1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



551 



spring into action under any circumstances 

 favorable to tlieir develo|)iiient. It was differ- 

 ent with Ranibiej'. lie inlierits this migratory 

 disposition, and this present attaclc is simply 

 the outward manifestation of a constitutional 

 disease. 



NO DUTY ON IMPORTED QUEENS. 



FUKTHEK PAKTICITLARS. AM) WHO HKorfiHT 

 ABOUT THE SPECIAI. KULING. 



KAMHLEK, HIS COMRADE, AND THE DOCTOR — 

 THE TABLES TURNED. 



The discussion continued to a late hour, the 

 fever running higher and higher. Alarming 

 symptoms having set in, I was summoned at 

 midnight, and arrived just in time to see the 

 lamp of life Hicker in its socket, ready to go 

 out. I lost no time in administering cordials 

 and stimulants to bring about a reaction. The 

 stimulants seemed to agree with Miller. He 

 soon felt better, was himself again, and called 

 for more. Not so with Rambler. He was pos- 

 itive the stimulants made him worse. As a 

 last resort I spread two large mustard plasters, 

 and applied one in front and the other behind: 

 and in due course of time I inquired how he 

 felt. He being a modest, well-bred man, sim- 

 ply replied that he realized, with a tc/uZcrucs-s' 

 he never felt before, the exact position of a 

 sandwich in the community. Reaction now 

 being fully established, matters began to look 

 more encouraging. 1 therefore excused myself 

 for the night. 



On calling the next morning I found my pa- 

 tients able to get from the bed to the table, and 

 from the table back to the bed again, and their 

 heads level, especially on the bee-business. So, 

 in oi'der to settle matters for good, and retain 

 the friendship of my patients, I suggested a 

 change of climate. ladvised them to go west, 

 and halt not until they reached the Golden 

 Gate. 



"That is the best prescription you ever 

 gave," said Miller. "I go. To friends, hob- 

 bies, and home, I bid adieu. I sacrifice every 

 thing. I turn my face toward the setting sun." 



" Same here, brother," said Rambler. 



" To my own deai' Lake George, those broad 

 valleys, those rough and rugged hills my eyes 

 have scanned for half a century, I bid adieu for 

 ever. Of my ancestral home, a spot than 

 which none other seems so deai', I take a long 

 farewell. Your prc^scription. doctor, is as sweet 

 as honey. I swallow it at one mouthful. My 

 eyes are fixed on the Golden Gate. 1 go. I 

 take nothing with me liut a paper collar." 



I suggestiKl, in the most tender and gentle 

 manner, the propriety of his taking liis clothes 

 and a few shekels of silver along with him. 

 Miller acquiesced, acknowledging that, per- 

 haps, some time he might feel the need of them 

 both. 



Finding my patients now in a happy frame of 

 mind, and able to ti'avel, with a warm wave 

 of the hand I bade them adieu, wishing them a 

 God-speed on their journey. J. M. Merchant. 



Warren, R. I., April '6. 



Friend i?oot;— We have won all along the 

 line. Although an excellent lawyer, himself an 

 official high in government employ, told me 

 that he saw no hope under the present law. ex- 

 cept by special legislation. I did not rest the 

 matter, but wrote an elaborate memorial to 

 Sec. Foster, urging a liberal construction. This 

 is now given, and we can receive queens hy 

 inail. and free of duty. Three cheers for U. S. ! 

 I inclose the letters, which I am sure will be of 

 interest to the readers of (Jeeanings. 



Ag'l College, :\[ich., June 18. A. J. Cook. 



[When we saw the item in the daily papers, 

 as reported editorially in our last issue, we sur- 

 mised that Prof. Cook had been doing some 

 good work; and from the above it appeal's that 

 we were coi-rect. Perhaps an ordinary individ- 

 ual would have been discouraged aiid left the 

 matter as it was. with 20 per cent ad valorem 

 duty. Not so with our energetic and indefati- 

 gable friend Cook. This makes twice that he 

 has rendered distinguished service to bee-keep- 

 ers — first, in securing the privilege of sending 

 queens by mail; second, in securing the release 

 of the duty on imported queens. Three cheers 

 for Prof. Cook, and for Assistant Secretary 

 Spaulding. of the Treasury Department! Hip, 

 hip, hi pi — 



The following is a copy of the letter from the 

 Acting Chief of the Divisions of Customs. An- 

 drew Johnson: 

 DIVISIONS OF I TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 



CUSTOMS f OFFICE OF THE SECRETAISY, 



V702. Waxhingttm, D. C. June 15, 1S!)1. 



Prof. A. J. Cook. Zonhif/ical Department, AoricuUuml 

 Collene. Mich., iiir:— You arc hereby leferrod to tlie 

 Collector of Customs at New Ydik, fur tlio Deiiart- 

 ment's decision of the 13th instant on tlie case men- 

 tioned in your letter dated 15tli ultimo, relative to 

 entry of queen-bees. A copy of the decision is here- 

 witli inclosed. Respectfully yoiii-s. 



(1 End.) Andrew Johnson, 



Actiny Chief of the Divisionit nf Cuftoins. 



The next is a copy of the instructions to the 

 Collector of Customs, containing the decision 

 which brings alwut the relief: 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 



7702-F. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, 



liashiiHjto}!. D. C. .Tunc 12, ISfll. 



Collector of C(/sfo7?!.s. Neir Yoik. N. U., So-;— Tlie 

 Department is in receipt of a letter from Mr. A. J. 

 Cook, Professor Zoolojjieal Department, Micliig-an 

 Agricultuial College, dated the 15th ultimo, in whicli 

 he incloses a copy of letter addressed by you to Mr. 

 W. C. Fraziur, Atlantic, Iowa, in relation' to the ad- 

 mission to free entry of queen bees undei- the provi- 

 sion of paragraph 4S2 of the Act of October 1, 1890, 

 which exempts from payment of duty " any anlmiil 

 imiKiited specially for laeedins' purjioses,"" but pre- 

 scrilies that "no such animal sliall l>e admitted free 

 unk'ss jmre bred of a i-ecojiiii/.ed breed, and duly 

 registered in the book of iccorci, established for that 

 breed," and that " eertitleatc of such record and of 

 the pedigive of such animal shall be iModiiced and 

 submitted to the customs otftcer, duly authenti<'ated 

 by the picijier eustodian of such book of record, to- 

 getlier with \hv affidavit of the owner, ag-ent, or ini- 

 poi'tei', that such animal is the identical aiumal de- 

 scrilied Iti said ceitific ate of lecord iuid pedijjree." 



It has been reiiresented to the Department, and it 

 is doubtless true, that i|ueen-beeS, whicli are classi- 

 fied for duty as animals, are never imported for any 

 purpose other tlum Ijieeding; that thej' are always 

 of superior breed, and adapted to impix)ve the stock 

 ill this country, but that, from the nature of the 

 case, the keeping of l)ooks of record of the recog- 

 nized breeds and the furnishing of certiflcates of 

 registry, as I'equired by said provision of law, is im- 

 practicable. 



Queen-bees were admitted to free entry under the 

 pro\nsious for animals specially imported for breed- 



