98 
BEE-HUNTING 
time the bee is gone, brings in another very 
important point. The honey that bees get 
from flowers is very thin; in fact, it is 
nearer sweetened water than honey, and 
if one wishes a bee to load up and fly at 
about a natural “gait/’ he should give it 
honey diluted with water to about this 
consistency. Unless he does, it will not 
only take a great deal more time in loading 
up, but the thick honey is so much heavier 
the bees will very likely stagger under the 
load, and make a very crooked bee line of 
its homeward path. Besides it will take 
much more time to unload. Sometimes, 
after circling about quite a time, the bee 
will stop to take breath before going home, 
which is apt to mislead the hunter unless 
he is experienced; all this is avoided by 
filling the honeycomb with honey and wa¬ 
ter, instead of with honey alone. 
It takes quite a little time to get a bee 
caught and started at work, and it is best 
to have several bees started at the same 
time. To do this expeditiously, a bee- 
lmnting box made as in tbe following cut 
should be used. 
BOX TOR BEE-HUNTING. 
A suitable box for bee-hunting may easi¬ 
ly be made from an ordinary cigar box. 
But it should be well aired as bees do not 
like the odor of tobacco. In the lid should 
be cut a small hole, perhaps an inch square. 
Improved hunting-box used by Mell Pritchard, 
Medina, Ohio. The construction of the box is 
plainly shown in this illustration. 
Over this a tin slide should be arranged’ 
so that the hole may be opened and closed 
as desired. On the cover of the cigar box, 
and covering this hole, should be attached 
a small box with a sliding glass top and 
no bottom. In the bottom of the cigar box 
a small feeder should be placed. 
HOW TO USE THE HUNTING-BOX. 
The hunter should take with the box 
about a pint of diluted honey in a bottle. 
If he fills the bottle half full of thick hon¬ 
ey, and then fills it up with warm water, it 
will be about right. In the fall he will be 
more likely to find bees on the flowers in 
the early part of the day. When he gets 
on the ground, near some forest, where he 
suspects the presence of wild bees, he 
should pour a little honey into the feeder, 
and, with open box, cautiously approach a 
bee feeding upon some flower. 
As soon as the box is near enough, the 
bee should be caught in the box and the 
lid quickly closed. In a short time, the bee 
will have sipped a load of honey and, see¬ 
ing the light thru the small hole above, will 
soon emerge into the upper box and buzz 
against the glass. The lower tin slide may 
then be closed and the box placed on some 
elevated point, such as the top of a stump 
in an open space in the field and the glass 
slide withdrawn. The hunter should stoop 
down now, and be ready to keep his eye 
on the bee as it flies, whichever -way it may 
turn. If he keeps his head low, he will be 
more likely to have the sky as a back¬ 
ground. If he fails in following the first 
bee, he must try another; and as soon as 
he gets a sure line on one as it bears finally 
for home, he should be sure to mark it by 
some object that he can remember. If he 
is curious to know long it is gone, he 
can, with some white paint and a pencil¬ 
brush, mark it on the back or he may dust 
the entire bee with flour. This is quite a 
help where one has two or more lines work¬ 
ing from the same bait. Bees vary in their 
flight. But it has been found that on an 
average they will fly a mile in five min¬ 
utes, and spend about two minutes in the 
hive or tree. Of course, they will spend 
more time in a tree when they have to 
crawl a long distance to get to the brood- 
nest, hence we may deduce the rule: Sub¬ 
tract two from the number of minutes ab¬ 
sent, and divide by ten. The quotient is 
the number of miles from the stand to the 
tree. This applies to partially wooded 
country. Perhaps in a clearing they could 
make better time. On a very windy day it 
takes them longer to make trips. When a 
bee comes back, it can be recognized by 
