The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1873-01-03
.a6urlle aud 8ar'l1'

10nle and 5afm
frrou, the New york Observer
ARee Hunt i'm CrOu-Nesi.
"a bee hunt you eIclaim, "Wha
is that?'
That is just the question that aros
:, INV mind one beautiful Septembe
morning, when Beunies a woodcu'te
and hunter, appeared at my door, L
Cornwall on the Hudson, duly equip
ped with axe, pals, and luncheon, an
invited me to join him on bee hun
in Crow-Nest. So, if you will follow
us we viii learn what he meant; an'
see one Of the old fashioned rasti
pleasures with which these mountain
-eers gain relaxation from toll.
We started for Crow Nest, skirtinl
the base of old Storm King, as tn
morning fog just began TO iise from
the noble river at our feet. BY mint
o'clock we were in what Bennie pro
nounced suitable place TO "strike
line.'' And now, while we await the
forthcoming of the bees, (they never
work tefore the dew has entirely left
the fowers,) we SiII find out some Of
the preliminary ideas of this still mys
terious sat ject.
So Bennie says: Il suppose you
know that every summer the bees,
kept in hives OF the surrounding vii
lapes. swarm That is when their
number increases SO much that one
hive will not hold them comfortably.
they divide, and part selecting new
queen 60 of in search CT a new home;
and although they are carefully watch
ed by their keepers, many swarms
make their escape. These go to the
woods, where they select hollow
tree, and having cleared it out they
move.in, and begin fillingit with their
winters food. Then the nextsummer
this svarm sends out another; and
so in a few years, many trees are fllled
by these busy workers, and yield rich
prizes to the fortunate discoveries"
Presently Ben's practissd ear caught
the hum of q ''honey bee,' and soon
one was discovered busily at work on
the top of "Golden Rod" A cup
was produced, and in the bottom a
snail piece Of honey comb was placed;
and then bringing the cup beneath the
unsuspecting bee, Dy dexterous jerk
he is imprisoned in it by cover
cut from a shing'e. Then pole is
planted In the earth, about four feet in
height, and the cup placed on it. The
cover was now removed cautiously,
and on looking in, / saw that the bee,
not st all disturbed by his unceremon-
ious handling, was hard at work on the
honey,-his proboscis deep down in
one of the cells of the sweet liquid
Obeying orders,I sat down at the foot
of the, pole and we kept our eyes fas-
tened on the cup, which appeared
clearly against the sky. Soon the bee
rose slowly from it, wheeled around
moment to get ITS bearings, and then
atarted off in perfectly straight line,
and we could see him for a hun
dred feet over the tree tops, Then
pulling out our watches we noted and ,
in ten minutes, back came the bee
bringing another with him. The two
at once settled in the cup, and soon
filling themselves with the honey again
we saw them fly off in the same "bee
line'' as the first bee went, and we c
could see them q long distance against Z
the blue sky.
''They are not oveI a mile away, for
hey are only gone ten Piautes, and .
they need three minutes to unload"
said Ben And so, when the two bees
came back accompanied with two
others, we shut them in the cup, and
started along in the direction of the
line they had shown us, looking at all
the hollow and dead trees on the way.
After walking halt mile we stopped,
and released the bees we had carried,
who by this time having finished eat /,
lug, wereloudly demonstrating against |,
their confinement. They circled
around for q moment, and then darted
off in the same direction as before
ave haven't passed their tree or they
would have turned about and flown
back" said Bennie, and so we pushed
out again, and soon saw them pouring
In and oat of a hole near the top of q
large, hollow hemlock.
And pow came the exciting effort !
to get the honey without being stung.
We cut the tree down, and the mo-
ment it struck the ground, Ben. rush
ed up, and with handful of leaves,
stopped their only means OF escape,
not minding two or three stings on
his hard hands. The enraged bees IN
vain tried to get out, and their hum
ming resembled the roar of the wind
through the distant tree tops. A hole
was now cut, and piece of lighted
brlmstone inserted, and soon the roar
grew fainter and in few moments
ceased, and on cutting into the trunk
of the tree, we found the bees all suf-
focated and thirty pounds OF transpa-
rent .honey-comb filled with clear, 9
rich honey.
So our hunt ended; but not soon
did / cease to wonder at the strange
instinct which God had given to the '
little creatures, that enabled them to L
find their way through the air, to and b
from our cup. What seems more
strange is that they communicated '
one to another the discovery of the /
honey we gave them, and persuaded
their companions to accompany them
to it?
A New YORK World contributor
proposes to defend buildings from fire
in this way: In the basement have
suspended vessel full Of sulphuric
acid, to be upset by the turning of a
crank in box outside, OF which the
key is with the police and firemen
The vessel is hung in another one of
carbonate of soda, from which tubes
ascend and branch through the build
;no empfyinp on each floor Rv furn