BARRELS 
87 
railroad embankments, in waste fields, and 
lots unoccupied, that are being held until 
a suitable price can be secured. 
Small-fruit trees and the clovers in the 
back yards of our cities afford some past¬ 
urage in the spring when they are in bloom. 
The ever present dandelions, that are an 
irrepressible nuisance on almost all lawns 
in the North, also afford pollen and honey. 
See Dandelion. 
The conditions for keeping a few bees in 
a city or town are usually very favorable. 
As stated under the head of Apiary and 
under the head of Overstocking, a few 
colonies of bees—five, ten, or twenty-five, 
will give much larger yields per colony 
than a larger number — say fifty or a hun¬ 
dred. Of course, if there are any consid¬ 
erable number of persons in the city who 
adopt the beekeeping hobby, the yield per 
colony will be less in proportion; but as a 
general rule these backlot yards will not 
be closer than one or two miles, and the 
yield should be fairly good even then. 
By referring to Profits in Bees one can 
get some idea of the returns; but it can be 
safely stated that our backlot beekeeper 
will do even better than there stated, for 
the reason he will have the field all his own. 
We have known some backlotters to se¬ 
cure two or three hundred pounds of honey 
per colony. (See some of the legends under 
the cuts in Apiary.) As the market is right 
at hand much of the honey can be sold at 
retail without sharing the profits with mid¬ 
dlemen. Backlot beekeeping, therefore, of¬ 
fers exceptional opportunities for making 
a little money on the side as well as secur¬ 
ing an unlimited amount of pleasure and a 
new field for thought in the realm of na¬ 
ture. 
It is safe to say that any man or woman 
who takes up the pleasurable pastime of 
beekeeping will be bigger and broader, and 
will live longer. The great trouble with the 
American people today, .especially with the 
residents of our cities, is the awful rush af¬ 
ter the “almighty dollar,” and in this scram¬ 
ble to get ahead the mind and body wear 
out. If more of our city folks would have 
side lines of diversion and ride hobbies, 
particularly the hobby of keeping bees— 
they would liVe longer, live happier, and 
in the end make a little money. 
BAIT SECTIONS.— See Comr Honey, 
to Produce. 
BALLING OF QUEENS.— See Queens, 
Queen-rearing, and Introducing. 
BANAT BEES. —See Races of Bees. 
BARRELS. —The regular size used for 
the storage and shipping of extracted hon¬ 
ey is about 31 or 32 gallons. Barrels of 45 
to 50 gallons capacity are a little too heavy, 
and being very unwieldy are liable to be 
broken or jammed by freight-handlers in 
shipping. As to the kind of barrel, second¬ 
hand barrels may be used, provided they 
are not charred on the inside. Before tak¬ 
ing barrels of any kind it is very neces¬ 
sary to determine what the character of 
the lining is on the inside. Molasses or 
syrup barrels may be used, if they be 
thoroly cleansed, but barrels that have a 
sour or musty smell should not be consid¬ 
ered; for, even if cleaned, they may taint 
and ruin the honey. 
After the barrel has been cleansed it 
should be put in a dry place, so that it will 
dry thoroly inside and out. One should 
never use barrels, the wood of which has 
become soaked with water; for honey has 
the quality of absorbing moisture from 
the wood; that is to say, a wet barrel filled 
with honey will actually become dry. The 
staves shrink, and then, of course, the hon¬ 
ey leaks out. If one does a large business 
in shipping honey in barrels, he should 
buy new ones. The staves should be made 
of sound kiln-dried lumber; and iron 
hoops, not wooden ones, should be used. 
The barrels should be kept in a dry place, 
and then, before using, they should be 
well coopered and tested, as will be ex¬ 
plained. 
KEGS. 
Wooden packages holding from 100 to 
150 pounds are sometimes used in some 
parts of the South. They are usually con¬ 
structed of cypress, and, when well made, 
make a very good package. The general di¬ 
rections that apply to barrels apply also to 
kegs. 
BARRELS FREQUENT CAUSE OF COMPLAINT. 
It may be said that no slovenly, careless, 
or slipshod beekeeper should use barrels. 
He will be too careless to see that they are 
tight. He will put his honey into them, 
