PEALE.J 



UPPER GEYSER BASIN BEE HIVE GEYSER. 



235 



Captain Ludlow's party examined it it was " known not to have played 

 for some weeks." They found it boiling gently the day before the erup- 

 tion, and giving off clouds of steam. 



Bee Rive Geyser. — This geyser is 400 feet from the Giantess, on a 

 lower level, about 100 feet from the river. It is readily distinguished 

 by its cone, from the shape of which it derived its name in 1870, when 

 it was first described by the Washburn party. This cone or crater is 3 

 feet in height, and almost circular, measuring 3 by 4 feet on top, and 

 having a circumference of 20 feet at the base. It is beautifully coated 

 with beaded silica, which in many places has a pearly aspect. There is 

 no surroundmg terraced deposit, as there is about most of the craters 

 This is probably due to the fact that very little water falls around it. 

 The orifice on the summit of the cone measures 2 feet by 3 feet, and the 

 line dropped into the tube reached a depth of 21 feet. Just outside of 

 the cone are several vents or steam-holes, one of which acts as a sort 

 of preliminary vent or signal for the eruption of the geyser. The erup- 

 tion of the Bee Hive is very fine and j)eculiar to itself, no other geyser 

 in the Basin acting in the same manner. It is preceded by a slight es- 

 cape of steam, which is soon followed by a column of steam and water, 

 which escapes in a steady stream, with great force, much as water is pro- 

 jected from the nozzle of hose used with steam fire-engines. The column 

 is somewhat fan-shaped, and keeps a high average height. "IsTo water 

 appears to fall, but the spray evaporates and is carried away as steam. 

 There is probably but little water compared with the amount of steam, 

 but there is a distinct water and steam i^eriod. The duration of the 

 former is from 2 to 5 minutes, as observed in 1878, and the latter only 

 a few seconds. The force appears to be very great, and the ground is 

 shaken during the action of the geyser. 



1870. — The Bee Hive was first seen in action in 1870, by the "Washburn 

 jDarty, by whom it was named. Lieutenant Doane describes it as follows : 



This morning we were awakened by a fearful, hissing sound, accompanied by the 

 rush of falling water, and, looking out, saw on the other side of the stream a small 

 crater, 3 feet in height, and with an opening of 26 (?) inches in diameter, which had 

 scarcely been noticed on the previous day, and was now playing a perpendicular jet 

 to the height of 219 feet, with great clouds of steam escaping. * * * It played 

 thus steadily for 10 minutes, giving us time to obtain an accurate measurement by 

 triangulatiou, which resulted as above stated.* 



Langford, in his description in Scribner's Monthly, gives the duration 

 as 18 minutes.t 



1871. — The Bee Hive was not seen in operation by us nor by Colonel 

 Barlow's party. 



1872. — The following are the observations I made in 1872 : 



6 



Date. 



Eruption 

 began. 



Eruption 

 ended. 



11 



t;. P, 



gg 



t 

 a 



1 



An "list 18, 1872 



h. m. 



1 39 p. m. 



3 2 p.m. 

 12 34 p. m. 



h. m. s. 

 1 44 00 p. m. 

 3 17 00 p. m. 

 12 38 30 p.m. 



m. s. 



5 00 



15 GO 



4 30 



h. in. 



2 

 3 



August 19, 1872 



Auguat 20, 1872 



25 18 

 21 17 









1873 and 1874. — I find no record of any observations on the Bee 

 Hive in these years. Edwin J. Stanley, in his "Eambles in Wouder- 



*Rcport of Yellowstone Expedition of 1870, j). 32. 

 t Scribner's, vol. ii, p. 125. 



