64 PEPACTON 



rods into the woods. The two lines we have estab- 

 lished form two sides of a triangle of which the 

 wall is the base; at the apex of the triangle, or 

 where the two lines meet in the woods, we are sure 

 to find the tree. We quickly follow up these lines, 

 and where they cross each other on the side of 

 the hill we scan every tree closely. I pause at the 

 foot of an oak and examine a hole near the root; 

 now the bees are in this tree and their entrance 

 is on the upper side near the ground not two feet 

 from the hole I peer into, and yet so quiet and secret 

 is their going and coming that I fail to discover 

 them and pass on up the hill. Failing in this direc- 

 tion I return to the oak again, and then perceive 

 the bees going out in a small crack in the tree. The 

 bees do not know they are found out and that the 

 game is in our hands, and are as oblivious of our 

 presence as if we were ants or crickets. The indi- 

 cations are that the swarm is a small one, and the 

 store of honey trifling. In " taking up " a bee- tree 

 it is usual first to kill or stupefy the bees with the 

 fumes of burning sulphur or with tobacco smoke. 

 But this course is impracticable on the present occa- 

 sion, so we boldly and ruthlessly assault the tree 

 with an axe we have procured. At the first blow 

 the bees set up a loud buzzing, but we have no 

 mercy, and the side of the cavity is soon cut away 

 and the interior with its white-yellow mass of comb 

 honey is exposed, and not a bee strikes a blow in 

 defense of its all. This may seem singular, but it 

 has nearly always been my experience. When a 



