November 25, 1915. 



A Bee Tree at a City'^s Gate 



The "bee tree" is usually associated with deep forests and remote 

 frontiers. It is a tree with a hollow trunk which has been taken 

 possession of by a swarm of wild bees and has been filled or partly 

 filled with honey. 



The honey bee is not native to America, but it was brought to 

 these shores by the early settlers and it thrived on the rich bloom 

 found in field and forest. The native Indians were unacquainted 

 with the honey bee until after the white man came, but they knew 

 bumble bees. The swarms of bees quickly escaped from the settlers 

 and took up their homes in hollow trees and holes in rocks. It was 

 a common saying among the Indians of the eastern part of the 

 United States that bees were messengers sent on ahead of the white 

 man to warn the Indians that he was coming. 



The meaning of this was that the bees advanced a little ahead 

 of the white man's settlements and when Indians found trees filled 

 with honey it was evidence that the 

 white men were not far off. That con- 

 dition does not hold at the present 

 time, because there is no frontier now, 

 separating the Indians' lands from 

 the white man's settlement. Bee cult- 

 ure is carried on in all parts of the 

 United States, but it is commonly un- 

 derstood that bees are confined to hives 

 except in forested regions where they 

 BtiU make their homes in the hollow 

 trunks of trees. 



No one would think of Chicago as 

 situated in such a region. A swarm 

 of bees in a hollow tree would not be 

 considered unusual among the sparsely- 

 settled mountains of Pennsylvania or 

 eastern Tennessee, but it is hardly to 

 be expected in the vicinity of Chicago 

 with its 2,500,000 people. Yet the ac- 

 companying photograph of a genuine 

 bee tree, the home of a wild swarm, was 

 made in October, 1915, within less than 

 two miles of the northern limits of 

 Chicago. The tree stood in a patch of 

 primeval forest west of the Drainage 

 Canal and north of Chicago. LocaUy the 

 place is known as the "Big Woods," 

 and the forested tract may contain fif- 

 teen or twenty acres. Some of the 

 timber was cut in past years, according 

 to the evidence existing as decaying 

 stumps; but the land has never been 

 cleared, and much of the timber is old 



and mature, consisting of Cottonwood, "oak, hickory, ash, elm, horn- 

 beam, basswood, and species of smaller size, including some thorn 

 apples as large as can be found anywhere, and a rare wealth of 

 poison ivy which climbs many of the tallest trees, and clothes them 

 in brilliant scarlet, red, and yellow in September and October. 



Although this remnant of the original forest lies within sound of 

 the street cars of Chicago, it is a perfect specimen of wild woods. 

 A person in the midst of the tract can no more see the outside world 

 than if in the midst of a forest of 10,000 square miles. If he is 

 careless during a few minutes of wandering about, he may even 

 enjoy the luxury of being temporarily lost. He may miss his bear- 

 ings and become "turned around" and for the time being he is 

 nicely bewildered; but the forest is too small for one to remain lost 

 very long. If he stops to listen, he can hear the whistles in Chicago, 

 the roar of railroad trains, and the chugging of automobOes on the 

 surrounding highways. Consequently, the pleasing delirium of being 

 lost in a wilderness soon passes away and the wanderer emerges at 



A FALLEN BEE TREE TWO MILES FROM CHICAGO. 



The hollow trunk was thrown by wind and was broken in 



the fall. The honey was exposed to attack by ants and 



other insects, and the empty comb remains to tell the story. 



the edge of a cornfield, with a panorama of fences and farmhouses 

 stretching to the horizon. By that time, if he has not been eaten 

 up alive by mosquitoes, he is ready for a safe return. 



Wild bees live and work there undisturbed by man. The accom- 

 panying picture proves that; but winds blow in the woods as well 

 as elsewhere, and a large basswood tree which had been the home 

 of a swarm of bees had been thrown by the wind and the fall broke 

 the hoUow trunk in fragments, scattering the comb and killing or 

 dispersing the bees. The honey quickly fell a prey to ants and other 

 insects; but the comb remained, and when a Hardwood Record man 

 passing that way blundered upon the broken trunk, a snap of the 

 kodak caught a corner of the wreck whence the last bee had fled. 



It was a basswood, sometimes called Unn or whitewood, and among 

 forest people who are not lumbermen it is often best known as "bee 

 tree." Some suppose this name is bestowed because the hollow 



trunks are often occupied by bees, as 

 was that one in the "Big Woods." 

 That is not, however, the real origin of 

 the name. Bees appropriate the hoUow 

 trunks of all kinds of trees when con- 

 venient, and show no preference for 

 basswood. The name "bee tree" is 

 applied to basswood for another and 

 better reason. Its flowers are the rich- 

 est food which bees find in the forest. 

 When in bloom, this tree is sought by 

 bees in preference to all others of 

 woods or fields, and during that time the 

 hives are rapidly filled with honey. The 

 rural beekeeper affirms that he can iden- 

 tify basswood honey by its taste and 

 color; but it is known as "poplar 

 honey." It is darker in color than the 

 honey commonly collected from other 

 sources. In some parts of Europe bass- 

 wood forests (there called linden) are 

 planted purposely for the honey they 

 yield. 



Three species of basswood occur in 

 the United States, all so nearly alike 

 that the ordinary observer notes no 

 difference. Only one of them is native 

 to lUinois, and by botanists is called 

 Tilia americana, but it is quite abundant 

 in the remaining wooded districts north 

 of Chicago, particularly where the soil 

 is fertile. Its seeds sail through the air 

 on the principle of an aeroplane, being 

 attached to the underside of a small, 

 specialized leaf in such a way as to keep the leaf balanced on an even 

 keel while traveling with the wind. 



Sometimes there is a fine line of distinction in attempting to teU 

 when it is best to use a friction clutch, and when to use a loose 

 pulley and belt shift. 



In working hardwood in the planing mill or factory more or less 

 sap stain and discoloration is found. Where the wood is to be 

 finished light or natural, these discolorations are objectionable, but 

 by exercising care in selection they may be used advantageously 

 where dark or heavy stains in the finished work will obscure the dis- 

 coloration. This is one instance that illustrates the importance of 

 harmony and co-operation between different departments. The stock 

 cutter and the machine man should know the shade and tone of fin- 

 ish that is to be put on the wood, for this wiU enable them to use 

 some discrimination in getting out stock. 



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