begun its journey in earnest. To HIS disappointment, instead of
flying in the same direction as the bee first taken, this little
fellow went buzzing off fairly at a right angle! It was consequently
clear that there were two hives, and that they lay in very different
directions.

Without wasting his time in useless talk, le Bourdon now caught
another bee, which was subjected to the same process as those first
taken. When this creature had filled it-self, it rose, circled the
stump as usual, as if to note the spot for a second visit, and
darted away, directly in a line with the bee first taken. Ben noted
its flight most accurately, and had his eye on it, until it was
quite a hundred yards from the stump. This he was enabled to do, by
means of a quick sight and long practice.

"We'll move our quarters, friends," said Buzzing Ben, good-
humoredly, as soon as satisfied with this last observation, and
gathering together his traps for a start. "I must angle for that
hive, and I fear it will turn out to be across the prairie, and
quite beyond my reach for to-day."

The prairie alluded to was one of those small natural meadows, or
pastures, that are to be found in Michigan, and may have contained
four or five thousand acres of open land. The heavy timber of the
swamp mentioned, jutted into it, and the point to be determined was,
to ascertain whether the bees had flown OVER these trees, toward
which they had certainly gone in an air-line, or whether they had
found their hive among them. In order to settle this material
question, a new process was necessary.