AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



331 



The Stew art Honey Box is 



one of the latest inventions, by Mr. 

 Henry Stewart, one of our old subscrib- 

 ers. When he showed us several sample 

 boxes we were at once surprised and 

 pleased. It is a very ingenious thing, 

 and seems to be destined to revolutionize 

 the putting up of either comb or ex- 

 tracted honey for the market. 



We present below a good illustration 

 of the " box," as it looks unfolded. Here 

 is what the inventor says concerning it : 



Although these boxes are destined to 

 find their way into, and fill a long-felt 

 want in, many channels of trade, they 

 wer« invented by a honey-producer, to 

 fill the needs of that industry. 



With the present cheapness of sugar, 

 in order to maintain good prices for the 



Stewart Honey Box. 



extracted honey, it will be necessary for 

 the honey-producer to take some steps 

 to increase the demand for extracted 

 honey as a table article, and sell less for 

 manufacturing purposes. In order to 

 accomplish this, it is necessary to put'up 

 the article in convenient shape for re- 

 tailing, and for this purpose the almost 

 universal demand is for small packages, 

 as most grocers will not handle the 

 goods in bulk. But, to meet this de- 

 mand, with any heretofore known pack- 

 age, the cost of the honey had to be 

 raised to that extent that the goods be- 

 came an expensive luxury. 



These boxes are made of white bass- 

 wood lumber, and are very light, and 

 railroad companies take them at the 

 same rate as honey in cans, or barrels, 

 which is third-class. This difference in 

 freight on a 500-mile haul will amount 

 to several cents per pound. Then, these 

 boxes are strong and durable. Do not 

 jump at the conclusion that they are 

 frail articles, to hold granulated honey. 



It is also used for the shipping and 

 retailing of comb honey. Each box for 

 holding sections is 2)4 inches deep, and 

 holds three sections ; the little boxes 

 hold the honey in place, and the waxed 

 bottom prevents any leakage escaping. 



The Honey Crop for 1892 in 



the United States is further mentioned 

 in Gleanings for Aug. 15th. It will be 

 remembered that on pages 135 and 199 

 of the Bee Journal, this subject was 

 referred to, and on the latter page a 

 partial report was given. The following 

 is what Bro. Root says later, after re- 

 ceiving fuller information from each 

 State and territory, thus enabling him 

 to revise the former statement of the 

 condition of the honey crop for 1892 : 



Within the last two or three weeks we 

 have received a large number of addi- 

 tional responses in answer to our re- 

 quest, asking for reports regarding the 

 condition of the honey crop of 1892. 

 This request, the Amercian Bee Jour- 

 nal kindly copied, urging their readers 

 to send on ther answers to us. Through 

 the courtesy of that journal we are en- 

 abled to make this report very much 

 fuller, and more accurate, than we 

 should otherwise have been able to do. 

 By condensing the replies, and collating 

 them together by States, we submit the 

 result to you in the revised table below : 



Alabama— fair. 

 Arkansas— indifferent. 

 California— very poor. 

 Canada— fair. 

 Colo.— below average. 

 Co ne' ticui— poo r . 

 Delaware^-very poor. 

 Flni Ida— fair to good. 

 Georgia— fair. 

 Illinois— poor to good. 

 1 1 d ana— poor to iair. 

 Iowa— fair 10 very good. 

 Kansas— fa r to good 

 Kentucky-poor to fair. 

 Louisiana— fair. 

 Maine— fair. 

 Maryland— poor. 

 Massachusetts— fair. 



Michigan— fair to good. 

 M inn.— fair to extra good. 

 Mississippi— very poor. 

 New Hampshire— fair. 

 New Jersey— poor. 

 New Yorn— poor to fair. 

 Nurth Carolina— poor. 

 Onio— fair to extra good. 

 Penn — 1 ai • to good. 

 South Carolina— fair. 

 Tennessee— poor to fair. 

 Texas— poor to fair. 

 Utah— poor. 

 Vermont— poor to fair. 

 Virginia— fair. 

 W«sht gton-good. 

 West Virginia— poor. 

 Wisconsin— poor. 



The adjective or adjectives defining 

 the condition of the honey season oppo- 

 site each State represents the majority 

 of the reports for that State. In some 

 cases only one or two have responded 

 for their States, these being mostly in 

 the South ; but from the leading honey 

 States, reports came in very freely, so 

 we think we are enabled to give a pretty 

 fair idea of the season. 



For the United States as a whole, the 

 honey season has been a slight improve- 

 ment over last year, although we cannot 

 call it an average year. It may be well 

 to call attention to the fact shown in the 

 table, that Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota, Michi- 

 gan took the lead in honey production 

 this year, while California, usually the 

 banner honey State of the Union, shows 

 almost a total failure. 



