A Lively Bee Hunt 213 



started out, but made a straight line for the 

 woods. 



Ben did not chase her but sat still and 

 waited for another. Soon it came, and an- 

 other and another, until a dozen had filled 

 themselves at the box. 



" Do you see that old broken-topped maple 

 at the edge of the woods? " asked Ben, point- 

 ing out the tree in question. 



" Well, that is the bee-tree. I have had 

 my eye on it for some time, and they all fly 

 for it as straight as a string. 



" Here comes another. Now we will keep 

 this one and see what she will tell us." 



So we made a captive of the bee and then 

 went up close to the maple stub. Finally 

 Ben let the prisoner go, and it flew straight 

 to the maple and disappeared inside through 

 a deep crack in the trunk. 



" That settles it," said Ben, " this is our 

 bee-tree. 



" Now you gather a lot of twigs and dry 

 sticks and we will see what virtue there is in 

 a little smoke. Long before bees ever had 



