i'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



405 



Explanatory*— Tbe figures before the 

 names Indicate the number of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Those after, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in the 

 previous spring and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark O indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near the center of the State named; 

 5 north of the center; ? south; 0+ east; 

 ♦O west; and this c5 northeast; ^D northwest: 

 c>>. southeast; and ? southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



^or the American Bee Journal. 



Mailing Queen-Bees to Canada. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



In the Bee Journal for 1883, page 

 511, 1 had occiission to speak of send- 

 ing queens by mail to Canada, giving 

 there how I had managed, until there 

 was no more trouble with their going 

 safely than in the United States, for 

 queens had then been sent to that 

 place so long that it had become a 

 custom with the postmasters of both 

 countries to look npon queens as 

 mailable between the United States 

 and Canada, although every Postal 

 Guide printed said plainly that such 

 was not the case. 



Knowing that the laws in force be- 

 tween the two countries would pro- 

 hibit queens from the mails to Can- 

 ada, if such laws were executed, I 

 closed my article thus: "As the 

 queen tratBc is assuming large pro- 

 portions between the two countries, 

 I would suggest that a better way 

 than the above would be for some of 

 the bee-keepers of either country, 

 having influence with the postofflce 

 departments, to see if a law cannot be 

 obtained allowing queens to pass in 

 the mails between the two countries, 

 thereby avoiding the very appearance 

 ot evil." But as queens were allowed 

 in the mails we settled down with 

 folded hands, contented to let things 

 remain as they were, until now we 

 are rudely awakened by queens being 

 returned from the lines as " unmail- 

 able to Canada." 



On May IG, among a lot of queens 

 placed in our postoffice, was a choice 

 selected queen directed to Ontario, 

 Canada. Four days later the same 

 queen came back with " unmailable 

 to Canada " written on the tag, sent 

 by the postmaster at Suspension 

 Bridge, N. Y. The package was 

 directed as hundreds of such going 

 safely had been before it, saying, 

 " Queen-bee for the improvement of 

 stock," and 10 cents in postage stamps 

 affixed. I immediately wrote to the 

 Suspension Bridge postmaster as fol- 

 lows : 



"Borodino, N. Y., May 21, 1886. 

 Postmaster at Suspension Bridge, 

 N. Y.— Dear Sir : The enclosed tag 



you will doubtless recognize as one 

 attached to a little box containing a 

 queen-bee and her attendants, which 

 you returned to our postmaster as 

 unmailable matter to Canada. I am 

 aware that the postal regulations say 

 that you are right, but to lielp ad- 

 vance a growing industry, both in 

 Canada and the United States, post- 

 masters ot the past have allowed 

 queens to pass to and from Canada as 

 samples of merchandise (which they 

 really are), much to the advantage of 

 all concerned. I have sent during 

 the past five years hundreds of queens 

 to Canada, all of which have gone 

 safely, since 1 wrote queen-bee for the 

 improvement of stock on the tag. Now, 

 will you not please do as former post- 

 masters have done, and help advance 

 our industry V By so doing you will 

 only be following a custom of the 

 past, and receive the heart- felt thanks 

 of bee-keepers in all parts of the 

 United States and Canada. Please 

 reply telling me what I may expect, 

 as I have orders for a score or more 

 of queens from Canada." 



The following is his reply : 



" Suspension Bridge, N. Y.. May 25, 

 1886.— Mr. G. M. Doolittle— Dear Sir : 

 You letter at hand this a.m. Post- 

 masters who have allowed bees to 

 pass into Canada by mail have not 

 understood the rulings of the post- 

 offlce department. By reading Note 

 4 on page 770, in the January, 1886, 

 Guide, and also Note 20 on page 753 

 of the same Guide, you will see that 

 merchandise is not mailable to Can- 

 ada. 1 send to your postmaster a 

 letter which I have from the depart- 

 ment on the bee-question. Please 

 call at the postoffice and see this 

 letter. You can then write to the 

 department and ask them to remedy 

 the matter. We cannot allow them 

 to pass through the mail.— Wm. Carr, 

 P.M." 



Upon calling at the postoffice I 

 found the following letter in the 

 hands of our postmaster : 



No. 71924 Canada. 



