The Occurrence of Diseases of Adult Bees, II. 33 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY. 



SERVICE AND REGULATORY ANNOUNCEMENTS. 



SPECIAL RULES 



For the Importation of Queenbees for Experimental and Scientific Purposes by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in Accordance With Regulation 4 of the Rules and Regulations Pre- 

 scribed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Agriculture and Made 

 Effective as of May 15, 1923. 



Regulation 4 of the rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the 

 Treasury and the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with the Act of Au- 

 gust 31, 1922 (Public No. 293— 67th Congress), is as follows: 



Regulation 4. On representation by any person to the Department of Agriculture that 

 there is adequate necessity for the importation of adult honeybees for experimental and 

 scientific purposes, from any country other than those determined by the Secretary of 

 Agriculture to be free of all diseases dangerous to adult honeybees, the Department of 

 Agriculture will undertake to import such adult honeybees under the first proviso of 

 the Act for the purpose intended, when the Department sball determine that such im- 

 portations can be made without risk to the beekeeping industry of the country. 



(2) All shipments of adult honeybees made for experimental and scientific purposes 

 shall be addressed to the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, 

 and shall be subject to such examinations and holding in quarantine as may be necessary 

 to determine the freedom of the shipment from diseases dangerous to adult honeybees. 

 It is understood, as a further precautionary measure, that, the Department of Agricul- 

 ture will destroy all the worker bees accompanying such imported queenbees and will 

 provide fresh worker bees and a fresh mailing cage for each such shipment. Any such 

 importation made for experimental and scientific purposes wbich is found to be infected 

 with any disease dangerous to adult honeybees may be destroyed or returned to the 

 country of origin, at the option of the Department of Agriculture and no shipment will 

 be distributed until the Department of Agriculture is convinced that the adult honeybees 

 therein contained are free from all dangerous diseases. Any persons receiving adult 

 honeybees distributed by the Department of Agriculture shall agree to the re-examina- 

 tion of the shipment from time to time, at the option of the Department, and shall relin- 

 quish the shipment and any increase, therein to the Department of Agriculture for de- 

 struction or safeguarding, should any diseases dangerous to adult honeybees at any time 

 develop in connection with it. 



Information is not at present available as to the number of queenbees which 

 are urgently needed for experimental and scientific purposes, but the number 

 of such importations will necessarily be limited by the Department's facilities 

 for examining the imported material and for keeping the imported queenbees 

 in quarantine for such time as may be deemed essential. In order, therefore, 

 to limit the volume of such importations and to insure that the queenbees shall 

 be imported solely for experimental and scientific purposes, as provided by the 

 law, and in order adequately to safeguard the beekeeping interests of the United 

 States, the following special rules are announced to govern such importations : 



(1) Importations will be limited to the following classes of institutions and 

 persons : 



(a) Public institutions, such as Agricultural Colleges, Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Stations, and similar institutions, which desire to conduct investigations 

 on the various races of honeybees, may obtain queenbees through importation 

 by the Department of Agriculture for such experiments. 



(b) An individual, who can show that he is engaged in some special field 

 of experimental and scientific work in beekeeping or with honeybees, may, on a 

 satisfactory showing of scientific training and experience requisite for such 

 work, obtain queenbees through importation by the Department of Agriculture 

 for that purpose, provided there is reason to believe that the proposed ex- 

 perimental and scientific work will have value as a public service. 



(c) Commercial queen-breeders, who urgently need queenbees for breeding 

 experiments, may apply to the Department of Agriculture to have the neces- 

 sary importations made. Such an application shall contain, or be accompanied 

 by, evidence that the applicant is engaged in the rearing of queenbees on a 

 commercial scale and shall indicate the purpose of, and the necessity for, the 

 importations. If an applicant is not well known to the Department, he may be 

 required to submit a list of persons qualified to substantiate statements made 

 regarding his ability and standing as a breeder of queenbees. 



(d) The Department of Agriculture does not consider that the experimental 

 and scientific purpose for which importations may be made under said Regula- 

 tion 4 includes the importation of queenbees for individual beekeepers merely 

 for the purpose of requeening their own apiaries. In case, however, queens of 



