48 A HUNDRED YEARS IN THE HIGHLANDS 



the sixties which learned to point at bees' nests. On 

 one occasion when he was taking quite a short turn on 

 one of his beats on my property his dog found thirty 

 bees' nests for him, some of which contained quite a 

 saucerful of honey and bee-bread. Nowadays an 

 egg-cup would hold all the honey one could find in a 

 long summer's day. 



Cameron tells me that, as a young boy, before he left 

 his home, there was an island in Loch bhad a chreamha 

 (Lake of the Clump of Garlic) where there was no 

 necessity for hunting for bees' nests, as the whole island 

 seemed under bees, the nests almost touching each other 

 in the moss at the roots of tall heather. As may be 

 imagined, that island was a very popular resort of 

 the Naast boys. My stalker, too, informs me that 

 his home at Kernsary used to be quite famous for its 

 wild bees, but they finally disappeared just nineteen 

 years ago. 



So much for our degenerate climate ! 



