776 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1922 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



HONEY BIRD OF EAST AFRICA 



How this Curious Bird Leads Men to Honey in 

 Order to Obtain Its Food 



One of the most interesting and c.rious 

 birds mentioned by Theodore Koose\ dt in 

 his "African Game Trails," is the honey 

 bird, the habits and peculiarities of which 

 he describes in detail. 



' ' While on safari to the 'Nzoi I was even 

 more interested in honey birds which led us 

 to honey, than I was in the game," says he. 



This special interest and attention, he 

 tells us, was due to the fact that John Bur- 

 roughs had particularly charged him to 

 "look into this extraordinary habit of the 

 honey bird; a habit so extraordinary that he 

 (Mr. Burroughs) was inclined to disbelieve 

 the reality of its existence. But it really 

 does exist*." 



Mr. Eoosevelt first mentions seeing the 

 bird on his visit to Juja Farm, near Athi 

 Plains, East Africa. In this reference he 

 speaks of it as "the honey guide, the bird 

 that insists upon leading any man it sees to 

 honey, so that he may rob the hive and 

 give it a share." 



Later while hunting in the Sotik, a region 

 abounding in big game, including lions and 

 rhinoceroses, he gives "our first character- 

 istic experience with a honey bird, a small- 

 ish bird, with its beak like a grosbeak's and 

 its toes like a woodpecker's, whose extraor- 

 dinary habits as a honey guide are known 

 to all the natives of Africa throughout its 

 range. Kermit had killed an eland bull, and, 

 while he was resting, his gun-bearers drew 

 his attention to the calling of a honey bird 

 in a tree near by. He got up, and as he 

 approached the bird it flew to another tree 

 in front and again began to twitter. This 

 was repeated again and again as Kermit 

 walked after it. Finally the bird darted 

 around behind his followers, in the direc- 

 tion from which they had come; and for a 

 moment they thought it had played them 

 false. But immediately afterward they saw 

 that it had merely overshot its mark, and 

 had now flown back a few rods to the 

 honey tree, round which it was flitting, oc- 

 casionally twittering. When they came to- 

 ward the tree it perched silent and motion- 

 less in another, and thus continued while 

 they took some honey — a risky business as 

 the bees were vicious. They did not ob- 

 serve what the bird then did; but Cunning- 

 hame told me that in one instance where a 

 honey bird had led him to honey he care- 

 fully watched it and saw it picking up 

 either bits of honey and comb, or else, more 

 probably, the bee grubs out of the comb, he 

 could not be certain which. To my mind no 

 more interesting incident occurred at this 

 camp. ' ' 



"The natives believe that misfortune will 



follow any failure to leave the honey bird 

 its share of the booty. They also insist 

 that sometimes the honey bird will lead a 

 man to a serpent or wild beast; and sure 

 enough, Dr. Means was once thus led to a 

 rhinoceros. While camped in the 'Nzoi the 

 honey birds were almost a nuisance; they 

 were very common and were continually ac- 

 companying us as we hunted, flying from 

 tree to tree, and never ceasing their harsh 

 chatter. Several times we followed birds, 

 which in each case led us to bee trees, and 

 then perched quietly by until the gun- 

 bearers got out the honey — which we found 

 excellent eating by the way." 



On one occasion Kermit stayed to see 

 what the honey bird did after they left the 

 tree. 



"The boys had smoked out the bees, and, 

 when they left, the tree was still smoking. 

 Throughout the process the honey bird had 

 stayed quietly in a neighboring tree, occa- 

 sionally uttering a single bubbling cluck. 

 As soon as the boys left, it flew straight for 

 the smoking tree, uttering a long trill, 

 utterly different from the chattering noise 

 made while trying to attract the attention 

 of the men and lead them to the tree; and 

 not only did it eat the grubs, but it also ate 

 the bees that were stupefied by the smoke." 



Warren, Ohio. James A. Brown. 



STINGLESS BEES OF MEXICO 



How the Natives Find Their Nests and Rob Them 

 of Their Honey 



The following incident related to the 

 writer by Thos R. Worsham, an old gentle- 

 man who ranched for years in Mexico, may 

 be of interest to your readers: 



"Did you ever see stingless bees? I have 

 seen them down in Mexico. The Mexicans 

 call them 'avispas. ' They don't look like 

 bees, but more like large flies. 



"One summer back in the '70 's, I was 

 hunting wild turkeys in Cerrabo, Mexico, 

 near the Sierra Madre Mountains, with a 

 Mexican. We had stopped beside a small 

 stream, and were hidden in a thicket. There 

 were lots of turkeys, they being so thick 

 you could almost kill them with sticks. 



"Suddenly the Mexican cried 'jAy, una 

 avispa' ('There's a bee!), pointing at 

 what looked to me like a very large fly, as 

 it rose from the water's edge. (I wouldn't 

 have noticed it.) It flew straight and low, 

 and so slowly that the Mexican, following 

 it, could keep it in sight. I ran after him 

 the best I could, and must have gone a 

 quarter of a mile (it seemed like a half mile 

 over the rough ground), when I came to a 

 thicket where he had stopped. There hang- 

 ing from a limb about six feet from the 

 ground, I saw what looked like an enor- 



