160 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mai;. 1. 



as willing to do justice to others as we are to 

 have justice done ourselves, and then we shall 

 have that most satisfying of all things, a clear 

 conscience. Volney Whitk. 



Findlev's Lake. N. Y., Feb. 10. 



QUEENS BY MAIL TO AUSTRALIA, 11.500 

 MILES AWAY. 



A BIT OF IIISrORV. 



Perhaps the readers of Gleanings would be 

 interested in a brief history of mailing (lueens. 

 before any thing is said regarding the title of 

 this article. The first queen ever sent by mail 

 was sent out by C. J. Robinson, of New York. I 

 believe, he sending the same to Rev. L. L. 

 Langstroth in the early sixties. Froiu this 

 sprang the sending of queens through the mail, 

 although most queens were sent by express 

 previous to the seventies. About ISTo. mailing 

 queens became quite common: but for them to 

 reach their destination in good order, at that 

 time, where shipped more than lOOu miles, was 

 the exception rather than the rule. During 

 the early eighties this part of our business had 

 so advanced that nearly all were successrul in 

 sending queens to all but the more remote parts 

 of the United States and Canada. At that time 

 I had no trouble in having nearly every queen 

 go alive, except when sent to the more remote 

 parts of Texas. California. Oregon, and the 

 Northwest Territory of Canada. I can well 

 remember the losses we had in trying for tliesc 

 places, especially in Southern Texas, where the 

 queens had to endure fi'om two to six days of 

 staging in the hot sun, confined in a close mail- 

 bag, on the last end of the route, when their 

 vitality was W(>ll-nigh exhausted by the rough 

 usage they must previously endure. I also 

 remember what a feeling of relief came ovcm- 

 me when, through the Good candy and a modi- 

 fication of our cages. I had no longei' any trou- 

 ble in having (lueens ri'acli these moi'e remott^ 

 parts in safety. Having accomplished this I 

 next tried sending a queen across the Atlantic 

 Ocean, to Scotland, a distance of about H.")()l) 

 miles, which went safely. This was in August, 

 1883, an account of which will be found on page 

 599 of Gleanings for that year. Mr. Cameron, 

 to whom this queen was sent, thought this was 

 th(^ first queen that ever crossed the Atlantic 

 Ocean by mail, and so wrote; but I believe later 

 facts reveal that the honor of sending the first 

 queen across the ocean belongs to Frank Ben- 

 ton, he sending them from the Old World over 

 here. Since 188.3 I iiave sent several queens to 

 the British Isles and the West Indies, having 

 little more trouble in sending to these countries 

 than in sending to the more remote parts of our 

 own country. In August, 1884. 1 mailed a queen 

 to New Zealand, the same reaching there just 

 alive, as is given on page :24 of Gleanings" for 

 188.">. The next trial proved a failure, as this 

 last queen was 7r.' days oi route, I knowing 

 nothing at that time regarding the running 

 time of the steamers which ply between here 

 and that country. After 1885 I made no effort 

 to mail queens a greater distance than 4000 

 miles, till the present season, during which I 

 have mailed 1,') to Australia. 



HOW SEND? 



By "how send?" I mean, shall tliey go hy 

 letter postage, or what is termed first-class nuit- 

 tei-, when sending queens to foreign countries, 

 or shall they go as samples of merclKiu(lis(>. or 

 by sample iM)st? Page 7".' of Gi,i;ANiN(is for 

 1891. and also page 970, tells us to put on letter 

 postage when sending queens to New Zealand 

 or Australia, or. in other words, send them as 



first-class matter. If friend Root will read his 

 third paragraph in second column on page 72 

 (that part of it which is taken from the Postal 

 Guide) over again I think he will see that he 

 made a mistake. As I read the Postal Guide 

 and also his quotation, to all the countries 

 mentioned pi'evious to Australia, queens go as 

 samples of merchandise, or as fourth-class mat- 

 tei'. hence are not subject to letter postage, 

 which he says we should put on. Wherever I 

 speak of the Postal Guide in this article I mean 

 the January edition. 1891, as. so far, the edition 

 for 1892 has not reached us. Australia has 

 since then gone into the Universal Postal 

 Union, which affects the postage on letters to 

 that country: but, if I am right, the postage on 

 samples of merchandise remains unchanged. 

 Page 849 of the Guide, in speaking of proliit)ited 

 articles, to (tU foreign countries, mentions in 

 the list ■■ live or dead animals or insects." which, 

 of course, includes bees. But to this there are 

 certain exceptions, and one of these exceptions 

 is the one alluded to by friend Root on page 72, 

 wher<^ (jueen-bees can be sent to certain coun- 

 tries in cages .5x2xl>2 inches. I also note that 

 "other articles * * * may be transmitted in 

 the mails to foreign countries * * * and ex- 

 changeable in the mails with said countries 

 when inclosed in the form prescribed for such 

 articles in domestic mails." Now. as queen- 

 bees can go to the Hawaiian Kingdom (Sand- 

 wich Islands) as samples of merchandise; and 

 as the same steamers which carry the mails 

 from San Francisco. Cal.. to this kingdom go 

 on through to New Zealand and Australia, I 

 take it for granted that "when inclosed in the 

 form prescribed for sucli (trtU'les in domestic 

 mails." queen-bees can go right through to 

 Australia as samples uf merchandise, or by 

 sample post, if they can go tlirough at all. 

 Now. if lam right in this matter, the size of 

 cage (5x2xU._, ) has nothing to do with queens to 

 Australia; foi- if they are allowed to go there 

 at all they will go in any cage that would be 

 allowed in our domestic mails, and the dimen- 

 sions or limit in size to such cages has never 

 yet be(Mi fixed, that I am aware of. Taking 

 this view of the mattei-, I acted accordingly, 

 and have the satisfaction of knowing that 

 queens by parcel post at four cents postage for 

 each four ounces or fraction thereof reached 

 their destination in better condition than when 

 sent as first-class matter, as a part of the l."> 

 were sent. 



Before closing this part of the article. I wish 

 to say that, when we come down to strict right. 

 I don't think that bees are really lawful in the 

 mails to Australia, and hope that some effort 

 will be made through the Bee-keepers' Union 

 or otherwise so tliat it may. in the nea- future, 

 be lawful to so send them, not only to Austra- 

 lia, but to all parts of the woi-ld. for. evidently, 

 the infusing of new blood into our apiaries 

 every few years is to be of gi'eat advantage to 

 all. " G. M. DooLiTTi.E. 



Borodino. X. Y. 



To he (■(iiithiiictl. 



[Our reasons for putting lettei' postage on 

 packages of queen-bees addressed to New Zea- 

 land and Australia are found in the following 

 extracts from Postal Guide, .lanuarv. 1892, page 

 905: 



Queen-bees, ill wooden boxes not exceeding' .5x2x 

 1'/^ inches in sizi\ closed witli a wiie screen protect- 

 ed hy a niovahle wooden lid, may be sent to the 

 Ai'yentine Ueiiuhli<\ Belfriuni. Huljiaiia, Cliili, Co- 

 lombia, Confio. tlie Dutcli West Indies, the Danisli 

 West Indies, Kg-ypt, Guatemala. Haytl, Sandwicli 

 Islands, tlie Republic of Honduras, India (Biitish), 

 Italy, Liberia, Mexico, tlie Netlierl mds, East Indies, 

 Pariig'uay, Portug:al and the Portuguese Colonies. 

 Koumania, Siani. Spain, and Swilzeiland. as samples 



