640 



AMERICAM BEE JOURNAE. 



on around, and you have it ready to^ut 

 back into the hive in just the same way 

 it came out, so far as the frame is con- 

 cerned ; but you are holding the frame 

 in an entirely different way, as it now 

 rests on the second joint of the first lin- 

 ger instead of on the thumbs, the latter 

 being on top of the frame instead of 

 under, as at starting. 



It is a kind of sleight-of-hand you have 

 performed, but not hard to learn when 



SECOND POSITION. 



one sees it done, though not so easy to put 

 on paper. It always keeps the comb in 

 a perpendicular position, so it cannot 

 fall out, if ever so brittle or weak, and 

 yet every side has been toward you, and 

 the hands have not been changed nor the 

 frame laid down. 



If you have never handled frames in 

 this way, try it ; or if any one has a 

 better way, let him come forward and 

 explain it. — Oleaniyuis. 



Ithaca, Wis., April, 1891. 



FreigM Classiflcation for Bee-Kcepers. 



J. T. CALVERT. 



What is meant by freight classifica- 

 tion ? It is the arranging of the many 

 different commodities of every conceiv- 

 able character, which are carried by 

 transportation companies as freight, 

 into groups or classes, as first, second, 

 third, fourth-class, etc., a different rate 

 being applicable to each class. 



There are three main classifications, 

 covering the whole country, applicable 

 to almost all interstate business : The 

 official classification used by railroads 

 east of Chicago and St. Louis ; the West- 

 ern, which governs west of the Mississ- 

 ippi and Chicago ; and the Southern, 



used soutli of Cincinnati. An effort is 

 being made to adopt a uniform classifica- 

 tio)\ for the whole country. In the 

 official classification with which the bee- 

 keepers of this district have to do, there 

 are six classes ; in the Western there are 

 ten ; and in the proposed uniform classi- 

 fication there are eleven. 



Who makes these classifications? A 

 committee appointed by the different 

 railroads who use them. 



What are goods classified for ? Why 

 is it not worth as much to haul a car 

 loaded with one kind of goods as 

 another ? The law makes the common 

 carrier responsible for the goods trans- 

 ported, and there is more risk attending 

 the hauling of a car of comb-honey than 

 a car of coal, for two reasons : The 

 honey is of many times greater value, 

 and is also much more liable to damage ; 

 and hence the railroad (•ompany, in 

 assuming the greater risk, charge a 

 higher price for it, as they should. In 

 this lies the reason for different classes 

 of freight, which go at higher or lower 

 rates. 



The class, which is the means of indi- 

 cating what rate is to be charged, is 

 fixed by the value of the commodity and 

 its bulk, as well as the risk in handling. 

 This is the principle which governs the 

 classification of goods shipped as freight. 



But there are other considerations 

 that come in, which affect the classifica- 

 tion of a certain article more or less 

 favorably. Strong influences, of one 

 kind or another, are brought to bear 

 upon the committee by different inter- 

 ests having "influence at court" in 

 favor of a low class for the goods they 

 are interested in. The railroads are, of 

 course, anxious to keep rates as high as 

 they can, and the public are clamoring 

 for lower rates. As it is in legislation, 

 some interests are favored while others 

 are taxed to pay for it, so it is here. On 

 the wiiole, the classifications are very 

 fair and equitable, and it is only occa- 

 sionally that you see an interest favored. 



How does all this concern bee-keepers? 

 There are few bee-keepers who do not 

 have to buy more or less of what they 

 use away from home, and they are inter- 

 ested in the cost of transportation in 

 getting their supplies. Then, if they 

 produce large crops of honey, so as to be 

 obliged to go away from home to find a 

 market, they want to know what it is 

 going to cost to get their product to that 

 market, and their profit, is increased or 

 diminished as this cost is more or less. 



The present rates from Medina to 

 Chicago are as follows : First-class, 37 

 cents ; second. S-t ; third, 25 ; fourth. 



