214 Trails to Woods and Waters 



reason to fear man they feared smoke. It 

 was the forest fires of pre-historic times that 

 taught the bee fear of smoke. Smoke seems 

 to paralyze and stupefy the swarm, and a few 

 whiffs are worth a good deal when you are 

 after honey." 



So I gathered a large pile of fagots, and 

 we soon had a bright blaze going. Then Ben 

 put on rotten wood and grass to make it 

 smudge, and we soon had a great column of 

 smoke pouring into the tree. 



At first the bees came out in a black, angry 

 cloud, and I fled to a safe distance, but Ben 

 did not seem to mind them. Finally the 

 smoke drove them all into the tree, and Ben 

 began to cut it down. 



The outer shell of the old stub was very 

 hard and it seemed to me that Ben never 

 would get it down. At last, without the 

 slightest warning, it fell with a mighty crash, 

 breaking open at the crack where we had seen 

 the bees enter. 



I never would have believed that such small 

 creatures as bees could have made such a 



