A TEN-CENT QUEEN.
Imagine a queen travelling around the world on ten cents! It seems preposterous, and yet it is a fact. There is a certain man out West, according to the St. Louis Republic, who will do this for any one who will send him an order, whether it comes from England, China, or any other foreign country, and he says:
"I have frequent demands from all parts of the world. You see, I send these queens as follows: You will notice that there are two little circular compartments in this royal carriage," and he produced a little wooden box, "one in which the queen is kept, and the other for her suite; the little plug in the centre of the box is solidified, candied honey, which will furnish food to the regal party until they arrive at their destination.
"The compartments are covered with a fine wire gauze to prevent the escape of the insects.
"This large one in the first compartment, the one with the delicately shaped long body and beautiful markings, is an Italian queen bee, and she is valued at $10. I have queens valued all the way from $2 to $25.
"The others, in the second compartment, are the suite, or worker bees, that will accompany her on the trip not only for company, but also for the heat they will produce to keep her comfortable on the stormy voyage over the great cold seas.
"After we have the bees safely stowed away in their proper compartments, we switch the little lid around and fasten it with a tiny screw at the ends, and on its top surface the address of the consignee is written, the stamp is affixed, and away goes her majesty, a queen sold into slavery for the trifling sum of $10, and sent to her destination on a ten-cent stamp.
"Bee-culture has grown so rapidly in the United States that there are few farmers now who have not a substantial apiary and who do not net a handsome income each year from the honey the bees yield, and besides the farmer there are thousands of gentlemen and ladies who are apiarists purely from the fascination the hobby affords."