234 
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 
