The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1886-10-01

- uon'yS0un " nfn tuey nave salts
lied themselves with honey. two or three
arc allowed 70 escape. the hunters taking
care 10 observe the direction Of theiI
flight and 70 follow them a. rapidly q,
possible. When these bees are los1
sight Of. two or three Others are sci
free and their course followed, and &c
on antil the identical tree has beer
reached II sometimes happens thai
one set Of bees take an opposite course
% their predecessors The hunter
knows BY this that he has passed tho
tree. or otherwise missed his mark
anal he retraces his steps and followl
she lead Of the unerring bees. The
sightAof the bee Is so strong and keen
that Il can descry its home at an i'm.
mense distance. II Is well-ascer.
tanned fact that II bee b. caught on
flower at any given distance south Of
IL home. and then be taken in close
box an equal distance north Of IL. the
little creature. when set free, after fly.
ing in . circle for . moment. will take
straight course to its identical tree.
Therefore, the hunter who has intelli.
gencc, patience and perseverance, on
his side Is sure 70 be successful in the
end.
II not unfrequently happens that
when in the immediate neighborb0od
Of the tree. the hunter may not be able
% distinguish the particular one he 4
searching for from the rest. rs the en-
trance to the bee-castle is commonly
many feet above the ground. He Is
not then AT the end Of his resources.
A small fire Il kindled. and upon d
piece Of stone or other suitable
material made hot. some honcycomh
Is placed: the smell will at once induce
the whole colony Of bees to come down
from their citadel. when the hunters
proceed with their axes to bring down
the tree. A vigorous writer thus de-
scribes the proceedings, when the
party Of hunters had traced the honey.
laden bees to their hive in the hollow
trunk Of . blasted oak. into which,
after buzzing about for time. they en-.
tered at a hole about sixty feet from
the ground: Two Of the bee-hunter.
now piled their axes vigorously at the
foot Of the tree. to level IL with the
ground. The mere spectators and
amateurs in the meantime drew of e
cautious distance. 10 be out OF the wa,
Of the falling Of the tree and the ven
geance Of its inmates The EARRING
blows Of the axe seemed to have no ef
feet in alarming or agitating this mos
industrious community; they continued
to ply attheir usual occupations; some
arriving full-freighted into port. otherl
sallying forth on new expeditions, like
50 many merchantmen in money
making metropolis. little suspicious O
impending bankruptcy and downfall
Even loud crack. which announced
the disruption Of TIE trunk. failed t
divert their attention from the intrns'
pursuit Of gain At length. down came
the tree with tremendous crash
bursting open from end TO end ant
displaying all the boarded treasures o
the commonwealth. One Of the hunt
ers Immediately ran mp with wisp o
lighted hay. as q defense against thu
bees. The latter. however, made NJ
attack and sought no revenge; tine,
seemed supplied BY the catastrops
and unsuspicious Of its cause, remain
ing crawling and buszing about tn
ruins, without offering US any molesta
ton
When the tree had been brough
down. the whole party fell to witt
spoon and hunting-knife to scoop on
tile combs with which the hollow trunl
was stored. A single tree has beer
known To Weld from one hundredweigh
to one and half hundredweight.
''Some Of the combs were old and o
a deep brown color. others were beau
tifully white, and the honey in thei
cells was almost limpid. Such Of thu
combs as were entire were placed il
camp kettles. to be conveyed to the en-
campment:. those which had beer
broken BY the fall were devoured Of
the spot Every stark bce-hunter wa
to be seen with q rich morsel in hi
hand. dripping about his fingers. an.
disappearing A. rapidly as \ cream tar
before the holiday appetite Of school
bow"
Not in America alone. but in Afric'
also. the wild-hec Il an object Of pur
suit by the natives. Even the Hotten
tots show considerable shrewdnesS il
obtaining the wild honey. The autho
Of m expedition into the Interior 0
Africa thus describes an operation o
this kind: .-One Of the Hottentots Oh
served number Of bees entering
hole in the ground which had formerl,
belonged to some animal Of the wease
kind. A. he made signs for us to com
70 him. we turned that way. fearing b
had met with some accident" II VA
the home Of recent swarm. ''Whel
she people began TO unearth the bees
/ did not expect that we should escap
being severely stung; but they knew !
well how TO manage an affair ri thi
kind. that they robbed the poor bee
with the greatest ease and safety
Before they commenced digging. q fir
was made near the hole. and con
stantly supplied with damp fuel. L
produce cloud Of smoke. In this III,
workmen were completely envclopcd
% that the bees returning from thu
| field were prevented approaching. am
those which flew out Of the nest wer'
driven BY II toa Distance"
The same writer mentions anothe
| incident, even more interesting
ssWhilst l was engaged in the chas
| one day on foot with a Namaqua AZ
teniant. he picked up small stone; h
| looked 1t Il earnestly. then over Oh,
plain. and threw IL down again.
asked what il was. He said there wa