234 



TMM MMERIC'Mff mmm JO^MffMI*. 



comb-baskets, each basket being a 

 little larger than is required to hold a 

 Langstroth frame, and just large 

 enough to easily take two of the shal- 

 low frames of mj case ; consequently 

 we empty eight frames, or just one 

 case at a time. We do not have to 

 touch the combs, or the comb-baskets, 

 in order to reverse, in throwing the 

 honej- from both sides of the combs. 



This method makes the production 

 of extracted hone)' easier, simpler, 

 safer, and surer than that of comb 

 honey, and in many places more proKt- 

 able. This article is long enough, so I 

 w'ill postpone to a future time what I 

 wish to say regarding the eai-e and sale 

 of extracted honey. 



Dowagiac, Mich. 



BEES BY MAIL. 



The Rights of Bee-Keepers Un- 

 der the L.aw. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY C. J. ROBINSON. 



With surprise and solicitude I read 

 the remarks of Mr. T. F. Bingham, on 

 page 758 of the Bee Journal for 1889, 

 relating to mailing bees. He is well- 

 known as an apiarist, and well quali- 

 fied to discuss matters pertaining to 

 bees and bee-keeping, but be does not 

 " fill the bill " as a erudite jurist, yet 

 lie usurps the throne of justice and 

 adjudicates, off-hand, "the meaning of 

 the law," and insists that his version is 

 the end thereof. 



With due respect for individnal opin- 

 ions — I feel that in this case I am justi- 

 fied ; yea, in duty bound, to take ex- 

 ception to Mr. Bingham assuming the 

 whole realm of opinion, not allowing 

 room for a back-seat for others. 



As a fourth-class P. M., Mr. Bing- 

 ham holds that bees ai-e not mailable 

 matter, except in limited numbers, to 

 agree with his notion of law. However, 

 the construction he puts on the lan- 

 guage of the eighth sub-division of 

 Sec. 372 of the Mail Code, is not au- 

 thorit}- nor common sense in a legal 

 point of view. Neither Mr. Bingliam 

 nor myself are competent to decide as 

 to what the codifiers of the last Mail 

 Code had in view when they formed 

 the eightli sub-division of that section 

 wiiich reads: "Queen-bees and their 

 attendant bees may be sent in the mails 

 when properly put up, so as not to in- 

 jure the persons of those handling the 

 mails, nor soil the mail-bags or their 

 contents." As to the intent and mean- 

 ing of the codifiers of the said code, 

 we. the laity, are not called upon, not 

 competent to decide. 



Tlie Postmaster General has discre- 

 tionary jurisdiction, so far as to con- 



strue the meaning of the language of 

 the code, but his ruling is subject to 

 appeal and review by the United 

 States courts. It is very probable the 

 codifiers aimed to so phrase that sub- 

 division that great scope might be 

 given its meaning. 



From August, 1863, when I mailed 

 the first queen and attendant bees that 

 were ever shipped by mail transit, un- 

 til March, 18(36. there was no provision 

 of law mentioning bees as mail mat- 

 ter, yet if Mr. Henry Alley is good au- 

 thoritj-, bees have been shipped in the 

 mails each year from the beginning of 

 1863 ; and that, too, notwithstanding 

 the Post-Office Department, by special 

 order, prohibited the mailing of loees. 



In May, 1873, Hon. B. F. Butler, 

 while a member of Congress, inter- 

 viewed the Postmaster General with a 

 view of getting the order revoked, but 

 Benjamhi was informed that he, the 

 Postmaster, "does not deem it advis- 

 able to reverse or modify the former 

 decision." (See the American Bee 

 Journal for 1873, page 110). 



I mentioned hypothetic.ally, that the 

 language of the law referred to might 

 be construed to include four or five 

 million attendant bees, providing the 

 package did not exceed four pounds. 

