ISSl 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



TIN CANS FOR RETA1I.ING HONEY. 



WT seems to me that tin is, without qnes- 

 III tion, destined to be the material to hold 

 — ' the great bulk of our extracted honey. 

 All of our canned fruits are sold in tin, al- 

 most to the exclusion of glass, and it would 

 seem as if the reasons for so putting the 

 fruit on the market would equally well apply 

 to lioney. The Dadant pails, or a pail with 

 a cover! are without question the best thing 

 for retailing lioney in places near to your api- 

 ary; but ill no way that I can see are they 

 adapted to shipping honey long distances. I 

 regret this, for the idea of having a ))ail that 

 Avill be worth all it costs, after the honey is 

 used out, is a very ini])()rtant one indeed; 

 but I can see no ])racticable way by which we 

 (jan solder a pail up tight, as it "must be to 

 hold honey safelj', and then get the lid off 

 without marring it, after it is in the hands 

 of the consumer. It is true, we might solder 

 a very tlnn cover of tagger's tin over the top 

 of the pail, just under the cover proper, but 

 to unsolder this, or cut it out, without leav- 

 ing sharp and dangerous, to say nothing of 

 unsightly, edges, is a matter not easily man- 

 aged. (Jf course, a tinsmith might do it; 

 but to devise means or tools by "which the 

 average housekeeper could do it is another 

 question. 



Well, suppose we drop this idea, at least 

 for the present. What kind of packages 

 shall we use for soldering up honey as they 

 do fruity Our friends in California have de- 

 cidedpretty unanimously, I think, on at least 

 two staple sizes— fifty-lb. cans for honey in 

 bulk, and 2-lb. cans for honey for retail- 

 ing directly to the consumer. The 50-1 b. 

 cans, or at least those sent us by friend Wil- 

 kin, are made 9i inches square,' by 13i deep. 

 I presume this square form is chosen be- 

 cause two of them can be cheaply crated in 

 a strong-box, making a secure lOU-lb. pack- 

 age. The plan of making these cans is ex- 

 tremely simple. Take 4 sheets of tin, of such 

 size that, when i inch is fc^lded on each of 

 the foursides of each, they will measure just 

 9jxl3i. Now, these folds" are not to be clear 

 over, nor are they to be a right-angled fold, 

 but only at an angle of about 4-3 degrees. In 

 other words, a miter angle, such as we see 

 on a picture-frame. In fact, we will put the 

 four sheets tog<4her (their longest edges to- 

 gether), like a picture-frame, and solder them 

 so as to make a tall square can, without top 

 or bottom. The top and bottom, made in 

 the same way, 9i square, are now dropped in 

 and soldered! This makes a strong can, and 

 very smooth looking, on the outside ; but on 

 the inside these folded edges are all sticking 

 in toward the center. Such cans can be 

 made with very few tools, and by one who is 

 not a practical tinsmith. To get the honey 

 out, we have only to punch a hole in one 

 corner ; Avith a smaller hole for a vent, in 

 the opposite corner of the same end. we can 

 pour it out as readily as we would pour from 

 a pitcher. Three sheets of tin, 14 by 20, 

 make the Whole, with some to spare. I pre- 

 sume a fair price for such oO-lb. cans would 

 be about 50c. , or perhaps 40c. by the hun- 

 dred. 



Now. the other popular can, the 2-lb. one. 



is of course made round, to save labor and 

 material. The most economical shape for a 

 honey-can, as well as for a hive for bees, 

 would be a sphere ; but as that is out of the 

 question, we take a cylinder as the next best 

 form. I fear many of the can manufacturers 

 have not hgured well on the best proportion 

 for these cylinders. I mean the proportion 

 the height'should bear to the diameter. I'er- 

 haps we should use the tin to best advantage 

 if we had the height and diameter about 

 equal ; but we find, in cutting tin, that the 

 circles for tops and bottoms waste largely, 

 while the piece for the sides can be got out 

 so as to use almost every i)article of the sheet. 

 Now, while friend Wi'lkins' 2-lb. can holds 

 exactly the same as mine (about a i)int and 

 a half"), his is ii in diameter, and 8 inches 

 high, while mine is .3+ in diameter, by 4 high. 

 Mine is about the proportion of an "ordinary 

 2-lb. fruit-can. There may Ije a reason for 

 making cans so large arouiid ; but if there is, 

 it is unknown to me. Of course, we must 

 have a hole left in the top of the can, to pour 

 in the honey. We make this in all the covers, 

 with a H-inch punch. A two-inch punch 

 Avill then cut a cap to just cover it. We (ill 

 these cans rapidly, by selting them in a large 

 tin pan. and fixing this just at the proper 

 height under the gate of an extractor can. 

 To make the honey run rapidly. Ave warm it 

 until one can just be.ir his hand on the can. 

 This will make it flow fast, and it is much 

 easier to stop when the can is just full. Not 

 a particle is allowed to get on the "cover, or 

 the solder will not stick. A hole must be 

 pricked in the cap before soldering, or the 

 steam Avould interfere Avith a perfect joint. 

 After the cover is Avell soldered, a little sol- 

 der is dropped into this liole. The cans are 

 now labeled, and then are ready to be packed 

 into boxes, two dozen in a box. For the 

 sake of keeping the labels clean and bright, 

 AA'e use new clean sawdust. Thurber's price 

 for choice honey put up in this Avay is 8S.00 

 lier case of tAVo dozen boxes. This Avould be 

 o3ic. per can, as the cost to the retailer. At 

 this price, he could not well sell it for less 

 than 40c. Our price is, for the best honey 

 we can get, S6.00 ]ier case, and Ave retail it 

 for 28c. ])er can. Where one has freight to 

 pay on it, it Avould have to be sold for 30 or 

 3oc. Honey soldered up in this A\-ay is clean 

 to handle, and AAill keep in good condition 

 for a hundred years. 



TRIGONA, OR BRAZI1.IAN STINGLESS 

 IIONEir-BKE!!^. 



{Continued from page IGT.) 



^p] HERE are about fifty species belonging- to the 

 Jl"' genus Trigona described, and thirty of the 

 — ' genus Mclipona; these insects are the sting- 

 less honey-bees of South America; there are also as 

 many in Mexico, and they are found in India, Africa, 

 Australia, and the islands of the Eastern Archipela- 

 go. A few of these are black, but the majority are 

 of different shades of yellow or reddish brown. The 

 Trigona vary in length from about two to four lines_ 

 Their wings are longer than the abdomen; the stig- 

 ma is distinct, with its inferior margin rounded; the 

 abdomen is short, somewhat triangular, compressed 

 beneath, and forming a corona, or sharp edge, down ■ 



