, 1890-08-07
BLAoKsNAKEs AFTER HONEY.
seven Mig Fciiews Brsak Up Colony

seven Mig Feiiews Break ZIP Colony
of Boes-Tneir Picnic Interrupted.
[Scranton special to New York SUM-
A cup of maple syrup attracted
some wild boney bees to where
Horace ID. Baines and Joel a. Mott
were eating their dinner in u hem
lock forrest. down in Spring Brook
township, one day last week. The
men had been slashing down tract
of timber and peeling the bark from
1t, and they were taking their noon
ing just In the edge of the adjoining
tract, where 1t was shady and cool.
The bees settled on the rim of the
syrup cup until 1t was black with
them, and Haines noticed that each
bee, as soon rs 1t had slipped its I'LL
of sweets, shot away into the forest
In the same direction. Thinking he
might find Il big tree without much
trouble, Haines watched the insects
carefully, and in short time lined
them to large hemlock that stood
only n few miles from the edge of
the slashing.
About seventy feet from the
ground there was IL hole in the
trunk, into which the bees disap-
peared. That was all right 50 far,
but when Haines had got close to
the tree and taken a sharper look,
he saw good portion of the body of
large snake swayIng back and
forth from the hole, as though it
was going to drop. Haines then
yelled to Mott to come and see the
snake. AT the sound of his voice
the reptile drew itself into the hole
for n moment, but crawlcd out again
and let nearly three feet OF its
length hang down close to the bark
by the time Mott got there.
The bark-peelers had shotgun
out In the slnshing and Mott went
after 1t. Haines remained at the
foot of the hemlock. While Mott
was gone the snake wound its head
end around the trunk and drew its
tail from the hole. Then 1T wrapped
its tail around the tree lower down
and let Its head drop, getting anoth-
er hold with Its head end as before,
and then lowering Its tail again.
Seeing that the snake was coming
down head over tail ut pretty fast
clip, Haines grabbed u club and
wited for 1t. When 1t had slid down
To u point about as high us he could
reach, Haines let fly with the club,
and the snake dropped and went to
squirminY around on the moss.
Haines quickly mashed its head and
stretched II out straight, and then
he found that he had killed a black
Snnl.n A that nt,xhe
Inches long. The bark-peelers drag
ged the snake away from the
tree and sat down ON n log.
While they sat there still larger
blacksnake crawled out ofthe bushes
and started up the bee tree i'm n
spiral course. There was a bullying
spot In the reptiles body just below
It's neck, and Mott ran up and
banged away at the bulge when the
snake was about twelve feet from
the ground. 1t fell from the tree
dead, and Huines ripped open the
bulge and took out n crushed chip
niunk that the snake had Just swal-
lowed. This snake was eight feet
and ten inches long.
Very few bees were going I'm and
coming out of the hole In the tree,
and the bark-peelers came to the
conclusion that the blacksnakes
had ruined the colony and that II
was more than likely the snakes
had II nest in the hollow trunk. |
The hemlock was sound at the butt |
and as high us the men could reach |
with an aX, and there was no way
for the snakes to reach the hollow |
part except from the outside. The |
Dark-peelers resolved to chop the |
tree down. Mott put big charge |
of shot into the gun and then they |
chopped the tree so that IL fell up |
hill. The moment IL struck, Mott |
ran up and stuck his jacket |
into the hole, while Haines
sounded the trunk all the way up.
He found it to be hollow only four
or five feet below the opening. Just
above the bottom of the hollow he
chopped out big chip and laid bare
u lot of rotten heart and some
honeycomb. Mott fired into the
hole and out popped five large black
snakes. Each reptile had been well
peppered with shot, and the men
quickly dubbed and stamped them
to death. Then Haines chopped the
hollow bare on one side clear up to
the original hole. They didn't find
any more snakes, but there was "a
big lot OF comb in the hollow, and
very few bees, showing that a big
colony of honey gatherers had dwelt
in the tree before the snakes had
taken possession.
The five snakes averaged over
eight feet in length, the longest one
being nine feet aud three inches.
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