Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-08-05
A West Texas Adventure.

Four of us, my ranch partner Alfred
DiDsmore. and myself. with q young
German house carpenter named Vert
An.pAch, and 8 colored boy called
"Grspt," had set out that day for a
load of honey.
A load OF honey will sound oddly,
perhaps, to readers East. but that is the
way We get it here. Wild honey, rich
stores of it, is laid up by the native
bees. Tho settlers often have resort
to "bee- tree" when their stock of
sugar and molasses runs low. The
honey is drained from the comb and
put away in jars; and the wax makes
excellent candles.
Twelve or thirteen miles up north OF
our location. in the canyon of Lipan
Greek jhead quarters of Wichita River) ,
there is q "bee's nest " which has sup
piled us and the families of three other
stockmen for the last four years.
This enormous bee-h hive is in the cliff
on the nortn side of the canyon, 'front.'
ing sou,,
Til. eu'.spce to i. is up some forty
feet ab.,yu tho creek-bed, where there
is horizontal crack eight or ten inches
wide, ruDEiLg alopg the face of the
precipice for four or five hundred feet.
This crack opens back into recesses
in the shattered craes behind; and here
the bees. colony on colony, have their
nests and have laid up honey for many
years.
BY going round ard operating from
the top of the cliff, We nave at odd times
dislodged considerable portions of the
rock with blasts Of gunpowder and
crow. .bars-sufficient to Lecure many
hogsbeads of comb.
Sill deeper down in great pits and
holes. there SEE ms to be vast deposit
OF old, thick black candied honey,
which has been drained from the tiers
Of comb above, year after year.
Lower down the face of the cliff, the
honey, especially on very hot days,
weepsand OF zss out at little cracks and
seams of the fssured sandstone-sC
much so that the creek bank is there
completely honey soaked. and the watel
for q mile or two below will at times bt
perceptibly sweetened.
Much of this escaping honey tht
bees themselves carry back up the fact
Of the cliff.
On q pleasant June day the canyon
and high above it, the air, will bs
dafkened by the incoming and outgoing
clouds of bees. millions ON millions o
them. along the whole length OF th'
cIevice. The ordinary drowsy hum @
hive is here intensified to deep. sol
emn roar distinctly audible mile below
To go honey gathering there on I
summer day might he pe rilous bosi
ness. We have always made our raid
on the nest during the cold weather
generally on some chilly day towart
Christmas when the bees are lying tor
pid and o winter silence has faliel
upon this whole vast apiary.
1t WAS one of the last days of No
vember, and VIXEN We started tina
morning the weather was quite warm
almost "muggy," with thin. bluisl
fog rising from the prairie, which hsi
lately heen burned over and lsy coal
black under fOut.
But We had Dot gone more than eigh
or ten miles when "Lorther" came
down on us i. full blast. The first W,
saw IT 1t WAS a sudden whirling of tn,
fog over the tops Of belt of me zquiti
out to our lett. Then came q puff O
cold air as damp and chilling as whel
10 summer one steps into a cellar.
A minute later. this mopitory whit
was follosed by a second puff, perfec
gust, which sent our hats whirling, ant
upset the half hcgsheads eff the spring
bcard.
1he nofther wss upon us!
That Is the way these freezing gale
always conc here; sometimes they don
even give one time to get on ones prea
coat and mittens. How cold they are