
1. Showing construction of bee box 
2. Entrapping a honey bee 
3. Place in a cleared spot 
Condensed Bee Hunting 
A Fascinating Late Summer Occupation 
HE tinge of early Autumn with 
a sprig of drooping golden-rod 
fills the air with a yellow haze, 
and everywhere the buzz of honey-bees 
sends forth that music so sweet to the 
ear of the pioneer bee hunter. A stray 
note floating high in the air finds the 
cobweb-covered garret window, and, 
aided by a friendly, velvet breeze, 
drifts in. All through the rows of 
fishing-rods and nets it wends its way 
until at last, in the further corner, it 
glides into the comb-chamber of the 
bee-box. The outfit almost rattles! 
Filled with the air of early Fall, and 
now stirred by the notes of the honey- 
bees busily working the fields and 
lanes, its passion is beyond control. 
The tripod waits anxiously for a set- 
ting, and the comb-chamber fairly 
rings with its silent call for syrup. 
Thus is the bee-hunting season ush- 
ered in, and those of the outdoor-folk 
who are at all familiar with bees are 
usually on the alert to take advantage 
of it. Especially is this so in cases 
where familiarity is coupled with a 
spark of interest. 
The expression, “Hunting bees,” 
signifies the trailing of honey-bees to 
their hive. This is accomplished by 
catching a honey-bee in a small box, 
called a bee-box, and into which a small 
piece of honey-comb containing a few 
By GEORGE T. FREIHOFER 
drops of sweetened water (sugar 
syrup) has been placed. The bee then 
“loads up” with the syrup (sips up a 
quantity with her tongue), and when 
she is seen to have done this the bee- 
box is opened and she is released, 
whereupon she immediately flys out of 
the box, and, after circling a few times 
around the same, flys in an almost 
straight line to her hive. 
Now, when she flys from the box 
the bee hunter keeps his eyes sharply 
upon her, and when, after circling, she 
flys in a straight line, the bee hunter 
knows that the hive lies at a point in 
the direction the bee pursued in flight. 
This straight “line” taken by bees in 
flying to their hive is called a “bee- 
line.” 
THE bee-box is left open. In a few 
minutes (depending, of course, upon 
the distance between the bee-box and 
the hive) the bee returns, and, after 
circling around the box a few seconds, 
enters it, sips up another load of 
syrup, and again flys forth in the same 
direction as before. The bee hunter 
now moves his box along the same 
course taken by the bee, to a distance 
of about two hundred feet. 
In due time the bee returns, and 
when, after loading, she again flys 
forth, the bee hunter moves his box 
ahead another two hundred feet or so. 
And so on, until the hive is reached. 
HERE is very little equipment 
necessary in the art of bee hunt- 
ing. I have often hunted bees, with 
good success, with nothing in the line 
of equipment except a small tin can 
cover filled with syrup. But although 
extensive equipment is not essential to 
bee-hunting, the novice should never 
attempt to hunt bees without the main 
factor in equipment, the bee-box. 
This is a small box, usually made of 
soft wood such as white pine, spruce 
or hemlock. There are many ways of 
constructing a bee-box. I use a spe- 
cially constructed bee-box of my own 
design, built along the lines consistent 
within the field. but the best, surest 
and most satisfactory bee-box for the 
novice to construct is what I term the 
center-slide bee-box. This type of bee- 
box is made from any soft wood which 
is easily “worked,” such as white pine, 
spruce, etc., and %-in. stock is used 
throughout its construction. The bot- 
tom is sawed 2%%4-in. wide by 9 in. in 
length. The sides are 4 in. high by 
9 in. long, and the ends are 2% in. 
wide and come flush with top of sides. 
The center-slide is also 2% in. wide 
and is made to fit snugly, but loose 
enough to allow free and easy motion 
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