Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1907-12-07


the entrance, rush in and help them
selves to all the stores. Let US hope
that our innocent action led to no
such fatal consequences.
There are bees on the asters on
the other side of the woods, and we
can take a chance on their being
wild ones. We hasten over to the
field and trap several more in our
box and find suitable stump to set
the box on.
This time we manage to line the
second bee out, and as the line leads
to the woods, our hopes for a sue
cessful hunt are raised. We decide
that the line passes by a tree with
a blasted top about half a mile away.
1t is well to have some object to mark
1t by.
We wait for further developments
Presently one of our little friends
we released with a load of honey
comes buz2ing back. Hear his high
pitched humming? That is pre-
clsely the same note robbers make
when, having had a taste of graft,
they hover before a strange hive pre-
paratory to raid. Our bee couldn't
have been gone more than five min
utes. That means its nest is only
a short distance away, as 1t is said
that bees, on an average, will take
five minutes to fly mile and spend
about two minutes unloading. And
our bee has brought others with him,
which is more evidence of the near
ness of the nest.
Felicitating ourselves on our luck,
we close the slide of the box and
move forward on the line so as to
be nearer to the woods. Again we
open the box and soon it is fairly alive
with bees that have rushed from their
nest to get a share of the spoils.
This practical demonstration of in
stinct eXcites our profound interest,
and we cannot choose but marvel at
the omnipotence of the Creator who
packs so much intelligence in crea-
lures so tiny and delicate.
Again we take a squint at a bee
as it circles about the box before de-
parting with a load. Having seen
it bear for home, we are able to cor
rect our line. We thought 1t led to
the left Of the blasted tree, but now
we know 1t leads just to the right.
Very good. We take the box and
move off thirty or forty rods to one
side. This enables us to start the
bees on a cross-line; line, that is,
which will meet our original one at
an acute angle. The object, of course,
is to fix definitely the situation of the
nest, which, as bees invariably take
a straight line for home, will be at
the vertex. 1t sounds simple, but we
find that to make the calculation to
a nicely out in the open is far from
easy. In fact, after we have started
two or three bees on the cross-line
we have only hazy notion as TO
where the verteX of our angle may
be, We advance, however, in the d.
rection of where we think 1t Is.
Just before plunging back into the
woods, we stop to get another line
work. We don't have to trap the
bees now; for they are about us in
great numbers, and the instant we
withdraw the slide of the box they
are at the honey. So much has been
carried off that another filling of the
feeder is necessary, Our latest line
shows us we are heading in the right
direction, We re-enter the woods
and press on.
After we have put about half a
mile between us and our original
stand, we once more expose the honey
and make the important discovery
that we have passed beyond the bee
tree; for our little friends are turn
ing back on the line. We mark the
spot, and hasten back some forty
rods. Again we expose the honey.
Good; the bees have resumed their
original direction. In other words,
we are very near to the bee-tree, as
1t must be between us and the spot
where the bees turned back. The
time has come when we can cross
line to great advantage. We leave
the box where it is, and about ten
or twelve rods to one side pour some
honey on the ground. Thus we have
the bees flying into their tree from
two directions. We eagerly seek the
spot where we calculate that the two
lines meet.
Arriving there, we find a cluster
of trees, and we cannot be sure which
one contains the nest. So we make
careful examination Of them all
looking especially for hollows, and
using our field-glass to sweep the
tops. Suddenly we exclaim, Here
they are!" Up near the top Of tall
chestnut we can plainly see the bees
passing in and out of cavity in the
limb. Our citation is pardonable; for
not all hunters find a tree as easily
as we did; sometimes they have to
keep lining and cross-lining until they
actually see the bees flying from the
honey into the tree. Frequently this
takes such a long while that the
search has to be abandoned until
another day.
But, now that we have found the
tree. how are we going to get at the
nest, fifty feet in the air? 1t Is toe
fine a chestnut to chop down, and the
only thing to do is to climb 1t. For
this we shall need various nipple.
ments, and, after marking the tree
for identification, we return home
A young farmer to whom we confide
our discovery is impressed by ouI
statement that the bees seem to be
pretty fair Italians, and volunteers
to climb the tree, If we will permit
him to capture the colony to start an
apairy with. AS we do not want the
bees, nor have much zeal for the
climbing job, we gladly close with his
offer.
Accordingly, on the next after
noon, all three of us start for the bee,
tree, formidably armed with pail
of stell-spurred climbers, an axe, saw
and auger, long lengths of rope and
clothes-line, good-sized basket, bee
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