The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1897-12-03

BEE HERDERS AND HONEY

ice MYERS n herders, WIN h,r.
been in session In Chicago, report thai,
honey will be d;ar for a year To como.
that the bees were trihing during ina
spring and summer when the snn
sl'onc. 1t is said that they inst lazIly
buzzed about, slipped at Il flower bud
occasionally, and then went home and
slept just like an ordinary drunkard
The result was that along about the
lst OF september, when the hive.
should have been full OF the Dcct,,
that makes men eat a half dozen
waffies in the morning and the COOK
tired Of making biscuit in the evening
for supper, there was scarcely enough
found to feed the bees themselves
during the winter. There Is lots ~
comb reported, but it Is dry and fl,
only to make wax.
This Is the season OF the year when
the wild bee hunter Is in his glory. lie
fcasts on the honeyed batter cakes and
wafiies three or four times a day. and
goes to bed hungry at that. A bee
hunter Is born, not made. There are
men who can find bee trees Just Ikea
dog can trace and jump IA fox. But.
like Il cnuntry fiddler, n bee hunter is
1T for nothing else. lie can't shoot.
he can't hoe corn, he can't chop cot.
ton, lc can't dig POTATOES, drive n
wagon. grabble g,mhcrs, crack hickory
nuts, churn milk. call hogs or build
fires. lie is good in that one particu.
lar line only. But what an art that
Is! lie can smell out Il tree nilcd with
honey much easier than a bear can.
He looks first at the body, gives it \
tap with II stick or something OF the
sort, and in Il minute can tel you il
he has struck Il paying claim.
The bee hunter in the South has n
busy season about this time every
year. In some places it Is against the
law to rob trees except during the fail
months. 1t il along about the latter
part OF August when the time is ripe
for pilgrimages into the forests in
search OF honey. Usually the trees
are very large and are hollow. ! have
seen as much us 800 pounds taken
from m hive. 1t is swcctcr than
that obtained from the ordinary
apiary. Why that is do not know,
and Sam Knight, Of Washington
county, Ala, the king hunter, once
to me that he didn't know either.
But wild honey Is swectcr than tame
honey. just like wild game is better
than mmc-raiscd meat. The syrup
is clearer and the comb Is richer.
Sam knight has robbed more than
a Thousand bee trees. In his county
wild ll,wcrs grow The honcysuckle
blooms until frost. The jasmine 81 YES
fragrance almost the year round.
arc the PEA and pntaioe buds
until far into the fall. Wild bees
swarm aboutin droves. There are no
apiaricS in Washington county. When
honey is harvested by the busy little
bees they 20 to u tree to deposit thtir
Sam Knight watches thcmdur-
ing the summer while they are 1T
work. lie bats them Just as the
trapper bats his game. lie
Il stump aud on top of it he
u drop or so OF molasscS. Then
ne takes Il chew Of home twist and
waits. When a be comes alons AMI
lights on the stump he stays there
Until he has loaded deep enough to
Il deposit. Then lie lifts his
wings and makes II line Tor his honie
that is rs strait as IN arrow. Sam
takes up the trail. he fol-
0wS until the tree has been found.
lie makes u mark OF some Iind on the
bark, blazeS the WHY back To u"
lump and then goes tn another part
Il the forest, where the same thing
$ done over again. In the course Ola
0uplc Ut months work Knight locates
hundred or more trees.
Robbing Il bee tree isn't much ora
nb. The trunk Is first felled to the
The crash generally Kills
most VI the bees, ur else stuns them so
S to prevent their singing. lheh
he hollow part is split open and lhe
are filed. Knight ships HIS
Ioncy to Mobile. where 1t commanos
price beyond that Of any other KIN
n the market. A person entering
rOccry store in Mobile and asks Tor
'oney Is In turn questioned as 70
lie wants the Knight brand or
lot. Much OF it is shipped to WASH
ngton, and some to New York, where
t can be found ut Delnloh'coS
,hamberlin's, in Washington, makes
speciality OF two dishes-Kn'ghI
Ioncy and waffics, Malone ham anu
'oilcd rice. Some years ago Gch'
iahonc planted several acres IN pea'
'uts and, bought u hundred or 50
uinca hogs, turned them loose IN lhc
cannt patch about the time the NUS
ad ripencd, and then, when Inc hos'
,crc fat, killed them. cured the h''ns
nd put them on the Washingto"
John Chamberlin ilna'y
,ade Il contract with Malone 70 Guy
II such meat ut fifty cents q po"nu'
ur t,,ld Tint ctnro MnhOnc'S dcatn