1328 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



These little comb-carriers are very simple 

 and inexpensive; in fact, the whole lay-out 

 is so extremely cheap and simple, and yet 

 so effective, that the extracted-honey pro- 

 ducers of the country v^^ill do well to follow 

 this plan unless they have something bet- 

 ter. 



In our next issue Mr. Alexander will 

 describe how the honey is conveyed from 

 the extractor to the receiving-tank, some 

 distance away, and how he strains all his 

 honey and how he further evaporates it. — 



Ed.] 



»»» « 



PACKING COMB HONEY IN SHIPPING- 

 CASES. 



The Importance of Providing Some Material to 



Absorb the Shock ; the Use of Corrugated 



Paper in Place of No-drip Sticks. 



BY J. E. CRANE. 



During the past thirty or forty years 

 great strides have been made in all depart- 

 ments of bee-keeping, and cases for shipping 

 honey to market in have been improving 

 with other things. I remember very well 

 visiting a bee-keeper in the north part of 

 Vermont, in the fall of 1868. In the even- 

 ing he said he had honey to pack. As I was 

 hoping to have honey to ship later, I watched 

 the process with much interest. He brought 

 out into his kitchen a lot of odd-sized boxes 

 and a f^our-barrel, and proceeded to fit them 

 into it. I expressed my surprise that he 

 should use a barrel for comb honey ; but he 

 told me it was the safest way in the world 

 to ship honey, or at least there was the least 

 danger of its being broken if shipped in this 

 way. 



The next season my brother and I produced 

 some 3000 lbs., and sold to a local dealer 

 who proceeded to pack in drygoods-boxes. 

 A little later I learned, by visiting New 

 York, that honey was shipped to that market 

 in cases made for that purpose, holding 

 from 50 to 75 lbs., many of them holding two 

 tiers of boxes; but commission men told me 

 that the single-tier cases were preferred. 

 Later the size was cut down to hold 20 

 or 25 lbs., which seems to be the most 

 satisfactory size and style to-day. A tray 

 of paper in the bottom of these cases, with 

 sticks running across the bottom for the 

 section to rest on, brings shipping-cases down 

 to date. These have, I believe, proved (with 

 careful handling) very satisfactory for ship- 

 ping to near-by places or long distances 

 when there is no change of cars if packed 

 securely in a car. 



Where much change, a danger of breakage 

 occurs, if these small cases are packed in a 

 larger one weighing one or two hundred 

 pounds, with straw, handles, etc., they are 

 said to travel more safely. The only fault 

 with the present shipping-case is the danger 

 of breakage of combs. Of course, we can 

 pack a lot in a through car to the commis- 

 sion man or dealer in our larger cities, and 



it will almost always go through safely; 

 but the large dealer can not ship in the 

 same way, but must parcel it out in small 

 lots, and re-ship, consigning it to the tender 

 mercies of the expressmen or truckmen of 

 our cities, so that often it reaches the buyer 

 m.ore or less broken. Could a case be in- 

 vented that would carry honey safely it 

 would, I believe, very largely increase the 

 consumption of this delicious product, and 

 relieve our overstocked markets. Many gro- 

 cers now refuse to buy, or buy but lightly, 

 well knowing that the danger of loss by 

 breakage is quite as great as any profit 

 likely to be had by dealing in so risky an 

 article as comb honey. One grocer recently 

 said he had rather pay two cents a pound 

 more to a local dealer, and be sure of having 

 his combs all unbroken, than to buy for 

 two cents less and run the risk of break- 

 age. 



Some dealers seem to get used to it, and 

 expect more or less breakage, and take it 

 patiently, hut with most of them it is quite 

 otherwise. 



Honey shipped during warm weather 

 i? likely to go more safely than when it is 

 colder. At a temperature of from 80 to 85° 

 wax is at its greatest strength. If you raise 

 the temperature it becomes soft and weak. 

 If you lower the temperature it becomes 

 brittle and weak. 



This whole subject has been brought to 

 my attention on account of trying to market 

 our honey direct to grocers, and shipping to 

 tliem direct in small lots, and I find it of 

 more importance than I had thought. In 

 fact, packages play a most important part in 

 commerce. As a nation we are trying to 

 increase our foreign trade, yet our consuls 

 r.t foreign ports or cities complain of de- 

 fective packages, or those not adapted to the 

 trade sought. 



The invention of a safe, light, and cheap 

 package for shipping eggs to market has 

 doubtless added immensely to the value of 

 this domestic product. 



We may learn something from the fruit- 

 growers. The success of growing small fruits 

 depends upon the use of small baskets in 

 larger crates. J. H. Hale, of Connecticut, 

 is said to be the largest peach-grower in the 

 v.'orld, yet I believe his success is the re- 

 sult of new and improved packages and 

 methods of shipping, quite as much as in the 

 growing of the fruit. The skill of fruit- 

 growers on the Pacific coast in packing their 

 fruit is well known, and has much to do with 

 their success. 



Comb honey is one of the heaviest and at 

 the same time one of the most fragile of rural 

 products, and "yet so delicious and healthful 

 that, could it be safely delivered at every 

 grocery in the country, I believe its con- 

 sumption would very rapidly increase until 

 all produced would be taken at good prices. 



My son, Philip E. Crane, was on the road 

 several weeks last year, and figain this sea- 

 son, selling honey, and he quickly saw the 



