This bee reminds me of a historical account of a man, long forgotten, that once lived deep in the Dismal Swamp. Sometime around 1856 or early 1857 David Hunter Strother, an illustrator/writer, known by his pseudonym, Porte Crayon visited our swamps. Storther was writing for the Harpers Monthly magazine when he met a local bee hunter known as Uncle Aleck. He was described as a very old slave that belonged to the Reverend Jacob Keeling. Storther said Aleck had a bag of bees in his hand when they first met and had many fascinating tales that left quite an impression on the young writer. Storther wrote, “Uncle Aleck would follow bees for a long distance, cutting his way through the reeds for miles in a straight line, until he came to the tree in which was the hollow. Then he would take out the bees, put them into a bag and bring them out”. He describe that in going into swamp, you could see numerous paths cut by Aleck for purpose of hunting those bees. When I saw this bee today, I imagined this little guy was from one of those bee hives that old Aleck hunted long ago. Suddenly his story came alive as I watched this bee working away so I thought I would share this story. Like this bee, Aleck worked in the Swamp nearly all his life, and he was described as a “faithful hand”. In his old age, the Dismal Swamp Land Company gave him a house and piece of land, as a home. A mule was also given to him. So as you watch the video, think about “Uncle Aleck”. If you get the notion to read more just Google “Dismal Swamp, Bee hunter”. You’ll find more about Old uncle Aleck and his mule. They were great curiosities, and whenever he came to town on his mule they attracted a great deal of attention….but that’s a story for another day... Enjoy the bee.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 16:22:21 +0000
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