612 HONEY HANDLING. 



HONEY IN GLASS. Handle with Caee. 



Very small lots ought never to be sent by rail, at least until 

 we get better railroad regulations, concerning the handling of 

 goods in transit, than we have at present. 



Comb-honey in large lots should be shipped in large crates, 

 with handles at each end, each crate containing about one 

 hundred pounds of honey, or about eight cases, of twenty-four 

 sections each. 



829. The barrels that we use for extracted honey are oak 

 barrels, which have contained alcohol. They are gummed ha- 

 side, with some composition, to prevent the alcohol from soak- 

 ing through the wood, and this gum, or glue, prevents the 

 leakage of honey. Whisky barrels are often unfit to contain 

 honey, for they are usually charred on the inside, and motes 

 of charcoal fall into the honey and spoil its appearance. We 

 keep our empty barrels in a dry place. As soon as filled, they 

 are bunged and rolled into a cool and dry cellar, where they 

 remain until the honey selling season, which begins in Sep- 

 tember, or October. Any dry room will do, when a dry cellar 

 is not at hand, but a cellar has a more even temperature 

 when cold weather comes. 



If the barrels are damp, when the honey is put in, and are 

 removed to a dry place aftenvards, they will soon leak; for 

 honey does not keep the wood from drying and shrinking. 

 Honey barrels, then, should not be treated in the same way as 

 wine or cider barrels; and swelling them, with steam, or hot 

 water, previous to filling them with honey, will not be of any 

 benefit, unless they are kept damp afterwards. This is not to 

 be thought of, for honey must be kept dry, on account of its 

 hygrometric properties. It will absorb the moisture out of the 

 staves of the barrel that contains it and will become thin and 

 watery, and at the same time, the staves, in giving up their 

 moisture, will shrink and the honey will leak out. Thus it is 

 easy to see that none but the best dry barrels will do. 



