20 ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 



distance the bees are released, when they at once leave for home, 

 only to return and re-establish the "line," when the hunter again 

 closes the box and moves forward. When the bees turn and fly back 

 on the line, it shows that the tree has been passed and must be near 

 at hand. At this point in the game it may be advisable to resort to 

 what is known as "cross-lining," that is, the box is moved off several 

 rods to one side, and another, or "cross-line," established. The tree 

 must certainly be near the point where these two lines intersect. 

 The trunks and branches of all large trees in the vicinity are now 

 carefully examined, particular attention being paid to any knot holes 

 or openings. Getting the tree between the sun and the observer 

 greatlj' aids in discovering any bees that may be flitting about. An 

 opera glass is also a great aid in this part of the work. 



Bee-trees are also found by walking through the woods in the 

 first warm daj^s in the spring, before the snow is off the ground, 

 listening to their humming and noticing the dead bees that have 

 been brought out and dropped upon the snow. 



After the bees have been found, then comes the task of getting 

 them out of the tree and into a hive. Sometimes it is possible, if 

 they are located in a large limb, to cut oif the limb beyond theportion 

 occupied by the bees, and then cut off the portion in which they are 

 located, and lower it by means of a rope. Again, it is sometimes 

 possible to rig up a temporary scaffold, and cut out a piece of the 

 tree over the bees' home, remove the combs and lower them in a 

 basket. Such proceedings are attended with more or less danger, 

 even when carried out by the most careful of men, and I would 

 rather put up with the more or less broken condition of the combs 

 that usually result from cutting down the tree, than with broken 

 legs or arms. Many times a tree can be so guided that it will strike 

 upon smaller trees that will break the fall. The saving of the bees 

 and combs, after they have been reached, is very similar to an ordin- 

 ary job of transferring from an old box hive to a movable comb hive. 

 Pieces of comb containing brood must be fastened into frames, and 

 hung in the hive, and as many as possible of the bees guided into the 

 entrance. If the hive is left on the spot for several hours, perhaps 

 over night, nearly all of the live bees will gather into the hive. 



As I said at the beginning, if a man has steady work at good 

 wages, he will, as a rule, find it more satisfactory to buy bees in 

 good, movable comb hives; but, if he has the time and inclination to 

 get a start by hunting bees, or by putting up decoy hives, what I 

 have written will show him how to do it. 



