712 



THE AMERICAl^ BEE JOURNAL. 



J. Van Deusen asked to open a dis- 

 cussion on it ; but it being close on 

 the hour of adjournment, it was 

 deemed best to defer the matter until 

 the evening session. 



Proofs of the photograph taken at 

 noon were then produced by the Sec- 

 retary, and it was announced that 

 copies could be had for §2 each. 

 •The meeting then adjourned. 



Iowa Wild Honey. 



The Hon. A. R. Fulton, of Des 

 Moines, one of the old-timers in Iowa, 

 and one of the best collators of facts 

 in the history of the State, has an 

 interesting article in the last Annals 

 of Iowa, on the golden days of the 

 bees in that State, from which we 

 condense the following : 



There are those who remember that, 

 away back in the " forties," in the 

 States further east, we used to read 

 and hear of " Iowa honey," an article 

 then as highly-prized and as much 

 sought-for as the " California honey " 

 has been with us at a later period. 

 At that time Iowa was literally a land 

 of wild honey ; nor has there since 

 been anything in our experience to 

 disprove her right to the claim of 

 being the special habitat of the honey- 

 bee. The great profusion of wild 

 flowers, though tney bloomed and 

 blushed unseen by human eye, afforded 

 a delicious pasturage for the myriads 

 of colonies of honey-bees which were 

 snugly housed through the winter 

 months in the trunks of the tall trees 

 of the forests bordering on the water- 

 courses. 



During the autumn months a favor- 

 ite pastime and source of profit among 

 the pioneer adventurers was bee- 

 hunting. By watching a single bee as 

 it took its flight, laden with its rich 

 burden, the experienced bee-liunter 

 could determine with certainty nearly 

 the exact locality of its treasure- 

 house. The bee-hunter had only to 

 take the " course " and follow it in a 

 direct line to the timber. Generally, 

 before penetrating far into the forest, 

 he could observe die converging lines 

 of bees as they returned, laden with 

 the sweets of the prair'e, to the com- 

 mon line. Then it was only necessary 

 to keep a sliarp lookout for some hol- 

 low knot or opening, far up in some 

 tall tree, to discover the depository of 

 of the precious treasure. After a 

 brief search, this was generally dis- 

 covered, and known to a certainty by 

 the thousands of little workers enter- 

 ing the hive or departing therefrom. 

 Then it was only necessary for the 

 hunter to mark the tree witli his ini- 

 tials to insure its safety and protection 

 as his own property, agauist any and 

 all other claims, until the season 

 arrived for securing the honey. If a 

 "bee-tree" was found to be "marked," 

 it was a rule, invariably observed as a 

 matter of honor, to leave it unmo- 

 lested. 



The timber lands bordering on the 

 Skunk river (by the Indians called the 

 Che cau-qiw) were especially noted as 



the paradise of the bee-hunters, and 

 in advance of any permanent settle- 

 ment of this country, parties of them 

 penetrated that region in quest of 

 honey. Several incidents, the details 

 of which are in the possession of tlie 

 writer, will serve to show something 

 as to the nature of this primitive, 

 Iowa industry. 



In October, 183-5, one, John Huff, 

 who subsequently settled in Jefferson 

 county, accompanied by a lad named 

 Levi Johnson, went to the west side 

 of the Skunk river and encamped, a 

 short distance above where the village 

 of Rome, in Henry County, is now 

 situated. At this latter point, at that 

 time, there was a trading-post kept 

 by one, William ilcPherson, as the 

 Sac and Fox Indians still occupied 

 that region. The purpose of Mr. 

 Huff and his young companion was 

 to spend a month in bee-hunting. 

 They continued to ramble through the 

 heavy timber skirting the river and 

 its tributaries, until the middle of 

 November, when they began prepara- 

 tions for returning to the Mississippi. 

 Huff had collected eighty gallons of 

 honey, and Johnson about forty, 

 which was put into barrels manufac- 

 tured by themselves at their camp. 



