THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



123 



333 miles. It was there put on board the 

 steamer and carried to Jjiverpool, where it 

 was transhipped by rail to Loudon, 205 

 miles, and when opened out, there were but 

 half a dozen damaged sections in the lot. 

 This was surely a sufficiently severe test. 



But I have almost entirely discarded outer 

 cases when shipping comb. The plan I 

 usually follow is to put three comb cases 

 together, one on top of the other. I wrap 

 each case in straw paper, cutting out that 

 part of the paper opi)Osile the glazed front. 

 I bind these three cases together with com- 

 mon lath and ?4 inch screw nails, putting 

 two pieces diagonally across the glazed 

 front. This ensures careful handling, as 

 everybody who handles them sees just what 

 they are handling. 1 send honey to the 

 Northwest Territories every year in this 

 form, by boat and rail, over 1,000 miles from 

 my home, and I have never yet had one case 

 reported as damaged in transit. 



Where a man has a market for extracted 

 honey at his door, all that is necessary to 

 secure and maintain a custom, is that he 

 supply a good article at a reasonable price : 

 but where his market is outside, the requi- 

 sites mentioned in connection with comb 

 honey are equally applicable to extracted. 

 It must not only be good, but neatly done 

 up, and securely packed. Moreover, the 

 packages in which it is done up must he 

 such as to suit the requirements and con- 

 tribute to the convenience of the party to 

 whom it is sold. If sold to the "trade" the 

 wants of the trade must be consulted, and 

 the man who fails to do tliis will continue to 

 complain of honey being a drug in the 

 market. Perhaps no industry in the land is 

 so much abused in this respect as is bee- 

 keeping. ^\'e are wont to hear bee keepers 

 speak of themselves as an exceptionally in- 

 telligent class. Be this as it may, I am free 

 to say that the product of no other industry 

 is put upon the market in such a cumbrous, 

 uncouth and slovenly form. What is the 

 best package to ship honey in ? is f re(iuently 

 asked, and from nearly all the tin shops and 

 supply establishments comes the ready re- 

 sponse, "The sixty pound screw cap can," 

 and so the sixty pound screw cap can goes 

 out by the thousand to the great annoyance 

 of the dealer to whom they are a positive 

 nuisance, if he retails it from them. I once 

 watched a store-keeper serve a customer 

 with two pounds of candied honey taken out 

 of one of those tins through the hole on 

 top. His wrist and knuckles were daubed 

 with honey to such an extent, and he evi- 

 dently felt so uncomfortable, that it would 

 be surprising if he ever had another one of 

 them in his shop. Not until bee keepers 

 supply the dealer with wares as neatly done 

 up and as convenient to handle as are pre- 

 served fruit or canned vegetables, will honey 

 become a staple article on thfir shelves. 

 Now-a-days, honey is sold, both as medicine 

 and as food, in quantities ranging from one- 

 half a pound to forty or fifty pounds. Both 

 extremes, however, ;ire the exception. From 

 one to twenty pounds is the rule : hence, 

 packages ranging from one to twenty pounds 

 are the proper packagrs in which to do it up. 

 In my trade I use glass 1m >ttles — wide-mouth- 



ed — with cork stoppers, or screw tops, rang- 

 ing from one-half pound to four pounds, 

 and square tins the capacity of which varies 

 from live pounds to forty pounds : but my 

 staple tins hold seven pounds and twenty 

 pounds, the one to retail at one dollar and 

 the other at two dollars and a half. With 

 my tins a man can fill any order without too 

 much value being in the empties. My seven 

 pound tins are packed in cases holding eight 

 each, and my twenty pound tins in cases 

 holding three each. My tins are so made 

 that when packed each occupies a seperate 

 compartment. The upper part of their rims 

 and the top of the cork are exactly flush with 

 the top of the case, so that when the lid is 

 fastened down it presses evenly upon all. 

 I will guarantee these tins and their contents 

 to carry safely to Hong Kong and back, 

 whether they be top up, bottom up, or end 

 up. I might fill the pages of your paper in 

 detailing their design and structure, but I 

 am mindful that others have something to 

 say while on their tramp from the hive to the 

 honey market. Before closing, however, 

 permit me to say a few words on the condi- 

 tion in which extracted honey should be sent 

 out on its mission to the table. I take it that 

 nine out of ten who use honey prefer it in its 

 liquid state, hence, the desirability of fur- 

 nishing it in this form, or so that it can be 

 easily reduced to this state. I know there 

 are people who affect to like it lietter can- 

 died, but they are the exception. I never 

 heard a non-bee keeper say he preferred 

 candied to liquid honey, and I never knew 

 a candy loving bee keeper give his reason 

 for his peculiar choice. There is no time 

 when honey is so aromatic and fine flavored 

 as when just taken from the hive. No can- 

 died honey can compare with it in flavor 

 and aroma. It's finest flavor can only be 

 preserved by hermetically sealing it as soon 

 as it is fit for being done up. The longer it 

 is exposed the more it will deteriorate. 

 Bottled honey should l)e rendered non-crys- 

 tallizable and kept so till used. In a paper of 

 mine recently published in the A. B. J. the 

 method of doing tliis is JuUy set out. There 

 is a strong temptation, Mr. Editor, to extend 

 this article, for the topic is a fertile one, but 

 I know your space is already trespassed 

 upon, and I will forbear. 



Owen Sound, (Jut., June 30, 1890. 



Barrels : Tin Cans ; Thick Honey ; Ripening 



and Fumigating Comb Honey; 



Shipping Cases. 



DK. C. C. MILLER. 



RO. H.,— You didn't say why you 

 thought a barrel the most desirable 

 package for the cheaper grades of 

 honey. You give good reasons for 

 preferring the sixty pound cans for best 

 honey, and don't the same reasons apply to 

 all V If I am not mistaken the cans are 

 cheaper than barrels, and even if they were 

 not, the amount of leakage in barrels would 

 pay <iuite a ditteience. 



if I made a Inisiness of raising extracted 

 honey, I -(jvould try to get it sq very thick 



