§ SIR HOWARD VINCENTI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster General, will he explain why the United Kingdom, alone of countries and colonies within the Postal Union, declines to carry live bees by post if securely fastened; and whether, having regard to the desirability of encouraging every branch of rural industry, the Postmaster General will be good enough to reconsider the restrictions placed by his predecessors upon this form of postal traffic, which in the United States and elsewhere appears not to be attended with any unsatisfactory results?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. R. W. HANBURY,) PrestonI do not know whether my hon. and gallant Friend contemplates postal facilities for a single bee or a swarm—[laughter]—or whether he would also send by post other live specimens of rural industry. He is, however, mistaken in supposing the United Kingdom to stand alone in this matter. On the contrary, many countries and colonies within the Postal Union share its objection to the transmission of live bees in the ordinary mails. Against the transmission in these mails of anything likely either to damage the correspondence or to injure postal officials there is a general prohibition of the Union; live creatures are held by the British Post Office to come within this prohibition, and there seems to be no special ground for excepting live bees. The ordinary mails, it has to, be borne in mind, are in this country frequently transferred by apparatus to and from railway trains in motion—a process necessarily attended by shock and consequent risk of breakage in the case of anything fragile or not securely enough packed; and in the event of such breakage happening to a consignment of live bees the creatures would almost certainly escape into the 653 mail bag and produce unpleasant results. [Laughter.] It is possible, however, for an expert in packing bees to obtain the consent of the Postmaster General to their transmission by parcel post within the United Kingdom. But such permission is subject to conditions and restrictions, and cannot be extended to cases of transmission to or from places abroad, as parcels arriving from aboard are liable to examination in the Custom House.
§ SIR HOWARD VINCENTasked if such permission could be extended to the colonies, as there were breeders of queen bees in Sheffield who were anxious to have this facility?
§ MR. HANBURYNo; I think a great many of the colonies refuse to carry bees by post.