AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



729 



Duty on Queen-Bees. 



It is amusing to notice some of the 

 remarks made by the daily newspapers 

 concerning tlie recent decisions of the 

 Treasury Department to collect customs 

 duty on imported queen-bees. Here are 

 a few of such, which may cause a laugh: 



There is a tariff of 20 per cent, ad 

 valorem on Italian queen-bees (mothers), 

 but Sicilian pa -drones are on the free 

 list. — Detroit Tribune. 



The decision that Italian queen-bees 

 cannot be admitted to the United States 

 free of duty because they have no pedi- 

 gree, and are not entered in any 

 register, is a blow at dago royalty. It 

 would cause no regret if the rule were 

 applied rigorously to other importations 

 from Italy. — Detroit Free Press. 



Considering the usefulness of queen- 

 bees, it seems an unjust discrimination 

 that imposes a duty upon them before 

 entrance to this country, and admits 

 members of the Mafia free. If it were 

 not for the latter fact it might be 

 thought that the bees were barred be- 

 cause they are known to carry stilettos. 

 — Indianapolis Journa I. 



The Treasury Department has decided 

 that queen-bees sent through the mails 

 from Italy to a purchaser in Iowa are 

 liable to a duty of 20 per cent, ad 

 valorem. Under the fine-drawn provisions 

 of the McKinley tariff, the exemption 

 heretofore accorded to animals intended 

 for breeding purposes cannot be made to 

 cover queen-bees. Those royal insects 

 have no recorded pedigree. McKinley 

 insists on a pedigree, or in default, the 

 payment of a fine. — Philadelphia Record. 



The customs collector at New York 

 has been authorized by the Treasury 

 Department to order the release on the 

 expected arrival there of a shipment of 

 Italian queen-bees, sent through the 

 mails from Italy to a citizen of Iowa, 

 upon the payment of a fine equal to the 

 duty due thereon. 



Under the act of March 3, 1883, 

 queen-bees were held to be exempt from 

 duty under the provision for animals, 

 especially imported for breeding pur- 

 poses. The tariff law of 1890, however, 

 excludes from these privileges animals 

 not usually recorded in special books and 

 pedigrees, and consequently renders 

 these bees liable to duty at 20 per cent. 

 ad valorem. The importer was not 

 aware of the new provision of law when 

 he ordered the shipment above referred 



to, and he will have to pay the duty 

 due thereon. —Telegraph. 



Bee-keepers complain that the Mc- 

 Kinley tariff bill has put a duty of 20 

 per cent, ad valorem on queen-bees im- 

 ported into this country. Bees are live 

 animals, and hence come under the 

 provisions of the act. They have no 

 registered pedigrees, so cannot squeeze 

 in as "animals imported for breeding 

 purposes." The Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury has been appealed to, but the pro- 

 visions are so strict there is no loop hole 

 big enough to let even a queen-bee 

 come in. — Michigan Farmer. 



Swarming- peculiarities are thus 

 questioned by Thomas Hill, of Young's 

 Creek, Ind. : 



1. Why do bees fill the hive and 

 sections with honey, and then swarm 

 before capping the honey ? 



2. Why do they sometimes swarm, and 

 then return to the hive again ? 



1. Bees do not, as a rule,fill the hive and 

 sections before swarming ; if they did we 

 could very easily keep them from swarm- 

 ing at all, by seeing that they, at all 

 times, had unfilled room. 



2. Because the queen fails to get into 

 the air with the swarm, or after so doing 

 drops down, or the bees are only half- 

 hearted about swarming in the first 

 place, and conclude to give it up. 



Queen- Rearing- by Doolittle's 

 method is a success in the hands of 

 extensive breeders as well as by novices. 

 John Nebel & Son, High Hill, Mo., on 

 May 25, 1891, write thus: 



We now rear all our queens by the 

 Doolittle method. Last year we reared 

 800 queens, and nearly all of them 

 were reared as advised by his book. This 

 year we have so far reared about 400, 

 and we would not now adopt any other 

 plan. If any have failed, they must 

 have made bad work in starting queen- 

 cups. 



]>fo Railroad Man in the world 



is more widely known, or more popular, 

 than Chauncey M. Depew. Over the 

 caption of "Our National Orator," a 

 magnificent picture of him is presented 

 on the first page of Frank Leslie's 

 Illustrated Newspaper this week. 



