PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK 



AT $1.00 PER ANNUM. 



35tli Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., SEPT. 12, 1895. 



No. 37. 



Coj;)tributed /Vrticles^ 



On Lmfxyrtaxxt Apiarian Stibjeota, 



No. 8. — Packages for Extracted Houey. 



BY CHAS. DADANT. 



Barrels. — This is the largest package which is used for 

 hooey. We have used barrels for 25 years, to keep our crop 

 in bulk. We do not know of a single instance, however, 

 where honey was retailed out from the barrel. But we find 

 these very convenient when the honey is just harvested, as 

 they can be handled readily, and are inexpensive. We use 

 alcohol barrels altogether, which can be bought second-hand 

 from any druggist. • The alcohol barrels are gummed inside 

 with a sort of glue to keep the alcohol from evaporating, and 

 this glue is useful in keeping the honey from soaking into the 

 wood or leaking. 



The barrels should be kept in a dry place when not in use. 

 A cellar will not do, for the wood may swell, and if the barrel 

 should happen to be exposed to heat and drouth later on, the 

 shrinkage of the wood will cause leaks. We keep our empty 

 barrels in the barn, and tighten the hoops on just before fill- 

 ing them with honey. In this way we never have leaky 

 honey-barrels. If the honey is removed before it is granu- 

 lated, no trouble will be experieuced. When the honey granu- 

 lates in the barrel, it is necessary to remove one head to take 

 it out. This may be done in such a way that the head is re- 

 placed after the honey is removed, and the barrel is as good as 

 before. But it is absolutely essential that the head should be 

 put back in the same position as at first. To do this, we 

 mark the head and the- chime in corresponding places, and 

 hold the head with a strong gimlet screwed in the center, 

 while taking it out. 



Large Tin Cans. — These receptacles, made of the size of 

 an extractor can, are used by numerous bee-keepers to keep 

 their crop of extracted honey. One of the advantages claimed 

 for these cans is, that they allow the honey to ripen after it 

 is harvested if the cans are kept in a warm place. As we said 

 before, we do not follow the method of artificial ripening of 

 honey, and therefore this advantage of the cans is of no use 

 to us. But the cans have some disadvantages. They are expen- 

 sive, not easily transported, and will rust easily. We find 

 that a barrel will outlast a can of the same capacity. As much 

 of our honey is extracted from out-apiaries, away from home, 

 and has to be hauled in promptly, the can is out of the ques- 

 tion. Besides, barrels may be rolled into any house, or shop, 

 or even into barn, without danger from dust, mice, or prying 

 fingers. We had once a crop of 85 barrels of clover honey. 

 We had not a building large enough to house the crop except 



our barn. Into the barn it went, and remained until winter. 

 Cans would have been out of the question. 



Another difficulty with the large cans, is to remove the 

 honey after it is granulated. We have often had honey so. 

 hard that it took a spade to dig it out. But a spade will cut 

 the sides of a can while it is harmless in a barrel. 



The 60-Pound Cans. — We now come to a package which 

 is nearer to the retailing package than those already men- 

 tioned. The 60-pound can owes its reputation to the fact 

 that a great many grocers are willing to buy it and retail the 

 honey out. This package is also within the limits of the 

 purse of well-to-do consumers. For this reason, we think it 

 is quite likely that this package will come more into favor 

 every day. 



The Lard-Pails. — These pails, the flaring lard-pails — 

 which our old Friend Root has decorated with the name of 

 "The Improved Dadant Pail " — are a good package, and one 

 of the advantages of this style is that they can be shipped, 

 when empty, in a rather comparatively small compass, owing 

 to their "nesting" inside one another. We have for 20 years, 

 or more, retailed the greater part of our honey crop in pails 

 very similar to these, and which we use yet. We handle four 

 sizes, weighing, when full, 10 pounds, 5, 2X) and also a small 

 can holding only Hi pounds. These are usually weighed 

 gross, honey and all, and the weight of the pail helps to pay 

 for its cost. It is with this package that we can reach the 

 masses — the consumers who are unable to spend much for 

 delicacies, and who want their money's worth of what they 

 buy. When honey sells at wholesale for 7 cents per pound, 

 the bee-keeper may put up his honey in tins and furnish it to 

 his customers in small-sized packages for less than 10 cents 

 per pound. This is the best way to get rid of a large crop of 

 honey. Too many of our bee-keepers sell their honey on the 

 large markets, and glut these markets, for the want of a 

 little forethought and a little painstaking to supply their own 

 home market. When honey is put up in attractive shape, 

 thousands of pounds find their way into the consumers' hands 

 directly from the producers' home. 



We never put up our honey in cans directly while extract- 

 ing, but transfer it to the cans from the barrels, as occasion 

 requires. It takes a little more time, but the honey is more 

 clear, having had time to get rid of the impurities which 

 may be taken out with the last gallon of liquid houey drawn, 

 or may be scraped from the surface of the honey when the 

 barrelfu! is granulated. 



Glass Jars. — These are also much in vogue for the re- 

 tailing of extracted honey, and some of the largest dealers in 

 honey, Messrs. Muth & Son, of Cincinnati, use this sort of 

 package extensively. We have never liked this package, 

 owing to the danger of breakage, the expense and weight of 



