Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-07
BEE HUNTING IN TEXAS.
Methods Adopted by the Busy Work.
ers in the Search for Food.


ers in the Search for Food.
From the Boston Evening Transcript
To any eye except bee hunters a bee
in the air is invisible. 1 question if many
people ever saw one flying, unless it was
in the act of alighting flower but they
travel through the air as people trave! on
earth, and wonderful powers of sight they
must have. Besides that, there is no doubt
in my mind that there is an intelligent Or
dering of the whole business of the hive
and means of communicating of one with
the others.
Sometimes take a lot of comb with a lit
tie honey in it, and set it top of hill
or in an open place where l can see in all
directions, and leave IL for a day or two,
until the bees are working at it strong and
can then run them home in little while
When L have leisure, l stay and wait for
them to come, and encourage them by
burning a piece of comb every half hour or
SO. If it is warm bright DAY in winter
and the comb is within two miles of a
swarm, they will come before the first hour
Is out. The first one, always doubling here
ana there, flies in ever narrowing circles
until he finds the exact location of the
sweet smell; he examines 1t from all sides
Slowly buZzinS around It, and finally alights
inserts his long, slim tongue in a drop of
money, sets his pump to work, and in a
lew minutes is as full as he can fly Slowly
ne rises, carefully scanning the country as
he gets higher, that he can tell the
others the exact locality of his find. prob
ably. AS he gets still higher he feels con-
ndence, and away ne goes slowly and care
July, but directly toward home.
generally time the first bee, and can
Juoge quite accurately as to distance by
tnat allowing about fifteen to twenty min
utes Tor a mile, going and coming The
pee never delays an instant, except to IN
load and make his report and then is off
AGAIN; II 1t is a reliable bee, his first re-
port Is needed, and three bees, or in rare
cases, four, are sent at once after him
arriving at the bait about a minute after
the hrst one comes for his second load
once or twice have seen the first bee make
TWO or three trips alone, as if his report
mad not been considered truthful enough for
others to be sent to his aid. If the swarm
IS at work elsewhere, there are seldom
more than twenty sent to the new place
put If there is no other honey to be had
they Keep coming in regular detachments
until, to the experienced eye, 1t Is like a
road to popuIOus town, and some are GO
ing loaded others are hurrying along to
nave nave hand In the SPOIL and seldom get
tlns lar from the beaten track. AS one
hears the hive (tree or cave as it NAV hey
the coming and going becomes incessant
some hign in the air and others close to the
ground, but all busy and eager to be doing
their share. And to think that to most ewes
all this is invisible, In all the men 1 have
had here-probably 100 Mexicans in the past
three winters-born woodsInen as they are
ana true sons of nature, only one can see
a bee in the air; another is learning the
craft little with my help. Truly, one may
have eyes and see not!
Since January Is 1 have found sixteen
caves and one tree containing honey, and
could probably get LOGO pounds of honey if
l wanted it, but my principal pleasure is
in following and watching the bees they
are great friends of mine and are so full of
order and good sense that / never tire of
studying their habits and trying to find
their hidden treasures.