 In answer to my opinion thus ex- 

 pressed, Mr. Bingham, with the air of 

 a " court of last resort," declares, un- 

 qualifiedly, that the meaning of the 

 law is otherwise — that is, a pound of 

 bees is not mailable matter, and he 

 gives notice that he, "as a Postmaster, 

 should not accept a package of worker- 

 bees as a queen-bee and her attend- 

 ants, but should regard it as unsafe 

 and not within the meaning of the 

 law, and should refer the matter to the 

 Postal Department at Washington." 



Refer what matter ? A package of 

 bees is handed to him as mail matter, 

 and postage paid or tendered. Then 

 what is the Postmaster's duty in the 

 case ? He should examine the pack- 

 age criticallj-- -is not required to count 

 the bees nor measure the package, but 

 estimate or weigh the whole, and his 

 most important official duty is to ex- 

 amine and assure hinlself that tlie bees 

 are "securely and properly put up so as 

 not to do injury," as the law directs. 

 To see that the cages are reasonably 

 secure from accident, is all that is in- 

 cumbent on Postmasters in their dis- 

 cretion. 



If a Postmaster should find that a 

 cage of bees which is offered him to 

 mail were not properly put up, he 

 ought to exclude the package — refuse 

 to mail it. But if the cage, on exami- 

 nation, appears to be securely formed 

 and closed to hold the bees in transit 

 — none more competent to decide than 

 T. F. Bingham — then he would not be 

 justified in refusing to mail nor hold- 



ing to "refer the matter," but in his 

 refusal or holding, lie would be liable 

 for damages sustained by the party 

 offering the package, in an action Ln 

 the local courts. Suppose a bundle of 

 one thousand, more or less, of queen- 

 bees and their attendants, were handed 

 to Mr. Bingham as mail matter. The 

 bees, all of them, are in one bundle, 

 which weighs less than four pounds, 

 and postage paid. He examines the 

 cage (externally of course), and it ap- 

 pears to be substantial, the bees being 

 properly put up. He considers, "Now 

 I have an old-fashioned notion that it 

 is not the ' meaning of the law,' that 

 so many bees can be mailed in one 

 'bundle.' No, I will not 'accept' 

 them. I will ' refer the matter to the 

 Department.' " How does that strike 

 men of practical sense ? 



Mr. Bingham, including certain 

 others, express momentous fear in the 

 matter — fear that Messrs. Pratt, Doo- 

 little and Robinson will, in the course 

 of human events, turn things upside 

 down — they will " let loose a pound of 

 worker-bees in the mail cars, or 

 pouches, or post-office," and then 

 everybodj' would be so crazy that bees 

 would be excluded from the mails — 

 such apprehension is so unreasonable 

 that but few take stock in it. 



They fear that the Postmaster Gen- 

 eral will be so unwise in case an 

 " accident occurs," as to repeal Sec. 

 372, or the eighth sub-division. Why 

 not trust Congress to act in the matter? 

 That bodj' ought to be as wise as our- 

 selves. 



The "danger" does nol lie in the 

 inattention of shippers, nor the proba- 

 bility that accidents might occur. The 

 danger lies in the fact that Postmasters 

 will fail to do their duty; will not see 

 that cages containing bees are securely 

 fitted ; will not see that bees are prop- 

 erl3' put up for mailing. The ineffi- 

 cient Postmasters are the only source 

 of danger, because thej; generally fail 

 to do that which the law requires 

 them to do, viz : see that the bees, 

 when offered, are properly put up. 

 Who believes or suspects that Messrs. 

 Doolittle or Pratt would offer a pack- 

 age of bees as mail matter unless they 

 were secure from accident ? If all 

 shippers of bees put them up as secure 

 as does that hero, Mr. Frank Benton, 

 no rackets would occur. He sends 

 bees in the mails safely from the Alps 

 to South America and to Oregon. 



Late in the fall of 1888, I was ex- 

 pecting queens by mail. One day when 

 the mail arrived, I stepped into the 

 Post-office, and when the pouch was 

 emptied, the Postmaster and some of 

 his clerks cried out: "Robinson 

 come here, your bees ai'e swarming." 

 I found one queen crawling into a 

 letter-box, and I secured all of the 



