Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1897-09-18
BEE HUNTS IN AUSTRALIA.
Ingenious Methods Used In Tracing Honey
Gathcrers to Their Homes.


Ingenious Methods Used In Tracing money
Gathcrers to Their Homes.
Said the elderly gentleman who
had lived for some years in Austria
liza: "One CT the most interesting
experiences of my residence in Aus
tralia, where l spent about two
weeks out on large sheep range
owned by Il friend of mine, came
from making the acquaintance OF
me of tho herders who was native
black and u great hand to trail bees
TO their homes.
Zone day l asked permission to
accompany him on one of his trips,
and after little deliberation he
consented Before setting out he
provided himself with small bunch
of cotton, Il little gum of some sort
and bottle of water. The care he
took in preparing these articles
aroused my curiosity, and when l
questioned him he said that they
were to be used in the hunt for hon
ey. failed to see how they could
be of service, but made up my mind
to watch closely and see what he
would do.
For some time we rode on IN ST.
lence, he all the time keeping
sharp lookout for something which
| had not the slightest idea of, and
when he suddenly refined in his
horse and sta1te for clump Of
towering bushes followed his OK
ample and was somewhat astonished
hen he lifted a warning finger and
pointed to bee which was busy
gathering honey
"Motioning me to remain quiet,
he drew out the water bottle, filled
his mouth, and then took small
tuft of the cotton. applied bit of
the gum to it and stepped toward
the bee. When he was close enough,
he squirted the water on the bee,
and while it was trying to shake off
the water he deity fastened the
cotton to its back and romounted
his horse.
when the bee recovered the use
of its wings. it started off across the
country, and we followed it. 1t was
impossible for me to keep track of
the bee, but my companion never
lost sight of it and followed it I'M
erringly as it flew along, uncon-
sciously leading an enemy to it's
storehousc We followed it for sew
eral miles until we reached large
gum tree. An inspection showed
that we had made no mistake, and
preparations were made for smok-
ing out the bees.
He cut hole in the lower part
of the tree and kindled fire, across
which he laid a number of fresh
branches to create smudge To in
sure the smoke doing it's work prop
erly sort of screen was made to
forco the smoke into the hole, and
in about half an hour the bees had
become helpless, and we obtained
about 30 pounds of honey.
1--WE We're just getting ready to
return home when peculiar look
ing little bird, somewhat larger
than a sparrow, began to fiutter
around our heads and twitter. My
companion gave a cry of satisfac-
ton and then started off pellmell
after the bird. was at loss to ex-
plain his action, but thought best
to follow him.
when caught up with him, he
explained that the bird was honey
bird and wanted to show him where
there was a honey tree. Having
never heard of such thing, l
thought that he was making game
of nc. but his earnestness partly
convinced me, and decided to keep
on.
AFTER chase of several miles
the bird began to hover around
tree, and when we drew nearer we
saw bees issuing from hole in the
trunk The former methods for Sc
curing the honey were put in opera
ton. the bird sitting on n nearby
limb while the operation was going
on. After securing the honey a por-
ton was set aside for the bird, as
my companion declared that unless
he did so the bird would refuse to
guide him any more.
1--WE found several other trees and
marked them and reached the house
i'll the evening. After supper my
host entertained nc with an account
of the amount of honey which the
herder had gathered, stating that in
one week the previous summer he
had secured nearly 1000 pounds.
Since leaving that place l have
visited u number of large apiaries
in various countries and seen any
number of devices for keeping bees,
but have never met any one who
made such an impression upon me
as that bee hunter with whom l
spent day in southern Australia"
Rochester Union and Advertiser.
A Queer Revenge.
A man having died at Darwen,
England, his wife addressed a long
speech to the corpse upon her suffer