The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1893-12-29
HUNTING WILD BEES.
The Ingenious Method of Con-
nacticut Man.
Tracking the Insects to Their Trees with
the Aid of Loaf sugar How It
l. Done Isees with
"a jag"

Up in Litchlield comfy lives Bert
Beeman. one of the most famous bee
hunters of the state. writes Connect
cut correspondent of the Ncw Nor'.
sun. Mr.. Becman takes t. the bust
ness bv instinct. anil 50 far this season
has found nine bee trees and ScOOpcI
il D hundred pounds of wild hou..
:.i N-lI honey. Il mn se lciu'ls
r'l- ha. D Iu-or p,,'ui.:,i. its p-'
which cauuot Ec du?liratsl in tho.
coucoctions of glucose and tiuvorinl
extracts manufactured to order. Mr..
Beeman has his own method of finding
bee trees. and ne does not reveal them
to every Tom. Dick and Harry who
asks him Bee trees are not So numer-
Gus in Connecticut that there are
enough to go round. 50 thoS" few who
possess the peculiar nature or instinct
which picks out such hive are keep
ing their knowledge to themselves.
There is one method which the Litch-
field county bee hunter uses in certain
- eases which, he has no objection to be
ing known. When he leaves home for
an expedition he takes along with him
several Jumps of loaf sugar. Arriving
in the woods he mOiStenS two or three
Jumps and places them. on the stump
of an old tree or on a rock, and sit
down TO smoke IA. pipc 2ai wait. n,
veiDpmsu. c1ma rapidly. \ Ia! y i'r
..iC over TIC spot, scent, the sugar
takes a few sips. and fiaS away
Pretty soon it returns. accompanied
by other bees, and these go and bring
more. until finally quite a swarm viii
be lowering over that sugar. Mr.. Bee
man gets in his work now. Cautious
lv he catches one of the bees. and with
his sharp pcnknife he Sits both wings
This-doeSn't harm the bee. and makes
it distinctive. Keeping his eye on this
bee he takes out his watch and notes
the time when it flies away and the
time when it comes back again. also
the direction which it takes From
long experience the hunter knows Just
how long it will take bee laden.with
honey To fly certain distance and dis
charge its load of sweets, and how
long it requires to return without It's
load. BY making his calculations he
knows Just about how far the big tree
is. Following the direction of the bee.
flight To the distance he has calculated
it doesn't take long. with careful
Watching to find the tree As a rul,
=
circumstances may make che location q
the tree somewhat tedious, and labor.
Gus Mr. Bccnau's experience ha
brought him in good income durinf
the fall of each year, and he ha
gained quite a reputation a. u hone.
hunter.
A peculiar story of bees on flor
ous spree comes from up Bristol wav
HghtfuI ~ may pe To the senses, some
times results fatally To insects a, well
as individuals. Mrs. Theodore Hyde
was making sweet pickle pears few
days ago. and sweet pickle, especially
after it is spiccd, has a very prnetrat-
ing as well as seductive Odor Mrs.
Hyde left the jar of pickle in her
kitchen, with the window open. for a
little while, until she had time To rua
into ncighbor's and swap receipts for
making pickles. ON her return she
was greatly put out. not to say alarmed,
TO find that her new pickle had at
tractcd a swarm of bees, and hen
kitchen was in possession of the in
sects, which knew how TO defend rhem
selves when attacked. She awaited
the return of her husband at dinner
time to know what to do. lie quietly
picked up the jar and set il
out on the lawn, where, dur
ing the afternoon, the bees continued
To imbibe the Intoxicating concoction
until over half the swarm were in "A
state of incbriety.
The jar remained out of doors all
night. The next morning the two
quarts of pickle were entirely gone,
while in the jar were two quarts O.
dead bees which had persisted from
cold while too drunk 10 fly home. 1t
was the most destructive jag in loss ot
life ever known in that region of the
state