arises on account of poor cans, and also, 

 we might say, poor boxing of the cans. 



The ordinary square cans holding 60 

 ]iouiids of honey are usually made to hold a 

 liijuiil not heavier than 8 pounds to the gal- 

 lon. If just right for that weight of com- 

 modity, they are a little too light for a com- 

 modity like honey that weighs at least 12 

 pounds to the gallon. But our experience 

 teaches us that it is not so much the weight 

 of the tin can that causes the trouble as it 

 is the poor box, especially a box without a 

 center partition. We should much prefer a 

 light weight can in a good box with a cen- 

 ter partition than a hea\y can in a ]>oor 

 iiox without partitions. A box may be of 

 good stock and well nailed but yet be too 

 large. Even if there is a central partition, 

 and the cans "'shake" inside of the box, 

 there is great danger of trouble. There 

 shoultl be a neat, snug fit. 



Well, we will suppose that we have good 

 cans, good boxes, with good fit and center 

 jtartitions. A lot of producers make the 

 serious mistake of nailing the covers on 

 carelessly. The nails, instead of going into 

 tlie wood, pierce the can. The result is a 

 "smear" near the top of the can and of 

 other cans adjacent. If the cans with nail- 

 holes are turnecl upside down, the entire 

 contents are lost, and a bad smear is over 

 tile bottom of the car. 



Anotlier mistake is the inijiroper loading 

 of the cases or boxes in the car. It is not 

 only important tr) have no end or side jday 



inside of the boxes, but the boxes or cases 

 must be snugly loaded in the ear. If the 

 car is not quite full the intervening space 

 must be thoroly braced with 2x4 timbers 

 so placed that the end shocks of the car due 

 to the starting and stopping of the train 

 may not break and let loose the boxes to 

 tumble all over each other in a heap. If 

 there is not quite a carload, it is far better 

 to spread the cases over the entire car floor 

 than to heaj) them up in the two ends of the 

 car. In other words the load should be 

 evenly distributed. 



We are advised by the can men that it is 

 rather difficult to get a special can for a 

 particular weight, unless the order is placed 

 early and in large quantities. The associa- 

 tions are able to get heavy cans; but indi- 

 \ idual beekeepers are not able to do so, as 

 a, luie, under present conditions — conditions 

 that will probably prevail thruout the sum- 

 mer and fall. They will have to take what 

 they can get in the way of cans. Ordinary 

 square cans will do very well, provided they 

 are properly boxed and the boxes braced in 

 the car after loading. Always remembei' 

 that a full car will go thru much better 

 than a cai' not full. 



The can companies are not particular 

 about furnishing boxes with the cans; but 

 the beekeeper can have his boxes made at 

 his bee-supply factory or at the planing 

 mill; but he himself should nail up the box- 

 es to be sure they make a neat fit. A box 

 that is too tight is about as bad as one that 

 is too large. 



During these strenuous times the extract- 

 eil-honey producer will have to make the best 

 of the situation. It is always wise to use 

 caution in buying second-hand cans. If they 

 have previously contained no ill-flavored 

 honey, if they show no rust spots, if the 

 boxes are well made and a close fit, they 

 would be reasonably safe. Some second- 

 hand cans are dear at any price. 



It will bear repeating when we say it is 

 u very poor policy to risk a crop of honey 

 in poorly fitting boxes without partitions- — 

 much less a whole carload of honey; so we 

 believe it is money well invested to throw 

 away poor boxes and make new ones. And 

 do not l)e afraid to use good nails and plenty 

 of them. There are some beekeepers who 

 are so unskilled in the use of a hammer and 

 nails that they can well afford to hire a 

 better man or even a carpenter, even at a 

 dollar an hour, rather than to suffer the 

 loss of ten or even a hundred times that paid 

 out for such services. 



As i)reviously stated, the greatest loss 

 from leakage from square cans is less in car- 

 load shipments. Cans that will go thru in 

 good order in a full car that the producer 

 loads himself may be entirely unfitted for 

 less than carload shipments where cans are 

 reloaded. It is here that heavy cans and 

 good boxes are needed if ever. When they 

 become second-hand they will have a good 

 M-arket. This is a point that producers of- 

 ten overlook when buving their containers. 



