Before we
detached this, I repeated the fumigation, lest the noise and the fresh
air should awake the bees; but there was no fear of such a thing,--they
were quite stupified. We removed the wood, and through this opening
beheld, with wonder and admiration, the work of this insect nation.
There was such a store of wax and honey, that we feared we should not
have vessels to contain it. The interior of the tree was filled with the
honeycombs; I cut them carefully, and placed them in the gourds the boys
brought me. As soon as I had made a little space, I placed the upper
comb, on which the bees were hanging in clusters, in the new hive, and
put it on the plank prepared for it; I then descended with the rest of
the honeycomb, and filled a cask with it, which I had previously washed
in the stream; this we covered with sailcloth and planks, lest the
bees, attracted by the smell, should come to claim their own. We left
out some comb for a treat at dinner, and my wife carefully put by
the rest.
To prevent the bees returning to their old abode, we placed some burning
tobacco in the hollow, the smell and fumes of which drove them from the
tree, when they wished to enter; and, finally, they settled in the new
hive, where the queen bee, doubtless, had fixed herself.
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