The river now beginning to rise a 

 little, they prepared a couple of canoes 

 or" dug-outs," into which they placed 

 their freight, consisting of three bar- 

 rels of honey, guns, axes and auger, 

 with some other tools and calnpiiig 

 utensils ; also a small stock of provi- 

 sions, including five dressed, wild 

 turkeys and some venison. Passen- 

 gers and freight being aboard, they 

 set out on their voyage for Illinois, 

 being, so far as we know, the first 

 craft manned by white men, that ever 

 navigated the "waters of the Skunk 

 river from a point so far up as the 

 place of the embarkation. With the 

 two canoes lashed together, they 

 glided along smoothly until about 

 sundown, when they ran upon a " saw- 

 yer," which capsized the canoes, turn- 

 ing the contents into the river, with 

 the exception of one barrel of honey, 

 which, fitting so closely, remained 

 fast in one of the canoes. All the rest 

 of the freight went to the bottom, in 

 twelve feet of water. The canoes 

 were drawn ashore, and the remaining 

 barrel of honey rolled out. In his 

 effort to save the property, Mr. Huff 

 even lost his shoes. 



The weather was now becoming 

 quite cold, and the situation was not 

 a pleasant one, but those backwoods- 

 men of early Iowa were not unaccus- 

 tomed to hardship. Leaving canoes 

 and honey, Mr. Iluff, barefooted, set 

 out for Burlington, where he obtained 

 another pair of shoes, and some grap- 

 pling hooks to use in searching for 

 the sunken freight. Young Johnson 

 returned to his mother's home in the 

 eastern part of Henry county. 



After an absence of about twelve 

 days they returned to the scene of 

 their disaster to seek for the lost 

 treasure. By means of the iron hooks, 

 the two barrels of honey were soon 

 recovered, but the other articles were 

 not so easily found. An Indian who 

 was present, agreed, for one dollar, to 

 dive and get the gun. He went down 



once, but did not succeed. While he 

 was warming himself for a second 

 trial, Mr. Huff, himself, drew up the 

 gun with the iron hook. The two 

 axes, drawing-knife and auger were 

 found during the next January by 

 cutting a hole in the ice. 



Without further disaster, Messrs. 

 Huff and Johnson succeeded in get- 

 ting their cargo of honey to Carthage, 

 111., where they sold it for fifty cents 

 a gallon. During the same season, 

 another party collected, on the east 

 bank of Skunk river and along Big 

 Creek, in Henry county, some fourteen 

 barrels of honey, which they sold in 

 Burlington. 



Mr. Huff, himself, declared that, at 

 that early day in Iowa, honey-bees 

 were so plentiful tliat it was difficult, 

 on a warm day, for a man to keep 

 them from flying into his mouth while 

 eating a piece of honey. In the fall 

 of 1836, he found ten " bee-trees" on 

 a small branch near where Fairfield 

 was subsequently located. He sent 

 the product of this "find" to Car- 

 thage, by one. James Laiiman, who 

 sold it for $22.75. During the same 

 year a man named Ballard, settled or 

 encamped on the same small stream, 

 and for a time followed the business 

 of bee-hunting. The stream was 

 afterward known as Ballard's Branch. 

 Ballard's camp was about two miles 

 northeast of Fairfield, and his "claim" 

 embraced the fine grove of timber in 

 that vicinity. As soon, however, as 

 the country began to be settled, he 

 found his occupation gone, became 

 discouraged and went west. 



1^ To Canadian subscribers let us 

 say that we have made arrangements 

 so that we can supply the Farmer's 

 Advocate of London, Out., and the 

 Monthly Bee Journal for one year 

 at SI. 2.5 for the two. This is a rare 

 chance to obtain two good papers for 

 about the price of one. 



1^ We can supply photographs of 

 Rev. L. L. Langstroth, the Baron of 

 Berlepsch, orDzierzon, at 25 ots. each. 



^" The Mahoning Valley Bee- 

 Keepers will hold their fall meeting 

 in Ravenna, O., on Nov. 14, 1884. A 

 cordial invitation is extended to all. 

 E. W. TuENER, Sec. 



Newton Fall s, O^ 



" Walls of Corn " is the title of a 

 neat little pamphlet received from the 

 Department of Immigration of the 

 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., 

 which goes to show that Kansas raises 

 poetry as well as corn, and a high- 

 grade article, too. Mrs. Ellen P. Al- 

 lerton, a Kansas farmer's wife, wrote 

 a charming little poem entitled "Walls 

 of Corn," which has been handsomely 

 illustrated, with full page colored 

 plates. An appendix of peculiar value 

 to any one desiring information con- 

 cerning the State, gives the official 

 government figures in a striking com- 

 parison of Kansas with other leading 

 agricultural States. Send your name 

 to Mr. C. B. Schmidt, Commissioner 

 of Immigration, A., T. & S. F. R. R., 

 and he will mail a copy free to your 

 address. 



