ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 19 



box made in two parts, the lower half being used to hold a piece of 

 comb filled with honey, while the upper part, or cover, is used prin- 

 cipally for Catching the bees and getting them at work upon the 

 "bait." The top of the upper part is covered with a glass, and a 

 short distance below the glass is a horizontal, sliding partition; while 

 still lower, just at the lower edge of one of the sides, is a small 

 opening covered on the inner side with glass. Equipped with his 

 box and a bottle of diluted honey, the bee hunter begins operations 

 in some field or cleared spot near the forest in which he expects bee- 

 trees may be found. The honey is diluted with an equal amount of 

 water, as it enables the bees to load and unload quicker, to fly faster, 

 and in a more direct line. Sometimes pieces of old comb are burned, 

 the odor from the "smudge" attracting bees from a long distance. 

 If, by careful search, a bee is found industriously at work upon some 

 weed, the cover to the box is taken off, the slide drawn nearly out, 

 and the open or lower side of the cover held near the bee. A hand- 

 kerchief is then held upon the opposite side of the bee, and, as the 

 cover and the handkerchief are brought quickly together, the bee is 

 caught in the former. Seeing the light, the bee at once buzzes up 

 against the glass top of the cover, when the slide is shoved in, thus 

 making the bee a prisoner. The cover is now replaced upon the 

 box, the box set upon a stump or upon a stake stuck in the ground, 

 the slide drawn nearl}^ out, and the handkerchief spread over the 

 glass top. The bee now sees only one opening, the small one in the 

 side of the cover near its lower edge, and in attempting to escape by 

 the lower opening, the bee comes in contact with the comb of honey 

 in the lower part of the box. 



To find the honey is to at once begin "loading up." Occasion- 

 ally removing the handkerchief shows when the bee has found the 

 honey, and as soon as it is seen filling its sac, the hunter carefully 

 removes the cover, and places his e3'e near the ground. This posi- 

 tion is assumed to secure the sky as a background in watching the 

 bee take its homeward flight. Under such conditions a bee can be 

 kept in sight for a long distance. A minute or two suffices for the 

 bee to fill its honey sac, when it slowly rises in gradually widening 

 circles. Each tune around it sways more and more to one side — to- 

 ward the spot where it lives; finally, having taken its "bearings," it 

 strikes a "bee-line" for home. In a short time it returns with per- 

 haps three or four companions in its wake — eager to learn from 

 whence came that fine load of honey. The result is that a strong 

 "line" of bees is finally at woi-k between their home and the hunter's 

 box. He now puts the cover on the box, shutting in the bees, and 

 moves along on the "line" towards their home. After going some 



