1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



905 



berry-box material is, so that they can be 

 easily broken into pieces the size of a sec- 

 tion; then when a section is wrapped up one 

 of these thin boards can be placed on each 

 side, or on the exposed ends when several 

 are wrapped up together. This makes a per- 

 fect protection for the honey at far less cost 

 than the paper cartons, which have, more- 

 over, the disadvantage of hiding the comb 

 surface. 



I used these scored separators to some ex- 

 tent a number of years ago, and would have 

 used them much more largely, except that I 

 found it difficult to get them made unless 

 ordered in larger numbers than I could 

 profitably use. 



/3r 



WHAT THE PUBLIC KNOW ABOUT OUR BUSI- 

 NESS. 



When we come across some unusually 

 glaring instance of misrepresentation of our 

 industry in the newspapers we are apt to be 

 indignant at what seems the malicious in- 

 tent, or to marvel that such stupidity should 

 be found in such a position. Just remember 

 that the ordinary newspaper reporter is only 

 an average mortal; and, though he may be 

 well educated in certain special directions, 

 he is just as apt to be densely ignorant of 

 what lies a little out of his experience as 

 any one else. We do not appreciate how 

 little the general public know of what is a 

 matter of every- day knowledge with us. We 

 sometimes wonder why more honey is not 

 consumed. It is an actual fact that there is 

 a considerable proportion of our population 

 who not only never taste honey, but who 

 scarcely know what it is. I was once deliv- 

 ering some honey in an Illinois mining town 

 when my attention was attracted to a group 

 of street urchins who were excitedly discuss- 

 ing the question of what it was that I had 

 in my wagon. Finally a ten-year-old settled 

 the question thus: "Aw, I know what them 

 things is. Them's hornets' nests." A year 

 or two ago I hired for a few days a young 

 man of foreign descent, though he had trav- 

 eled over a large part of the United States. 

 Looking at some honey in sections he asked, 

 " Is that honey? " I assured him that it 

 was. He then volunteered the information, 

 "Lot's of people don't know what them 

 things is. I've seen them boxes in grocery 

 stores lots of times, but I never knew what 

 they was." 



ELASTIC SUPPORTING STRIPS IN SHIPPING- 

 CASES. 



Twelve or fifteen years ago a western bee- 

 keepers' association offered a liberal prize 

 for a case of honey put up in the best man- 

 ner for shipment. As I expected to attend 

 the convention I gave some serious thought 

 to the subject, with the idea of capturmg 

 that prize. I did not go to the convention, 

 and my ideas were never made public, though 

 some of the principles have since come into 

 general use. Two of the principal features 

 of my system were the use of the scored 

 separators elsewhere mentioned, and sup- 



porting strips under the sections, both at 

 that time unknown. The supporting strips, 

 which I used for several years thereafter, 

 differed from those now in common use in 

 that they had a considerable degree of elas- 

 ticity. This was secured by cutting strips 

 of the ordinary corrugated paper board, such 

 as is commonly used for wrapping bottles 

 and other fragile articles for shipment. 

 The strips that I used were an inch wide, 

 cut across the corrugations. This seemed 

 to be amply wide, as I had opportunity to 

 examine a great deal of honey after a forty- 

 mile shipment, and the corrugations were 

 but little crushed, still retaining a large 

 share of their elasticity. I do not now re- 

 member what these strips cost, though they 

 would probably cost more than the drip 

 cleats made of wood. In some cases, though, 

 where the sections were not well filled, or 

 when honey had to be shipped in very cold 

 weather, or in small lots by express, or 

 whenever it would be likely to receive unu- 

 sually rough handling, it would probably pay 

 well to go to the extra expense as an insur- 

 ance against damage. If the manufactur- 

 ers do not supply them you can easily get 

 enough for experiment or for shipping small 

 lots of honey from your druggist or any one 

 who buys goods in glass, as the material is 

 very extensively used now. 



NOMINATING OFFICERS FOR THE NATIONAL. 



Our past methods of nominating officers 

 have been admittedly unsatisfactory. The 

 postal-card plan followed last year was 

 doubtless an improvement over old methods, 

 but it still leaves something to be desired. 

 What we really need is some plan which will 

 allow of some public discussion of the can- 

 didates in advance of the election. We 

 must remember that nearly all of the mem- 

 bers of the National have absolutely no ac- 

 quaintance with the leading bee-keepers of 

 the country, outside of their own locality, 

 except what they have learned of them 

 through the bee-journals. This has made it 

 difficult in times past to make any change in 

 the officials of the Association, as the ten- 

 dency is to vote for the re-election of the 

 old officer. This is, unquestionably, against 

 the interests of any society. While there 

 are sometimes cases where an officer has 

 done such excellent work, has shown him- 

 self such a capable business man that the 

 interests of the organization demand that he 

 be kept in office as long as he can be induced 

 to serve, it is usually far better that changes 

 be made and fresh blood introduced occa- 

 sionally. No one should be re-elected who 

 has been unsatisfactory in any respect. It 

 is my belief that no man should hold an of- 

 fice for more than two consecutive terms. 

 The editor of the Review has advocated the 

 plan of nomination and discussion in the 

 journals; but I believe his suggestions have 

 not been followed to any extent. If any 

 thing is to be done, somebody must make a 

 start, and I will set the ball rolling in Glean- 

 ings. I nominate for president, O. L. Her- 



