50 BEE CULTURE. 
HANDLING AND SHIPPING. 
It has been estimated that the surplus honey product of 
America amounts to seventy-five millions of pounds ; there- 
fore, the placing of this enormous product upon the market 
is a subject of vast importance to honey producers. Any 
method that will add one cent per pound to the marketable 
value, is worth to them three-quarters of a million of dollars ; 
and any error of management, causing a reduction of one cent 
per pound, is to them a corresponding loss! We should 
ascertain what the market demands, and then diligently 
apply ourselves to the work, in order to reap the reward of 
“well doing,” and rejoice in the labor of our hands. 
Honey in the comb is a luxury—a fancy article—and our 
first care should be to produce it in such a manner as to com- 
mand a fancy price. It must captivate the eye of the con- 
sumer, and tempt him to purchase. To this end comb honey 
should be put up in single-comb sections, all combs being 
straight and evenly built, and labeled with the kind of bloom 
which produced it, giving the producer's name and address. 
It should be put up in uniform crates, and not veneered, 7. e., 
the combs inside should be just as good as those on the ex- 
terior of the crate. Small packages sell the most readily; 
twelve in a crate (fig. 20) is usually sufficient, and always the 
most desirable for the jobbing trade. 
The apiarist should give his personal attention to its 
crating, grading and shipping, so that he may be positive as 
to the details, should any question, involving these, be raised 
by the consignee. The inexperienced and careless ones are 
always a detriment, and sometimes ruin the market for their 
more careful and experienced neighbors. They take an 
inferior grade of honey, put up in irregular and soiled packa- 
ges, to market early, just to get a little money, and sell for 
any price offered; and this often settles the price for that 
locality and season, and the attractive honey is either sacri- 
ficed to their carelessness, or shipped to another market. 
If shipped away to market, it must not be packed in straw 
or chaff ; but put in small crates containing a single tier (fig. 
20), and placed with the top bar downwards, which is the 
strongest way, and will prevent much breaking down. Ship 
