AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



631 



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EDITOR. 



VflLnVIL May 14 1891, No, 20. 



Editorial BuzziMS- 



And Now tlie Sun in glory shines, 

 Dispelling clouds of sorrow ; 



But do not take jour flannels off, 

 It may not shine to-morrow. 



Uniformity of sections and crates' 

 should now be discussed freely. 



Hon. R. L,. Taylor, of Lapeer, 

 Mich., has been suffering from the effects 

 of La Grippe ever since April 1. Since 

 that he has been confined in bed most of 

 the time. We are much pleased to be 

 able to say thai) he is now recovering, 

 and we hope will soon be himself again. 



Haldimand Bee-Keepers will 

 meet at Nelles' Corners, on Saturday, 

 May 16, at 11 a.m., when the following 

 subjects will be taken up : 1. Report 

 of Wintering ; 2. Natural vs. Artificial 

 Swarming ; 3. Spreading Brood-Nests 

 to Stimulate Breeding ; 4. How to Rear 

 Good Queens? E. C. Campbell is the 

 Secretary. 



l^e Breatlie More Freely 



since reading the following item from 

 the Signal Service reports concerning 

 the damage done to crops in Michigan 

 by the frosts of last week. We hope 

 that all danger is now past, and that no 

 further trouble need be feared. The 

 item reads thus : 



An investigation has been made of the 

 effects of frosts on May 5 and 6. The 

 fruit belt of Western Michigan is said to 

 have received little injury; though the 

 damage has been serious, especially to 

 small fruits and vegetables, in other 

 parts of Michigan. Nearly all unite in 

 saying that no injury to the growing 

 crops has occurred. 



Tariff on Queens.— Prof. A. J. 

 Cook writes as follows on this matter : 



Should not the Bee-Keepers' Union 

 act at once on this matter of talt'iff on 

 queens ? The McKinley bill makes the 

 duty on all animals 20 per cent. Bees 

 are animals. Breeding animals are ex- 

 empt. Thus queens would be free. But 

 this exemption only comes through vari- 

 ous certificates, etc. And each im- 

 porter not having these papers, and not 

 daring to leave his importations in the 

 Custom House, must pay the duty. 



Now, I suggest that as all queen-bees 

 come assuredly within the spirit of the 

 law, the Bee-Keepers' Union move at 

 once to secure from the Secretary of the 

 Treasury a ruling admitting all queens 

 free of duty without any fuss or feathers. 

 I believe a proper showing will secure 

 this action. I am receiving various 

 complaints (one very loud one) regarding 

 this matter. The law certainly works 

 great wrong, and I hope we may get a 

 modification through such a ruling as 

 suggested above, that will remove the 

 burden from our importers. Is not this 

 worth an effort ? — A. J. Cook. 



Most assuredly it is worth the effort, 

 and the General Manager of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Union has written to the 

 Secretary of the Treasury, pleading for 

 the bees, and asking for a ruling from 

 the Treasury Department, admitting the 

 queen-bees for breeding purposes free of 

 duty, without any unnecessary red tape, 

 as they did under the old law on ex- 

 emptions. As soon as an answer is 

 received, we will let our readers know 

 the result. 



