http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/main.php We start our bee tree hunt by luring the bees to us with honeycomb bait. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting01.jpg.html 475 Once they have loaded up with nector, they head off in a "bee line" directly towards their hive. When the bee rises from the bait container, it will circle until it finds its bearings. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting12.jpg.html 506 Once oriented, the bee will fly directly towards the bee tree. What you have to do is get an accurate compass bearing of the direction the bee flys. Getting a good compass bearing is nowhere as easy as one would think. Can you see the bee against the cloudy background? http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting10.jpg.html 503 Not only is the wind a factor in coursing bees, but the current sky conditions affect your ability to keep track of a departing bee. Once a good course is obtained, you then follow that course on foot, through woods, briars and brambles for a goodly distance. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting02.jpg.html 479 Here, you will want to set out some more bait, in order to attract the bee once again. Here is a piece of honeycomb that is used for bait. You will saturate the honeycomb with sugar-water and anise. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting03.jpg.html 482 It seem that this combination is a sure fire way to attract the bees in a hurry. Here, Jasper (or Jay, for short), hangs plastic containers spiked with the bait. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting05.jpg.html 488 It is best if you can find an opening in the woods to hang the containers. Jay is checking the honeycomb in the traps, looking for bees. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting04.jpg.html 485 If the honeycomb begins to dry out, Jay moistens it with the sugar-water solution. One liter plastic beverage bottles make great bait containers. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting06.jpg.html 491 They are tough and light, they are free, and if you cut them as in this picture, they will keep the honeycomb dry in the rain. Hey, this really does work! Before long the bees arrive. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting07.jpg.html 494 They will stay until they have taken on a full load of nector, then back to the hive they go. Jay has been around bees for so long that he doesn't even wear protective gear in their midst. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting08.jpg.html 497 The bees seemed to be only interested in the bait, not us. I'm just glad the africanized killer bees haven't arrived in the Ozarks yet. In this photo, Jay is revitalizing a bait container with anise. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting09.jpg.html 500 The scent of the anise will carry for a long distance, and it will last for days. Sometimes, it is easier to just pretend you are a tree. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting13.jpg.html 509 Why bother going through the trouble of hanging the container - just hold it up yourself. After many iterations of bait, wait, and follow, bait, wait and follow, Jay is finally able to spot the bee tree. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting14.jpg.html 512 You know the tree is near when the bees no longer have to circle to orient themselves. Jay is packing up the bait after having sucessfully found another bee tree. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Hunting15.jpg.html 515 Jay estimates that he has found "hundreds of bee trees this way. And at long last, here is the bee tree we found by coursing bees for a day. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/photogallery/v/TheBeeHunt/Bee+Tree.jpg.html 518 The arrow in the photo shows the opening into the hollow tree that the bees used for their hive.