CHAPTER IX 

 THE BEE 



The First Sugar Makers. All the old Bible coun- 

 tries had their beekeepers. Before the growing of 

 sugar cane and the making of sugar was begun, 

 bees furnished the only means of sweetening food. 

 Our savage forefathers probably robbed the hollow 

 trees where bees stored their honey and in time 

 learned how to capture swarms. In England, not 

 many hundred years ago, swarms of bees were so 

 prized that they were willed from one family to 

 another. 



Finding the Bee-Tree. To find a '^ bee-tree," the 

 hunters took to the edge of the woods boxes of 

 diluted honey; then they followed in the direction 

 the bees took as they flew home. It was believed 

 when the bee had his honey basket filled, he took 

 the straightest way possible to the bee tree. That 

 is how we came to have the expression, ^^Take a 

 bee line.'' 



The Honey Train. An American invented the 

 hive which makes it possible for one man to take 

 charge of many bees. There are many men who 

 make beekeeping their business (Fig. 44). It has 

 been estimated that if all the honey manufactured 

 in the United States in one year were put in cars, 

 it would make a train .thirty-five miles long. 



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