THE MMERIC^tPt BE© JOia^RNSlL. 



505 



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around on the same mission, they 

 pounce upon lier, and by physical 

 force settle the question of priority of 

 location. 

 Kenny, Ills. 



SHIPPING-CRATES. 



Historical and Practioal Con- 

 sideration of llieir I'se. 



WtitUn for the American Bee Journal 

 BY J.4.MES HEDDOK. 



After we have procured tlic Ijest 

 white, hard wood sections, another 

 main f:K'tor in the successful market- 

 ing of comb lioney is, to clean those 

 sections from bee-glue, and place them 

 in such crates as will show them to 

 the best ailvantage and most perfectly 

 protect them, from the time they leave 

 the hands of the producer until thej- 

 are removed by the retailer or con- 

 sumer. 



Soon after the invention of sections, 

 the " necessity "' for a shipping-crate 

 for them, became the " mother of in- 

 vention " in that line, and the first we 

 knew, Mr. Doolittle, or some of his 

 neighbors, had made, used and de- 

 scribed a crate for holding them. I 

 sent for one. It came as described, 

 rather roughly made of pine, and the 

 following is a description : It was 

 made to hold twelve two-pound sec- 

 tions, which were placed endwise with 

 the case, four in a row sidewise, and 

 three in a row endwise. The tops and 

 bottoms were rightly made of § ma- 

 terial of proper size. The end pieces 

 were about | of an inch thick, if I re- 

 member correctly, nearly square with 

 the grain running horizontally. The 

 sides were composed each of two slats 

 about I of an inch thick, and an inch 

 and a quarter wide, the ends of which 

 were nailed t* the ends of the end 

 pieces at their upper and lower corners. 



Now. to get in the glass, saw-cuts 

 were made in the corners of the end- 

 pieces, and a pane of glass as large as 

 the whole side of this crate was slip- 

 ped down in this groove. Hand-holds 

 were cut with a wabble-saw in the end- 

 pieces of the crate. No sooner did I 

 look at it, than improvements sug- 

 gested themselves. These short end 

 pieces, wabble-sawed almost in two, 

 might, if the material became checked 

 or got a bump, come in two while 

 carrying lioney, and of course the re- 

 maining whole end would give away 

 at once, and down would go the eon- 

 tents. The slats on the sides of the 

 crate were so narrow thatthe}- showed 

 more of the honey than was necessary, 

 or than was sometimes best to show to 

 make the best impression on first sight. 



I made the siile slats wider. "Why 

 use so much glass ?"' said I. ' Then I 



made the saw-cuts in the slats instead 

 of in the end pieces, using about half 

 the amount of glass. I think this 

 was the first time glass, was ever slid 

 into the slats instead of the end pieces. 

 This soon became popular. It made 

 the case more solid and nicer in ap- 

 pearance, and with less expense. 



Next I began to use pound and half- 

 pound sections of varying widths as 

 follows : Six to till- foot, seven to the 

 foot, and eight to the foot, and 

 " coined " the term of so many " to the 

 foot." I made half-i)ound sections the 

 same height as the pound, and just if 

 the width ; not thickness of the comlj, 

 but width of the comb. For instance, 

 a wide frame which held just four one- 

 pound sections seven to the foot, would 

 take six half-pound sections seven to 

 the foot. The half-pound sections 

 over-run, while the ])ound sections fall 

 short in weight, but this is all right, 

 especially wliere they fall short. 



We always sell all sections bj' 

 weight, both at wholesale and retail. 



A minor mathematical convenience 

 arises from the fact that just one stor- 

 ing-case fills two shipping-crates of 

 honev. One-story crates are liest on 

 account of any possible leakage, and 

 one of tlie great advantages of this 

 small crate is, that any quantity of 

 honey is sold direct from the producer 

 or jobber to the consumer. Blake 

 these crates of white basswood, and 

 dress all i)arts on both sides, so that 

 thej- are handsome without', and easily 

 wiped within, in cases where any leak- 

 age occurs. 



The material for these cases of the 

 quality I mentioned, will in most 

 localities cost about 10 cents each in 

 the flat, and the glass about a cent 

 per light. Of course these figures will 

 vary according to the location of the 

 manufacturer. I have found less 

 trouble from breakage, the smaller I 

 have made my shipping-crates. I 

 think I can safel.v say that in ])ast 

 jears 1 have shipped more than 50,000 

 pounds of honey in these crates, and 



Crate for Shipping Comb Eoncij. 



This led me to make another altera- 

 tion, which was to make the sides of 

 the crate whole, placing the slats- and 

 glass in the ends by making slats half 

 inch thick, and having tlie bottom and 

 cover flush with their outer edges, the.v 

 serve for handles. When we handle 

 such a crate, the combs are always run 

 to and from the Ijodj' just as they 

 shoidd, and the crate is in the best 

 shape to handle. 



The engraving shows the crate de- 

 scribed, which is Vl\ inches long, 8| 

 inches wide, in the clear, and takes 

 five ditierent sizes of sections, all of 

 which fit perfectly. It holds twelve 

 sections 4Jx41x2, or six to the foot; 

 14 sections 4ix4| by seven to the foot ; 

 16 sections 4] x41xl.V, or eight to the 

 foot; 21 sections 4Sx2 13-ltJ by seven 

 to the foot ; 24 sections 4^x2 13-16 by 

 eight to the foot. 



The reader will see that this crate 

 was not only a radical improvement in 

 its simplicity and cheapness, but like- 

 wise in its strength and convenience. 

 The crate is just as long as our storing 

 cases are wide, and should it ever 

 happen that a whole row of sections, 

 by accidept,become "grown" together, 

 they could be taken out ere ni«s.se and 

 be put into this crate. Although we 

 have never had a case of the kind, we 

 have seen such in otlier apiaries. 



have never had any breakage what- 

 ever, except two crates, which were 

 jjroniptlv paid for by the railroad com- 

 pany. Bj- freight is the cheapest and 

 safest way to ship. I am confident 

 that this slvle of shipping-crate now 

 used b}- so many of our leading pro- 

 ducers, will not be soon superseded by 

 any other. 



Dowagiac, Mich. 



BEE-KEEPING. 



Fogyism and Fertile • Brained 

 Reporters its Injurers. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BV HENRY K. STAXEY. 



Within the last decades, what busi- 

 ness or pursuit has had a greater de- 

 velopment and metamorphosis than 

 that of bee-keeping? Commencing 

 with the old primeval gums, and going 

 through the various kinds of hives, 

 until finally culminating for a time in 

 one glorious achievement, viz : the in- 

 vention of the reversible hive, with 

 its concomitant fixtures. This hive, 

 like Eli Whitney's cotton-gin, is a great 

 time-saver — especially to those who 

 are pursuing apiculture as a bread-and- 

 butter pursuit. 



