2S4 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 





AN INTERESTING MODE OF FINDING WILD BEES. 



Among the vast multitudes of insects that cover the earth, 

 there are none which attract the attention, or excite the ad- 

 miration of mankind, so much as the Honey Bees. These 

 familiar and interesting insects are the constant attendants 

 on man, and, in the newly settled parts of our country, are 

 among the first visitors to welcome the migrating husband- 

 man to the uncultivated forest. 



I have always been a lover of nature; inanimate and ani- 

 mate. In the former, I have often in the mountain wilds, 

 found a solace from the perplexities of life, while contem- 

 plating the undisturbed serenity of the wilderness around 

 me; and the latter has afforded me a thousand recreative and 

 physical enjoyments, when nature required invigoration, or 

 the monotony of a country, and in a measure solitary, life. 

 Variety, and the subjects of the present notice, were not 

 among the least to afford amusement and innocent pastime, 

 as well as considerable profit. 



On my native, fertile, and flower-bearing hills have I 

 spent many days during the season of youth, in studying 

 the habits, and searching for the hives, of the Wild Honey 

 Bees. These abound, in great quantities, in most of our 

 northern and western forests; but it requires system and 

 skill to discover them. 



I know of no amusement surpassing the pursuit of Wild 

 Bees: it affords recreation without fatigue; relief and diver- 

 sion to the mind, and the quantity of honey frequently pro- 

 cured during these excursions is almost incredible. The 



scenery which you must necessarily enter is of the most ro» 

 mantic kind, and being elevated frequently on some moun- 

 tain summit, you enjoy a free, uncontaminated circulation 

 of air, which invigorates the body, and gives buoyancy to 

 the mind. 



Having never seen the manner of finding Wild Bees de- 

 scribed, I thought (as it may be considered among the pas- 

 times of our country) an account of it might be interesting 

 to the readers of your work. 



In this pursuit I always provided myself with a tin box, 

 about five inches in diameter, and of sufficient depth to 

 contain a honeycomb, without mashing it when the lid was 

 put on, a glass tumbler, and a forked stick, about five feet 

 long; this stick should contain three prongs, in order to set 

 the tin box in it secure, and the opposite end should be 

 sharpened for the purpose of sticking in the ground. I then 

 filled the comb with honey, and went either to a buckwheat 

 field, or to some wild flowers, until I found a Bee, and so 

 soon as this was the case, I made it prisoner, by placing the 

 tumbler over the Bee and flower, and then, by closing the 

 mouth of the tumbler with the palm of my hand, the Bee 

 would leave the flower and fly upwards against the bottom 

 of the tumbler, and try to escape. There is never danger 

 of being stung unless you hurt the Bee, in which case it 

 will most assuredly revenge itself. Being thus provided, I 

 sought an open spot in the wood to commence my opera- 

 tions; this was done by fixing the forked stick firmly in the 

 ground, and placing the tin box containing the honey in the 

 fork; I next put the tumbler with the Bee immediately on 



