TIMES ARE CHANGING

A great form of recreation for the early settlers, bee hunting, became an art to some of the pioneers. Those who excelled at the gathering of honey, would watch a bee as it gathered its nectar, and then took careful notice of the direction it took when leaving to carry the sweet reward back to the hive. This was called the “bee line.”
When discovered the hive was usually high up in the hollow of some tree. The tree would be marked, and in the fall a party would go and cut down the tree and capture the honey as quick as they could before it ran away through the broken walls of the hive. Often several gallons would be taken from a single tree. This simple project kept the families in honey the year round.