The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-11

TO rest. The writer remembers how, In
walking through the woods one day, he
almost thrust his head into the centre OF
such q cluster, suspended from a low limb.
He does not remember whether the bees
were merely resting. but he does remem-
Der that he did not remain at rest.
What were the bees doing while you
were chopping the tree?" the bee hunter
was asked.
-Lookin' on he replied. The mint ye
touch their Tome they seem 70 git dazed.
an when the tree falls they fy aroun' an
a seem to understand what's the mat
ter. There amt much chance OF Sittin'
stung after that"
One warm fall afternoon some years
ago the writer and several friends came
across a great white oak tree which had
just been brought down by a party of honey
hunters, in a wild ravine back OF White
Horse Mountain, near Gro Nest. It is not
recalled whether in that particular case
the bees had been stupefed by sulphur
fumes or smoke. but they were crawling
like ants about the tree.
One OF the men remarked hat the bees
were bewildered by the fall Of their home.
Then, taking out his knife, he calmly scraped
e"ay bC SFaWths UcSe, Iih6 30 IluCH1 unbp
from the comb, and even from his hand,
as he handed to each stranger a dripping
portion.
h honey was warmish and had q strong,
wild taste, quite different from the refined
product Of the table. To a woods lover IL
was like nectar. something to be classed
with the cider drunk from q tin can at the
press, with wild grapes gathered on the
wno1nnfninatAA anI -sNk NkA A->l. -ktlk
Thoreau delighted to pluck in old, sban-
doned orchards.
The hardest thing about findin' a bee
tree" says one of the authorities. is findin'
the tree. It's easy enough to catch a line,
but the Teller that thinks he's got the nest
located then is likely to l'srn somethin' be-
fore he gits through.
when he's gittin' a line on the critters
by bis cup OF honey he sees only one line Of
bees comm an goin'. When he gifts UP
near the tree be secs about a million bees
comm from every direction, an the nearer
he gifts to the tree the more lines he sees.
Fur that reason he don't know whar in airth
TO look fur Il.
Once l found a bee tree over on Listenin'
Hill, by Long Pond. an l had a TELLER with
me that hadn't seen il. It's one OF the rules
ma Nbch q III uuub - bNcC ~ = bl6p "a l.
took this Teller a few rods away from IL. an
then just for fun ! old I'm the tree wasn't
far away an that IL he'd find it I'd give i'm
all the honey thar was into IL.
H thrashed aroun' the woods an once
he passed within ten feet Of the tree, but
after a while he got mad an ssidhe guessed
l was tryin' TO fool i'm. When / took i'm
over an showed i'm whar IL was ye ovghter
seen the way he looked.
when l think I'm somewhars near y
bee tree / gin'rally lie down fiat on my
back an get all the lines I can an sec which
way they pint. Then I go an lie down
in another place an do the same thing.
/ do that over an over till I've got a pretty
fair notion as TO whar they're goin', an
1 o often git left"
1t will be seen hat not only Toes the
getting of a line or the nee present enough
excitement to suit any reasonable hunter,
but it also affords excellent training In
applied mathematics.
Are the wild honey bees, like some game
birds, disappearing? II would seem that
such might he the case, as a swarm is often
killed outright by the use Of fumes, and in
any case they must perish from the loss OF
their shelter or die of starvation by the
.rObbing Of their store OF food.
Yet the great bee mar Of the Highlands,
a higher authority even than the mighty
hunter and fisherman who resides on the
Torne. says that there seem TO be more Of
them than ever before. The sport Of get
ting a line on them is, after all, confined
to a comparatively mail number Of men,
mostly the old dwellers in the hills, 10 that
these interesting little inhabitants Of the
forests continue in increasing numbers,
according to the paraphraseof the old song.
70 gather beeswsK all the day and eat IL
up at night
So Characteristic are they Of the forest
animate life in the Highlands that an
elevation near Black Rock Mountain has
been known for a generation by h dwell
ers In the hills as Bee Hill, owing TO the
fact that 1t has long been a iavorite swarming
and nesting place Of the wild honey bee.
This name appears N no map, nor has il
ever cen in print, but for that matter the
hill is never trod by city people.
Hill, name and bee are equally a part Of
that remoter woods life near New York Of
which only the few fortunate outsiders who
have the exploration instinct are aware.