BASSWOOD 
89 
If they once begin to leak en route, driving 
the hoops down will not do much good, for 
the simple reason that the leaking honey 
makes a sort of lubricant, causing the 
hoops to slide up immediately after receiv¬ 
ing a blow from a hammer. 
The publishers of this work have had 
some very unsatisfactory experience with 
shipping honey in barrels; and on arriving 
at Medina the honey was leaking over the 
sides of the barrels. This honey came 
with a carload of bees, and the man in 
charge who saw the leaks attempted to 
drive the hoops downward; but the more he 
drove, he said, the more they slipped back 
again. If it were possible to exert pressure 
enough on all sides of the hoops at once, 
and then drive nails above the hoops, some¬ 
thing might be done to stop the leaks. 
The barrels in the first place should be 
bone-dry before they are paraffined; and 
just before the waxing the hoops should be 
driven down as far as they will go. If 
there is any danger of the barrels leaking, 
tacks should be driven above the hoops to 
prevent their slipping. But it is penny 
wise and pound foolish to use any barrel 
that is not perfect. The difference between 
the cost of a good barrel and a poor one is 
only a few cents; while a barrel of honey 
costs many times the price of the barrel. 
BARRELS OR SQUARE CANS. 
In California, Colorado, and other hot 
or dry States, barrels and kegs should 
never be used. The ordinary 60-pound tin 
cans, described under Extracted Honey, 
are the only suitable shipping packages. 
Indeed, they are the only package that 
nine-tenths of the beekeepers of this land 
can use safely. While they cost consid¬ 
erably more per pound, yet the honey is 
nearly always reported as going thru in 
good order. Even if one has a hole 
punched in it, only 60 pounds of honey 
is lost; while in the case of a leak or break 
in a barrel, sometimes from five to eight 
times that amount is wasted. Thru the 
entire West—arid that is where the great 
•bulk of the extracted honey in the United 
States is produced—the square tin can is 
used exclusively. These are packed two 
in a case, and for safe shipment there 
should be a wooden partition between the 
cans. Beekeepers are strongly urged to 
use these cans is preference to barrels. 
While the tin package costs a little more 
per pound, it also brings in a little more 
on the market; for the buyer can take as 
large or small a quantity as he needs. 
Where the purchaser hesitates to buy a 
whole barrel of honey for his own local 
trade, he will readily take one or more 
cans of 60 pounds each. 
REMOVING GRANULATED HONEY FROM 
BARRELS. 
Good thick honey will usually become 
solid at the approach of frosty weather, 
and perhaps the readiest means of getting 
it out of the barrel in such cases is to re¬ 
move one of the heads and take it out with 
a scoop. When it is quite hard, one may at 
first think it is difficult to force a scoop 
down into it; but if he presses steadily and 
keeps moving the scoop slightly, he will 
soon get down its whole depth. If the bar¬ 
rel is kept for some time near the stove, or 
in a very warm room, the honey will be¬ 
come liquid enough to be drawn out thru a 
large-sized honey-gate. 
A more wholesale way of removing can¬ 
died honey is to set the barrel or keg in a 
tub or wooden tank of water, the latter 
being kept hot by a small steam pipe. In 
24 or 36 hours the honey will be melted, 
and can then be drawn out in the usual 
way. 
BASSWOOD. —Of the twelve described 
species three are indigenous to the United 
States. The most common species is Tilia 
americana L., a tall tree growing in forests 
from New Brunswick to Nebraska and 
Texas, and especially abundant in the Alle- 
ghanies. T. Michauxii Nutt. (T. pubescens 
is a synonym) extends from Connecticut to 
Florida and Texas; and T. heterophylla 
Vent, from Pennsylvania to southern Illi¬ 
nois and Alabama, but is most common in 
limestone regions. The three species may 
be separated by the following leaf charac¬ 
ters: T. americana has the leaves smooth 
on both sides; in T. Michauxii the leaves 
are smooth above, but pubescent beneath: 
and in T. heteropliylla smooth above and 
silvery white below. The European linden 
( T. europaea L.) is widely cultivated in 
this country as an ornamental tree. Other 
vernacular names are linden, lime tree, bee- 
(ree, whitewood, and whistlewood. 
