TraJlirvg Wild Bees 
By D. EVERETT LYON 
I T may not be generally known, yet it is 
nevertheless a fact, that there is hardly a 
section of the country without its scores of 
swarms of bees that have made their homes 
in the heart of hollowed out oak or gum trees. 
Apart from the fun of trailing these swarms 
it is very profitable, for almost without excep¬ 
tion the successful hunter will receive anywhere 
from 50 to 150 pounds of luscious honey for 
his pains. 
While these swarms are often spoken of as 
wild bees, yet in no sense whatever do they 
differ from the domestic bee kept in modern 
hivefe, and in most cases are simply swarms 
that have gotten away from their owners dur¬ 
ing his absence from the apiary, and these in 
time send out other swarms from their habitat 
in the woods. 
Whenever a swarm emerges from its hive, 
it generally, after flying about a while, clusters 
on the branch of a tree waiting for the return of 
its scouts, which have been sent out in quest of 
a new home, and when they return with good 
news, away the swarm goes following its lead¬ 
ers. Perhaps the scouts in their reconnoiter- 
ing have found a great oak tree where the 
process of decay has opened a space eight or 
ten inches in diameter, and three or four feet 
deep, the entrance to which often consists of 
a knothole about the size of a ten cent piece. 
When once the swarm takes possession, the 
bees immediately begin to carry out all particles 
of decayed fibre, and then varnish the interior 
walls with propolis, or bee glue, which stops 
all further decay. Then the combs are built— 
often reaching a length of four feet—and filled 
with golden honey, gathered from a hundred 
sources. These “bee trees” are often in the 
densest woods, and as often in some innocent 
looking tree standing beside the road of some 
thickly settled community, unknown and un¬ 
noticed by passersby. 
The question is, how can we find such trees, 
and how successfully trace the bees to their 
homes. The method is very simple, and the 
outfit insignificant, such as our fathers em¬ 
ployed in trailing or “lining” bees. First of 
all, begin operations at least a couple of miles 
vway from any one who keeps bees, as other¬ 
wise you may find yourself trailing a little fel¬ 
low that will lead you to the entrance of its 
hive in a neighbor’s yard, in which case it will 
be out of the question to take from the swarm 
its honey. The fall, say in October, is the best 
time to hunt them, for then you strike the 
swarm with its whole season’s supply of honey 
laid away, while in the spring most of it will 
have been consumed through the winter. There 
is no objection, however, in, trailing them in 
the spring and then marking the tree, to wait 
till fall before looking it up. 
The only outfit required is a piece of comb 
honey, a glass tumbler, a good pair of eyes and 
a little patience. Go two miles from where bees 
are kept, and then watch the blossoms until a 
BEE TREE AND HONEY EXPOSED BY CUTTING. 
bee enters one of them; the rest is very simple. 
On a piece of wood place a small piece of 
comb honey, or if this cannot be had, a few 
drops of liquid honey, or thick sugar syrup. 
As the bee enters the blossom, wait a few 
seconds until it becomes fully absorbed with its 
work, and then gently place the wood with 
honey on it, beneath the blossom, and cap the 
glass tumbler over both, having the piece of 
wood, or shingle, sufficiently wide to prevent 
the bee from escaping under the edges of the 
tumbler. 
As soon as the little fellow emerges from the 
blossom it will discover that it is a prisoner 
and for a minute or so will buzz wildly against 
the sides of the glass in its efforts to escape. 
Presently, however, the little prisoner will scent 
the honey, or syrup, and at once proceed to 
sample it, and lose all signs of fear. At this 
point place the wood and tumbler on the 
ground, and very gently lift the tumbler, so j 
that the bee will not be impeded in its flight. ! 
At last, its little honey sac full, it will be ready 
to carry the news to its home of this veritable 
Klondike, for bees will leave the blossoms 
any time for syrup or honey already prepared | 
for them. It will rise slowly and begin to soar ; 
in ever widening circles, marking the location 
of its find. You may rest assured that in a jj 
few minutes it will return again for the rest of j 
the sweets, and bring with it two or three more j 
of its hive mates. 
You can sprinkle it with talcum powder, as 
a means of identification, so that when it re¬ 
turns with other bees you can easily pick it 
out and be certain you are following the same 
bee every time, and not be thrown off the trail 
by others. As its circles widen, it can without 
difficulty be followed by the naked eye, and it 
will be noticed that its circles begin to veer off 
each time in the direction of its home, and 
when it has to its satisfaction marked the loca¬ 
tion of the honey, it will suddenly strike off in 
a bee line for its home, which may be a mile off, 
its straightaway course being observable for a , 
hundred yards or more. 
Your game now is a waiting one, for your j 
quarry will return in one to ten minutes, ac- j 
cording to the distance it has to travel to its j 
home and empty its load, and if it returns very j 
soon this is proof positive that its home is not i 
far away. Bees can fly, as tests have proved, 
at the rate of a mile a minute, but some time 
is consumed in depositing its load in the honey 
cells after it reaches its home. What the sense i 
is by which they communicate with each other i 
we cannot tell, but nevertheless the bees pos- j 
sess such a faculty. 
In a little while the bee will return with a 
half dozen of its mates and settle upon the 
syrup-smeared wood and proceed to load up j 
again. While so doing, place the tumbler 
gently over it again, and with little jarring, 
carry it a couple of hundred yards in the direc¬ 
tion it took its bee line the first time, and then, ! 
as before, place all gently on the ground, re- | 
move the tumbler, and wait for its second 
flight, having the satisfaction of knowing that 
you are that much nearer its home. 
It is a strange fact of bee life that their bump 
of locality seems to be dwarfed, for no matter 
how many times it may visit or leave the honey 
poured out to lure it, every time, before leaving, 
it will circle around to mark the location for the 
return trip, and this is a good thing for the bee 
hunter, for if it did not do this we could never 
trail bees, as in every case one would return 
to the place of its first flight with the bee 
