St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-09-15
HUNTING HONEY BEES
Tracking the Toiler to His
Hive and Disposing Of His
Savings.
Professional Hunters Who
Follow the Bee on
Horseback.
Scheme Of Shutting Up the
Insects in the Tree With
Their Honey.
Keeping Cool While the Bees
SWarm--Bears as Honey
Hunters.

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and, in the end. good deal of satisfac-
ton. He is also a claimant of certain
amount of veneration OH account of the
ancient nature of his pursuit. The
primitive man must have been great
bee hunter, because he had no other
way of getting his honey, and his
brother, the bear. from whom he prob
ably learned the pastime, is to-day
living witness of those early proclivities.
Wherever there is a bear and bee
tree the two are bound sooner or later
to come together, and then there is more
bear, but no more bees or honey.
There is much bee hunting all over
this country wherever woods abound,
but among the backwCodsmen in the
great pine forests of the South it is
favOrite recreation. These men, who
live chiefly by hunting and are not
given to sustained eXertiOn in any other
direction, whether in pursuit of deer or
wild turkeys, or, indeed. of any kind of
game, are always on the lookout for bee
trees, and nothing but actual sight of
the quarry in immediate quest Will deter
them from following bee discovered
on the wing.
In South Carolina there lives one of
these men named Hoge, who is a very
Old man now. The writer was hunting
with HOge one day many years ago,
when he suddenly, without word of
explanation, clapped spurs to his horse
and shot off through the forest at a
breakneck pace. The best thing to do
in the circumstances was TO await his
return to the spot he started from, for
the forest was to him the very reverse
of a trackleSs wilderness. He never
got lost in it. When he came back,
something more than half an hour later,
he explained that he had gone off in
pursuit of bee that had loaded up with
honey and was bound for its tree.
In the autumn the pine forests are
carpeted with thousand wild flowers
OF various hues, but gold and purple
are the predominant shades. The flow
ers furnish rich feeding for the bees,
which consequently are very abundant.
They build their nests in the hollows of
the lofty pines, seldom less than forty
CT fifty feet from the ground. When
the bee has filled itself up with honey it
makes off for its nest as straight as il
can go; hence the common saving, bee
line. 1t you can follow it at that
time you are sure to find the tree in
which the swarm has its store of honey.
But it is not such an easy matter to fol-
low it through forest, for several rea-
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fight and the difficulty of keeping such
small object in view in forest where
there are violent contrasts of light and
shade, and where trunks and branches
of trees are likely to intervene at fire.
quent intervals. Consequently success
Is by no means certain even when the
conditions are favOring.
When you have found your tree the
real sport OF the pursuit, the rObbing of
the tree, is often delayed for days and
sometimes weeks. The next step is to
make up party. This usually num-
berS four or five, and includes at least
two good aXmen, for the tree, III nine
cases out of ten a large one, must in
Varlably be felled, and the labor IN
volved, as anybody who has tried it will
testify, is by no means slight. The
party sets out with cart laden with
axes and vessels 10 hold the honey,
usually about noon or in the early after
noon. While the aXmen are cutting at
the tree other members of the party
busy themselves in kindling a fire with
lightWood knots and in gathering good
supply Of green grass or pine leaves Tor
uses TO be hereafter described.
As rule there is only one hole by
which the bees make their way to and
from the cavity within the tree, and the
first thing to do after the tree has fallen
is to stop this up. That is a wise pre-
caution, for otherwise the bees are apt
to make it difficult for the hunters to
get the honey. When, therefore, the
tree is about TO fall one OF the party who
has had some experience in that par
ticular direction takes handful of
grass or some other loose and compress
ible material and stands by to plug the
hole as soon as the tree is upon the
ground. He must be quick about it,
too, for the bees are made very angry
by the shock of the trees fall, and will
come out in force without delay
with their StingS ready for business
When the hole has been plugged there
is buZZing in the hollow of the tree
tor all the world like the indistinct roar
Of a distant Infatuated mob. Having
successfully imprisoned the pugnacious
little hOney-gathererS in their OWL
house, some of the blazing brands are
brought from the fire already made and
placed against the tree beneath the
hole, mora fuel is put on. and when g
CHEEKY blaze has been started it is
SmOthered with covering of the greer
stuff previously gathered to make &
hense smoke. The smoke stGpefies The
bees and renders them comparatively
harmless.
When a good smoke has been raised
10 split the trunk open in sections, so a.
10 give access to the honey. Before thu
hollow is cut into, however, the plug il
generally taken out of the oriiice, so as
TO let in the smoke, and if that is sue
resSfully done the bees are not likely {,
be troublesome when the comb. is eX
posed. Sometimes, though, the Smok,
does not go in, and then when the frs
section of the trunk is split off tn,
bees come out in a perfect cl0u,
and settle down on the first hunte
they come in contact with The
will swarm over his head, face
neck. shoulders and head, forming
complete, living. crawling, and intensel
irritating envelope. He must be a ma
Of uncommon selt-control to remain i'm
movable in such circumstances TO
many minutes. And yet his only saliva
ton is to keep as still as statue, 70
should he squeeze one of the insects b(
tween his neck and his shirt collar, fo
example. he would inevitably be stuns
and if one bee Stings when they ar
swarming on you in that way, the
every individual in the family is likel
brush them off is certain t
provoke them to sting, and til
consequences in such all ever
are really very serious. While thu
swaTmed upon, the writer has bee
compelled to remain immovable for
least quarter of an hour in real agon
of irritation from the crawling Of the il
sects. Two or three bushels of loade
comb are sometimes taken from one
these trees, and the honey is always
superior quality. 1t also has in the fa
OF the year peculiar flavor impaired