';e |)ee-}\eepeps' jHev^ieU) 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to t\\e Iqterests of HoqeL) Producers. 



$L00 A YFAR. 



W, Z. HUTCHINSON, Editor and Propriefsr. 



VOL XII. FLINT. MICHIGAN, SEPTEMBER 10, 1899. NO 9 



General Correspondence. 



HUNTING WILD BKES. 



Startinn ilie "Uiie;" Followinij llie "Line;" 

 Finding ihe Tree. 



J. D. BEASLY. 



JX hunting wild bees, the first thing 

 necessary is getting the "course;" i. 

 ^., a direction from the position which 

 you occupy, while watching the bees 

 "load for home," and the tree containing 

 the colony. Next, you must learn to re- 

 main on the course while hunting them; 

 and how to look for the bees while search- 

 ing the timber. 



There are many ways of "getting a 

 course," but I will mention only a few as 

 practiced by myself and other Tennesee 

 backwoodsmen. 



In wintei when there is a warm day so 

 that the bees may fly freely, a piece 

 of comb containing honey or sugar syrup 

 is carried to an open elevated place near 

 the woods and placed in the sunshine. 

 If a bee happens to fly near he will of 

 course be attracted by the smell of the 

 comb and will immediately alight upon 

 it, fill his honey sac, and fly away. 



Soon, quite a number will iSnd the honey 

 or sugar. After carefully noting the 

 direction which they take, the "bait" 

 may betaken and moved some distance 

 in the same direction which the bees /iaz'e 

 taken. The bees will soon find it again; 

 and, if they fly in same direction, you 

 will know that you have not as yet arriv- 

 ed at their domicile. Qo forward again, 

 being careful to keep on a line with the 

 bees, carrying the "bait" with you, and 

 examining the trees as you go. Put the 

 "l)ait" down every few' hundred yards 

 and watch the bees until they turn back 

 toward the jjlace where you started. If 

 you can not now locate them, go a sSiort 

 distance at right angles to the "course," 

 carrying your bait with you, and thus get 

 a new "course" which will, of course, 

 intersect the first course, and there is your 

 "bee-tree." 



When bees are "coursed" from imuHDv- 

 able objects, such as water, blooms, etc., 

 it is necessary to be Z'ety careful to get 

 ihe precise "course;" and then, what is 

 sometimes more diflicult, /o stay on it. 

 There is no better way to "keep" a 

 "course" acrc»s hills and hollows than by 

 breaking bushes as you go, continually 

 looking backward, that you may keep a 

 straight course to "The Home of the 

 Honey-bees." 



