Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-10-14


Of the tree, tAe hunter may not be able !
10 distinguish the particular one he is
searching for from the rest as 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 is kindled, and bpoh a
piece Of Stone or other Suitable
material made hot some honeycomb
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 hole about sixty feet from
the ground Two of the bee-huhters
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 off to
a cautious distance, to be out of the way
of the falling of the tree and the ven
geance of its inmates. The jarring
blows of the axe seemed to have 10 eff
feet in alarming or agitating this most
industrious community; they continued
TO ply at their usual occupations; some
arriving full-freighted into port, others
sallying forth on new expeditions, like
so many merchantmen in money
making metropolis, little suspicious of
impending bankruptcy and downfall.
Even loud crack, which announced
the disruption of the trunk, failed to
divert their attention from the intense
pursuit of gain. At length, down came
the tree with a tremendous crash,
bursting open from end to end and
displaying all the boarded treasures of
the commonwealth. One of the hunt
ers Immediately ran up with a wisp Of
lighted. hay as a defense against the
bees. The latter, however, made no
attack and sought no revenge; they
seemed Supplied by the catastrope
and unsuspicious of its cause, remain
ing crawling and buzzing about the
ruins, without offering us any molesta-
tion."
When the tree had been brought
down, the whole party fell to with
spoon and hunting-knife to scoop out
the combs with which the hollow trunk
was stored, A single tree has been
known to yield from one hundredweight
to one and half hundredweight.
''Some of the combs were old and Of
a deep brown color; others were beau
| FIN Nv ybt hn in bait.
cells was almost limpid. Such Of the
combs as were entire were placed in
camp kettles TO be conveyed to the en-
campment; those which had been
broken by the fall were devoured on
the spot. Every stark bee-hunter was
to be seen with rich morsel in his
hand, dripping about his fingers, and
disappearing as rapidly as a cream tart
before the holiday appetite of school
boy."
Not in America alone, but in Africa
also, the wild-bee is an object of pur-
,, suit by the natives. Even the Hotten-
/, . tots show considerable shrewdness in
. obtaining the wild honey. The author
! of an "Expedition into the Interior of
Africa" thus describes an operation of
this kind: Zone of the Hottentots OBJ
served number of bees entering a
hole in the ground which had formerly
! belonged to some animal of the weasel
kind. As he made signs for us to come
; to him. we turned that way, fearing he
had met with some accident" 1t was
/ the home of a recent swarm. "When
the people began to unearth the bees,
= /. | did not expect that we should escape
!, being severely stung; but they knew SO
: well how to manage an affair of this
. kind, that they robbed the poor bees
. with the greatest ease and safety.
= : Before they commenced digging, fire
u was made near the hole, and con-
stantly supplied with damp fuel, to
: produce cloud of smoke. In this the
: workmen were completely envelopcd,
= so that the bees returning from the
. field were prevented approaching, and
, those which flew out of the nest were
I driven by it to distance"
The same writer mentions another
u incident, even more interesting
: "Whilst / was engaged in the chase
one day on foot with a Namaqua at
g tendant he pickedup small stone; he
d looked at it earnestly, then over the
!; plain, and threw it down again.
d asked what it was. He said there was
o the mark of bee on it. Taking it up,
j | also saw on it a small pointed DROP
e of wax, which had fallen from the bee
}, in its flight. The Namaqua noticed
a the direction the point of the drop in
s dicated, and walking on. he picked W
e another stone, also with drop of waA
g on it, and so on at considerable inter
s walls, till, getting behind a crag, he
|, ! looked up, and bees were seen flying
IS across the sky and in and out OF 6
It cleft in the face of the rock
}. Here, of course, was the honey hi
/, was in pursuit of. A dry bush was
g selected, fire was made, the cliff as
e cended and the nest robbed in tn,
; smoke"
t. An amusing anecdote is reat d il
l. Feminine Monarchy" an old bool
e printed in 1909, and given by Rus
# sian ambassador to Rome as ''writtel
e out OF experience by Charles Butler.
is A man was out in the woods searching
It for honey. Climbing large hollow
d TREE, he discovered an immense Find
h ofthe luscious produce. By some means
rt however, he missed his footing, an,
le slipped into the hollow, sinking up t.
h his breast in honey. He struggled t
d get out, but without avail. He calle
4 and shouted, but alike in vain. He wa
" far from human habitatlon, and hel
lie there was none, for no one heard hi
N cries. At length, when he had begu
he to despair of deliverance, he was extr
st Gated in most remarkable and uncN