"Postofflce Department, Office of 

 Foreign Mails, Washington, D. C, 

 May 6, 1886.— Sir : In reply to your 

 letter of the 4th inst.. inquiring as to 

 the rate of postage applicable to bees 

 addressed to Canada, I have to in- 

 form you that the transmission of 

 articles of merchandise by mail be- 

 tween the United States and Canada 

 is limited by the postal arrangement 

 in force between the two countries to 

 bonafide trade patterns or samples (spec- 

 imens) not exceeding 8 ounces in 

 weight, and that articles of merchan- 

 dise such as queen-bees, sent for sale, 

 in execution of an order or as gifts, 

 are not bonaflde samples, and are not 

 transmissible by mail from one coun- 

 try to the other. In this connection 

 see Note 4 of foreign postage table on 

 page 770, and paragraphs 20 and 21 on 

 page 753 of the United States Official 

 Postal Guide for January, 1886. — 

 Nicholas M. Bell, Superintendent of 

 Foreign Mail. 



To postmaster at Suspension Bridge, 

 N. Y." 



It will be noted that the postmaster 

 at Suspension Bridge had taken occa- 

 sion to write to the superintendent of 

 foreign mails 12 days before I mailed 

 any queens to ("anada. What caused 

 him to do so is unknown to me. In a 

 dav or two after this I fitted up a cage 

 to go in an ordinary letter envelope, 

 put the queen in and mailed it via 

 Buffalo, N. Y., by registered mail. As 

 the queen arrived safely sent in two 

 sealed envelopes (my envelope and 

 the register envelope), it would look 

 as if our precaution regarding the 

 ventilation of queen-cages is not 

 necessary. 



When I heard that the queen was 

 safely in Canada, I again wrote to the 

 postmaster at Suspension Bridge, 

 thanking him for so kindly returning 

 the queen to me instead of detaining 

 her until dead, or sending it to the 

 dead letter office. I also showed him 

 from letters in my possession, and 

 from clippings from the bee- papers, 

 that queens were passing through 

 other postoffices to Canada, and ask- 

 ing if he could not allow queens to 

 pass until arrangements could be 

 made and a new law rendered which 

 would allow queens to pass legally. I 

 also asked him how he came to stop 

 queens now when he formerly let 

 them pass. Here is his reply : 



" Suspension Bridge, N. Y., June 4, 

 1886.— G. M. Doolittle— Sir : \ our 

 letter ot the 2d at hand. I am sorry I 

 cannot allow your bees to pass into 

 Canada. We have allowed them to 

 pass until quite recently, and then 

 stopped onlv on receiving a letter 

 from Washington from the superin- 

 tendent of foreign mails. 1 shall at 

 once refer your letter to the Depart- 

 ment, and hope they may make satis- 

 factory arrangements. — Wm. Carr, P. 

 M.— perD." 



I have written to the Department 

 to see what can be done, for I* have 

 orders waiting for some 2o or 30 

 queens, with more still arriving 

 nearly every day. As the matter nov? 

 stands. Suspension Bridge is barred 

 against us, and as most of the mail to 

 Ontario passes there from the Jiast 

 and South, our traffic must stop un- 

 less something can be done. Now, 

 brother bee-keepers, let us arise and 

 unfold our hands, and make such a 

 "racket" that something will be 

 done. As Prof. Cook did us such 

 good service when the mails of the 

 United States was closed against 

 queens, I would suggest that he, by 

 the authority of the Bee-Keepers' 

 Union, negotiate with the Depiirt- 

 ment at Washington, and in Canada, 

 to see if we cannot be protected by a 

 law to the mutual advantage of our 

 industry in both these countries. 

 What say yon, friend Newman V 



Borodino,© N. Y. 



[See editorial note on the foregoing 

 article on page 403.— Ed.] 



Convention Notice. 



f^ The 5th regular meetinE of the Hill County 

 Bee-keepers' Association will be held on the first 

 Tuesday in July, IH--*!, at the apiary of Hon. J. M. 

 McDaniel, of Peoria. Tex. At the same time and 

 place will he held a bee-keepers' honey picnic. 



H. A. Goodrich, Sfc. 



