The Washington times., 1894-07-09
FINDING wILD-HoNEY HOARD.
Uncle Uriah wragg's Messenger Bees and
Little White Flags.

Uncle Uriah Wragg's Messenger Bees and
Little White Flags.
SCRANTON, July ga native Of Whetstone
Greek, over in the evergreen district of rocky
and picturesque Sullivan county, this state
in company with an enthusiastic city angler
started for the upper waters of Kitchen creek,
few days ago, in search Of trout. They had
Just left long stretch of tangled under
growth, and had struck into shady glade
when the native startled his companion by
halting and singing out:
"Hold upl Did you see that honey bee?''
The visitor hadn't noticed anything with
wings except swarm of mosquitoes.
t.Wait a minute" the native remarked,
land keep your gaze fixed just below the lower
limbs of that tall hemlock on to the right.
There goes another"
"Another what?"
"Honey bee"
The tree the guide pointed to was q man.
moth hemlock, nearly dead. The city man
looked sharp, and presensly he saw tiny
white speck shoot through the air and dart
into hole in the great tree. Other similar
specks followed quickly, the guide noting
each arrival by exclaiming: There!
Therer'
"What are they?" asked the puzzled WIS.,
itor
wild honey bees. and every one Of EN-
carries Uncle Uriah Wragg's little white nag.
Mr.. Wragg is out here in the woods some
where at this minute. He Is an old bee hun
ter, and ali the white spots you saw were
honey bees with Uncle Uriah's flags on their
tails. He's lining them 10 the hemlock. and
in the fall he'll chop down the tree and get
their store OF honey"
By that time the visitor was more inter-
ested in the new tangled fla; business than
he was in trout fishing. so he got the native
to hunt up the old bee hunter. They found
Mr.. Wragg within quarter Of mile in a
dense part OF the woodland. He was work.
ing in straight line toward the big hemlock,
although he did didn'. know at the time
where the hemlock was Or how far away the
bee tree stood that he was endeavoring to To-
cate. He had two small boxes. with sliding
glass tops, in each Of which there was a little
syrup. One of the boxes was open, the last
bee in it having set out for homo just as the
native and his companion came up.
Under the closed lid of the other box three
bees were slipping the sweets. Pretty soon
one Of them became laden, and as it crept out
at the end of the slide Mr.. Wragg, whose
spectacles we're far down on the point OF his
nose. plucked a tiny bit Of cotton from wad,
touched the fiossy mite TO the syrup, and then
stuck it to the bees tail Just as the insect
started to rise with its load OF sweets. The
bee sailed upward with the fleecy white flag
fast to its tail, and when it had got on a level
with the treetops it darted OF in straight
line for the hol How hemlocks.
Uncle Uriah kept watch of its movements,
and after the bee had disappeared he moved
his apparatus several yards nearer to the in
sect's destination. BY that time two more
bees had settled down in the open syrup boz.
one of them having made the round trip with
out losing its flag. Mr.. Wragg shut them in,
and after he had released the two in the other
box. each one with the telltale flag attached to
its rear, the guide relieved the old man Of his
labor by telling him where the tree stood that
he was searching for by means OF the bees.
The aged bee hunter then said:
"When / was young / could see bee a
good many yards of, but since my eyes be-
came poor I've had to use the cotton on their
tails to aid my sight. Even when bee is
loaded down with honey or syrup it doesn't
mind the weight of the cotton, and the bit Of
white, especially in very dark woods. enables
me to line bee when couldn't possibly do
SO without the aid Of what your friend here
calls a nag. burn little honeycomb when
1 start out in the woods, and when the bees
begin to come open the syrup boxes and get
my wad of cotton ready. Once in a while a
bee objects to the cotton, and when it does I
just let it sail of, as 1t never pays to quarrel
with bees ~