Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1893-12-15
HUNTING WILD BEES.
The Ingenious Method OF . Con-
necticut Man
Tracking the Insects to Their Trees with
the Aid of Loaf Sugar How II
II Done Bsas with
sJAg."

Up in Litchfield county lives Bert
Beeman, one of the most famous bee
hunters of the state, writes Connecti-
cut correspondent Of the New York
sun. Mr.. Beeman takes TO the busi-
ness by instinct, and so far this season
has found nine bee trees and scooped
in hundred pounds of wild honey,
and wild honey, il must be remem-
bered, has flavor peculiarly it's own,
which cannot be duplicated in those
concoctions of glucose and favoring
extracts manufactured to order Mr.
Beeman has his own method of finding
bee trees, and he 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, so those 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
cases which he has no objection to be-
ing known. When he leaves home for
an expedition he takes along with him
in the woods he moistens two or three
Jumps and places them on the stump
of an old tree or on a rock, and sits
down to smoke his pipe and wait. De-
velopments come rapidly. A busy bee
flies over the spot, scents the sugar,
takes few sips, and flies away.
Pretty soon it returns, accompanied
by other bees, and these go and bring
more, until finally quite swarm will
be lowering over that sugar. Mr.. Bee
man gets in his work now. Cautious
his sharp penknife 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 bees
fight to the distance he has calculated,
it doesn't take long, with careful
watching, to find the tree. As rule
this system works perfectly, though
circumstances may make the location of
the tree somewhat tedious and labori-
Gus. Mr.. Beeman's experience hns
brought him in good income during
ha FOL Of no
gained quite a reputation as 4 honey
hunter.
A peculiar story of bees on glori-
GUS spree comes from up Bristol way,
and shows that Jag" however de-
lightful it may be to the senses. scrne-
times results fatally to insects a. veil
as individuals. Mrs. Theodore Hyde
was making ''sweet pickle pears few
days ago, and sweet pickle, especially
after it is spiced, has n very pene: At
ing as well as seductive odor. S.rs.
Hyde left the jar OF pickle in her
kitchen, with the window open, for q
little while, until she had time To run
into a neighbor's and swap receipts FOR
making pickles. On her return she
was greatly put out, not to say alariaed.
to find that her new pickle had at
tracted swarm of bees, and her
kitchen was in possession of the in
sects, which knew how to defend them
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 it
out on the lawn, where, dur
ing the afternoon, the bees continued
to imbibe the intoxicating concoction
until over half the swarm were in q
state of inebriety.
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 OF
dead bees which had perished from
cold while too drunk to fly home. 1t
was the most destructive jag in loss OF
life ever known in that region of the
state.