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Online Exhibit: Cooking and Food Preparation: Bees and Honey


In 1905, Kephart published the article "Hunting Wild Bees" in New England Magazine. His fascination with the sport continued with further references in his journals and remarks in his future books. From page 354 of volume 2 of Camping and Woodcraft:"The craft of the bee hunter, although based upon some curious woods lore, is not hard to acquire under proper tutelage. The theory is simple enough. First capture a few wild bees and let them fill up on honey or other bait that has been brought along for the purpose; then liberate them, follow in the direction of their flight as far as you are sure of it, capture and send more guides, and so on until the tree is reached. In practice, successful bee hunters resort to some shrewd arts unknown in any other branch of wildcraft." Chapter 22 of the volume is devoted to the topic of bee hunting.

Horace Kephart: Revealing an Enigma is presented by Hunter Library Special Collections and the Mountain Heritage Center. This project was supported in whole or in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the federal Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

Disclaimer: These items are presented as part of the historical record and not meant to be advisory in “how-to” methods of camping, or other activities. This site includes historical materials that may contain negative stereotypes or language reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place including terminology that may not be deemed appropriate today.