Part 20 (1/2)
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
A GRAND BEE-HUNT
”Next day we had a war the bees out After breakfast we all set forth for the openings, in high spirits at the prospect of the sport we should have Harry was ood deal about bee-hunters; and was very desirous of knowing how they pursued their craft He could easily understand that, when a bee-tree was once found, it could be cut doith an axe and split open, and the honey taken from it All this would be very easily done But hoere bee-trees found? That was the puzzle; for, as I have before observed, these trees do not differ in appearance from others around theh up, that one cannot see these little insects froht tell it to be a bee's nest, if his attention were called to it; for the bark around the entrance, like that of the squirrel's, is always discoloured, in consequence of the bees alighting upon it with their h the woods before chancing to notice this Bee-trees are soular bee-hunter does not depend upon this, else his calling would be a very uncertain one There is no accident in the way he goes to work He seeks for the nest, and is alh to enable him to execute his manoeuvres I may here reenerally open tracts in their neighbourhood, or else flower-bearing trees--since in very thick woods under the deep dark shadow of the foliage, flowers are more rare, and consequently the food of the bees ht glades and sunny openings, often met with in the prairie-forests of the wild West
”Well, as I have said, ere all eager to witness how our bee-hunter, Cudjo, would set about finding the bee-tree--for up to this tireat tantalisation of Harry, whose impatience had now reached its ht along with hily silass--fortunately we had one that had travelled safely in our great mess-chest--a cup-full of maple molasses, and a few tufts of white wool taken fros?' thought Harry, and so did we all--for none of us knew anything of the process, and Cudjo seemed deterive us a practical illustration of thelades, and entered one of the largest of them, where we halted Porass; and we all followed Cudjo--observing every movement that he made Harry's eyes were on hih so it He watched him, therefore, as closely as if Cudjo had been a conjuror, and was about to perfor, but went silently to work--evidently not a little proud of his peculiar knowledge, and the interest which he was exciting by it
”There was a dead log near one edge of the opening To this the bee-hunter proceeded; and, drawing out his knife, scraped off a sh bark--so as to render the surface s were thus polished and levelled
That would be enough for his purpose Upon the spot thus prepared, he poured out a quantity of thea little circle about the size of a penny piece He next took the glass, and wiped it with the skirt of his coat until it was as clear as a dia the flowers in search of a bee
”One was soon discovered nestling upon the blossom of a helianthus
Cudjo approached it stealthily, and with an adroit lass upon it, so as to inclose both bee and flower; at the sa buckskin glove--was slipped under theout; and, nipping the flower stalk between his fingers, he bore off both the bee and the blosso, the floas taken out of the glass by a dexterousup against the bottolass--which, of course, was now the top, for Cudjo had held it all the while inverted on his pal, mouth doards, so as to cover the little spot of molasses; and it was thus left, while we all stood around to watch it
”The bee, still frightened by his captivity, for solass--seeking, very naturally, for an egress in that direction His whirring wings, however, soon ca down right into the h of the 'treacle' to hold hi once tasted of its sweets, he showed no disposition to leave it
On the contrary, he see his proboscis into the honeyed liquid, he set about drinking it like a good fellow
”Cudjo did nothilass, he separated hiloves, and cautiously inserting his naked hand he caught the bee--which was now soer He then raised it fro it breast upward, with his other hand he attached a slutinous paste hich its thighs were loaded enabled him to effect this the ht, was now 'flaxed out,' in order to make it show as ed as not to coht All this did Cudjo with an expertness which surprised us, and would have surprised any one as a stranger to the craft of the bee-hunter He perfor care not to cripple the insect; and, indeed, we did not injure it in the least--for Cudjo's fingers, although none of the smallest, were as delicate in the touch as those of a fine lady
”When everything was arranged, he placed the bee upon the log again, laying it down very gently
”The little creature seemed quite astounded at the odd treat; and for a few seconds re down upon it soon restored it to its senses; and perceiving that it was once s and rose suddenly into the air It ht of thirty or forty feet; and then co around, as we could see by the white wool that streaood earnest The pupils seereat balls appeared to tu to hold them
His head, too, seemed to revolve, as if his short thick neck had been suddenly converted into a well-greased pivot, and endoith rotatory h the air, the insect darted off for the woods We followed it with our eyes as long as we could; but the white tuft was soon lost in the distance, andno ht line, which the bee always follohen returning loaded to his hive--hence an expression often heard in western Aland in the phrase, 'as the crow flies' Cudjo kneould keep on in this line, until it had reached the tree where its nest was; consequently, he was now in possession of one link in the chain of his discovery--_the direction of the bee-tree froh to enable hiht stop on the very edge of the woods, or it o twenty yards beyond, or fifty, or perhaps a quarter of ato its tree It was plain, then, to all of us, that _the line in which the tree lay_ was not enough, as without so this line for a ithout finding the nest
”All this knew Cudjo before; and, of course, he did not stop a moment to reflect upon it then He had carefully noted the direction taken by the insect, which he had as carefully 'lade, and in the line of the bee's flight
Another 's sure To do this, Cudjo stooped down, and with his knife cut an oblong notch upon the bark of the log, which pointed lengthwise in the direction the bee had taken This he executed with great precision He next proceeded to the tree which he had used as a marker, and 'blazed'
it with his axe
”'What next?' thought we Cudjo was not long in showing us as to be next Another log was selected, at a point, at least two hundred yards distant from the former one A portion of this was scraped in a similar manner, and molasses poured upon the clear spot as before
Another bee was caught, ilass, fed, hoppled ool, and then let go again To our astonishment, this one flew off in a direction nearly opposite to that taken by the former
”'Neber mind,' said Cudjo, 'so much de better--two bee-tree better than one'
”Cudjo marked the direction which the latter had taken, precisely as he had done with the other
”Without changing the log a third bee was caught and 'put through'
This one took a new route, different from either of his predecessors