Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-03-10
Bee Hunting in Timor.

l once saw the natives take bees
nest, and very interesting sight it
was. In the valley where | used to
collect insects, l one day saw three
or four Timorese men and boys under
a high tree, and looking up saw on a
very lofty horizontal branch three
large bees combs. The tree was
straight and smooth -barked and with
out a branch till at seventy or eighty
feet from the ground it gave out the
limb which the bees had chosen for
their home. AS the men were evi-
IDENTIFY looking after the bees, I wait
ed to watch their operations One
of them first produced a long piece
of wood, apparently the stem of a
small tree or creeper, which he had
brought with him, and began split
ting it through in seve al directions,
which showed that it was very tough
and strlngy. He then wrapped it in
palm leaves, which were secured by
twisting slender creeper round them.
He then fastened his cloth lightly
around his loins, and producing an
other cloth wrapped 1t round his head,
neck and body, and tied it firmly
round his neck, leaving his face, arms
and legs completely bare. Slung to
his girdle he carried long thin coil
of cord; and while he had been max
ing preparations one of his compan-
ions had cut strong creeper or brush
rose eight or ten yards long, to one
end of which the wood-torch was
fastened and lighted at the bottom,
emitting a steady stream of smoke.
Just above the torch a choppingknife
was fastened by a short cord.
The bee-hunter now took hold of
the brush-rope just above the torch,
and passed the other end round the
trunk Of the tree, holding one end in
each hand. jerking it up the tree
little above his head, he set his foot
against the trunk, and, leaning back,
began walking up it. 1t was wonder
ful to see the skill with which he took
advantage of the slightest Irregular
tiles of the bark or obliquity of the
stem to aid his descent, jerking the
stiff creeper few feet higher when
he had found a firm hold for his bare
foot. 1t almost made me giddy to
look at him as he rapidly got up
thirty, forty, fifty feet above the
ground, and | kept wondering how
he could possibly mount the next few
feet of straight, smooth trunk. Still,
however, he kept on with as much
GOODNESS and apparent certainty as if
he were going up ladder, till he got
within ten or fifteen feet of the bees.
Then he stopped a moment, and took
care to swing the torch-which hung
Just at his teet-a little toward these
dangerous insects, so as to send up
the stream of smoke between him
and them. Still going on, in a min
ute more he brought himself under
the limb, and in a manner quite unln-
telligible to me, seeing that both
hands were occupied in supporting
himself by the creeper, managed to
get upon it.
BY this time the bees began to he
alarmed, and formed dense, buzzing
swarm Just over him, but he brought
the torch up closer to him, and coolly
brushed away those that settled on
his arms or legs. Then stretching
himself along the liIlb, he crept to-
ward the nearest comb, and swung
the torch just under it. The moment
the smoke touched it, its color chang
ed in most curious manner from
black to white, the myriads of bees
that had covered it flying off and
forming a dense cloud above and
around. The man then lay at full
length along the limb, and brushed
off the remaining bees with his hand,
and then drawing his knife cut off
the comb at one slice close to the
tree, and attaching the cord to it, let
1t down to his companions below
He was all this time enveloped in a
crowd of angry bees, and how he
bore their stings so coolly and went
on with his work at that giddy height
so deliberately, was more than | could
understand. The bees were not cvi-
IDENTIFY stupified by the smoke or
driven away far by ii, and it was I'M
possible that the small stream from
the torch could protect his whole
body when at work. There were
three other combs on the same tree,
and all were successively taken, and
furnished the whole party with lus-
cious feast of honey and young bees,
as well as valuable lot of wax.
After two of the combs had been
let down, the bees became rather
numerous below, flying about wildly
and singing viciously. Several got
about me, and | was soon stung, and
had to run away, beating them on
with my net and capturing them for
specimens. Several of them follow
ed me at least half mile, getting
into my hair and prosecuting me most
pertinaciously, so that | was more as
tonished than ever at the immunity
of the natives. | am inclined to
think that slow and deliberate motion
and no attempt at escape are perhaps
the best safeguards. A bee sitting
on passive nature probably behaves
as it would on a tree or inanimate
substance, which it does not attempt
to sting. Still they must often sut-
fer, but they are used to pain, and
learn to bear it impassively, as with
out doing so no man could be n bee
hunter.
Leap Year Party.