.184 BEE-FARMING. 



in the saucer. Cautiously approaching the saucer an inch 

 -at a timej Tony, by a sudden and dexterous movement, 

 placed the tumbler over the bees, and over this again his 

 hat, remarking, as he did so, " They works harder in the 

 ■dark." In about three minutes Tony raised his w^eather- 

 beaten hat, and minutely inspected the first bee which had 

 settled upon the saucer, and after this examination he pro- 

 nounced the insect " about filled." Taking a pinch of 

 the sulphur flour between the finger and thurrib of his 

 right hand, and raising the saucer in his left, he stood 

 watching for the bee to fly, and the moment it did so, and 

 had cleared the edge of the saucer, it was lightly dusted 

 with the sulphur. "There'll be a muss in the hive 

 Tvhen that chap gets home," said Tony ; " it's gone right 

 for the same place as the first one I noticed afore I set 

 the sarcer." In a few minutes another flew, and was 

 ■sulphur-dusted as was the first, and this too", Tony said, 

 went in the same direction as the other. A third was 

 served in the same way ; but this, unlike the others, flew 

 towards another point of the timber, which satisfied Tony 

 that it belonged to a different tree. The bee-hunter 

 -spoke confidently of seeing the bees, long after they were 

 ■out of my sight ; and although my eyes had served a long 

 apprenticeship in the pursuit of game, both in the forest 

 and on the prairie, yet, strain them as I would, I lost sight 

 •of the bees at less than two hundred yards' distance, so 

 that I could only conclude that by very long and ceaseless 

 ^jractice Sneed had acquired his keenness of vision. Moving 

 about two hundred yards to the right of our first position, 

 the bee-hunter again prepared his honey saucer, secured 

 •some bees, and repeated his experiment. This was to get 

 the angle; and this, as it was explained to me, was done 

 in this manner : — It seems that the organ of locality is so 

 ■Strongly developed in the bee that when it has loaded itself 

 with honey it starts off immediately in a straight line for 



