TAKING BUSH BEES. 103 



CHAPTER XVI. 

 TAKING BUSH BEES. 



On the northern rivers of this State, back in the early seven 

 ties, bush excursions were frequently made in quest of bees' 

 nests, and ofttimes it proved a very profitable pastime. Armed 

 with a good axe, a knife, and vessels in which to carry home the 

 booty, a party would sally forth, frequently with horse and dray, 

 and come back with 2 or 3 cwt. of honey. True it was bush 

 honey, that is, a mixture of rotten wood and what else the hollow 

 spout contained. But what did that matter ? Those who feasted 

 on the luscious delicacy in those days knew nothing of a purer 

 article, excepting that which went under the name of "garden 

 honey." This article differed nothing from "bush honey" only 

 there was no rotton wood in the mixture. More than once I have 

 seen trees felled in which there were two nests, each containing 

 upwards of 1^ cwt. of marketable honey, which was then sold at 

 2d. per lb. I have also seen a big, old, solid ironbark, the hollow 

 spout of which contained a bees' nest, after a deal of labour 

 bestowed upon it by two axemen, come down with a crash, and 

 that was all the fun and profit got out of it, beyond the discom- 

 fiture of the bees, for the nest proved to be a duffer, and the bees 

 were permitted to find new quarters. 



The idea of these excursions was to get honey, and nothing 

 but honey. Bees and brood-comb were discarded, the latter al- 

 ways ; sometimes the former if they clustered in a come-at-able 

 place, and it was near the house, were taken home and put in the 

 typical gin-case hive, for the purpose of obtaining that better 

 article, "garden honey," with a little less trouble. 



Well, that day is fast passing away to be treasured up among 

 the things that have been. The snap-shot illustrations on page 

 101 are two or three stages towards fitting up an ideal bee farm. 

 The operator has with him some modern bee appliances, notably 

 that indispensable adjunct to bee-keeping, a smoke bellows. By- 

 the-bye, it is an old-fashioned one and if he is not careful to stand 

 it nozzle end up the fire will be choked with its own smoke. One 

 of the newer pattern may be placed on the ground as shown in the 



