Postal Costs for Bees and Chickens to go up, maybe.

Last time we looked at getting packages, and I was going to take a long look at getting them started, but not unlike lots of times, something got in the way. The Post Office.

Here’s the address they published their proposed changes at:

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/04/24/2013-09603/new-mailing-standards-for-live-animals-and-special-handling

Here’s the summary:

The Postal Service is proposing to revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 503.14 and 601.9.3 to require special handling service for shipments containing certain types of live animals, to limit the mail classes available for use when shipping certain types of live animals, and to expand the mailability of live animals domestically to include any adult bird weighing no more than 25 pounds.

The special handling service looks something like this:

Special handling is required for shipments containing day-old poultry, adult birds and bulk shipments of bees (e.g. a queen bee packaged with an attending swarm), regardless of the class of mail purchased. Live day-old chickens, ducks, emus, geese, guinea fowl, partridges, pheasants (pheasants may be mailed only from April through August), quail, and turkeys are acceptable in the mail only if the shipment bears special handling postage in addition to regular postage.

And, basically:

A Special Handle Fee will be charged on every Live Animal Shipment. This proposal would increase the postage amount by $9 or $11.95 per bundle depending on the weight. Over 10 pounds is the higher price.

The proposal outlines the new fees to be charged but it does not include any new rules to insure us that service would also improve. Nor does it offer how the additional funds would address their concerns about; Protection of Postal Service employees, mail and the environment, or animals against death.

So, if you buy peeps by mail, or the folks you buy your peeps do, or you get packages of bees by mail, or the folks you get your bees from do, the price of doing business just went up.