SKEP 
753 
ey is shot ahead on a switch; and unless a 
man is on top of the ear at the brake the 
car may be jammed into another car. It 
is, therefore, important to see that the end 
spaces at the end of the cases in the car 
are cushioned with tightly packed straw. 
To keep the straw from working up at each 
end, thus allowing end shock between the 
cases, boards should be put over the top of 
the straw and held clown by cleats on each 
side of the car. 
Why honey needs solid bracing in a car. In this 
instance the car was humped so violently that the 
honey went right on thru the end. 
Should there not be quite enough comb 
honey to fill the car it would be well to 
leave the space next to the doors, and fill in 
with very rigid bracing made up of 2 by 
4’s fastened in such a way that they can 
not possibly work loose. Many and many 
a car of comb honey sent long distances 
has had a heavy breakage, caused by care¬ 
lessness on the pa-t of the shipper or by 
his inexcusable ignorance in not seeing to 
it that the comb honey was packed solid 
and properly cushioned at the ends and 
sides of the car. The shipper should make 
up his mind that his comb honey is more 
fragile than eggs in egg-carriers; that it is 
relatively heavy; that the railroad com¬ 
panies en route wifi give his honey the 
heaviest end-banging it has ever had. He 
must play safe. While he may recover 
damages from the railroad company, the 
process for doing this is exceedingly long 
and difficult, with the possible and prob¬ 
able result that the railroad company will 
get out of paying for the damage, or it 
may pay a merely nominal sum. 
Perhaps in all beedom there is nothing 
more aggravating than a car of broken- 
down comb honey. If it is sent against a 
draft attached to the bill of lading, the 
consignee is liable to refuse payment. It 
lies on the tracks while telegrams .are flying 
back and forth; and', even tho a compro¬ 
mise be effected, no one is satisfied. In the 
mean time robber bees get busy, sting the 
railroad men who are trying to “clean up.” 
This is not all. Foul brood may be scat¬ 
tered far and wide. So, be careful, Mr. 
Beekeeper. 
The subjoined illustration shows what 
happens in a good many cases when proper 
provision is not made for the end shocks 
that must inevitably occur when the train 
stops or starts. When comb honey, heavy 
as it is, is jostled about in the ear, say the 
space of a foot or more between the cases, 
and the cases slide this rvay and that, the 
inevitable result is a breakdown. Possibly 
the whole end of the car may be shoved 
out as shown in the cut. 
SIZE OF FRAMES.— See Hives. 
SKEP.- —The term “skep” is often used 
by old-fashioned beekeepers to refer to a 
colony of bees in any kind of hive; but 
more properly it applies to box hives and 
straw skeps—the last named meaning bas¬ 
ket in old English. In England and even 
many of the countries on the continent of 
Europe, the old straw skep is still used 
quite largely, because lumber is expensive 
and straw cheap. The bees are allowed to 
build the combs just the same as mentioned 
under the head of Box Hives; and under 
Hives, Evolution of. On top of the flat- 
top type of skeps, modern supers containing 
