Bee Tracker is not a career path I was aware of until reading an article in the September 15, 1900 Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which was originally published in the New Orleans Times-Democrat. An excerpt:

“‘Talk about your queer trades,’ said a man from Texas, ‘what do you think of bee tracking as a means of making a living? I know several professional bee trackers who have never done anything else in their lives, and their skill is something almost incredible. What is the work like, do you ask? Well, I’ll explain. Down in Bee County, in my state, where some of the greatest apiaries in the world are located, all honey is graded and marked according to the bloom from which it was obtained. For example, you may have your choice of cotton blossoms, wild clover, horse mint and several other brands, each distinct in flavor. This seems mysterious to a stranger, because the bees range wild over miles of countryside; but it was discovered long ago that the colony from each hive or cluster of hives always draws its sweets from some one particular flower and religiously shuns the others. At the beginning of the honey making season the proprietor of a bee farm wants to know, of course, how much of each flavor he is going to have, as a basis for calculations; so he sets a tracker to work. The tracker, who is always a native Mexican, mounts his tough little bronco, rides over to a row of hives, waits until a big, healthy looking bee emerges, and, when it flies away on its daily quest, he gallops along in its wake. Often the feeding ground is miles distant, and the bee takes anything but a bee line. On the contrary, it makes long detours, frisks and frolics through gardens, loafs in shady groves and has a good time generally; but it is the rarest thing in the world for it to shake off its ‘shadow.’ How the Mexican manages to keep it in sight and distinguish it from other bees it meets en route I have never been able to understand. The business seems actually to develop a special faculty. When the bee finally reaches its destination the tracker makes a mental note of the variety of flower and then returns home. Next day he verifies his observations by following another honey gatherer, and then labels the hive and proceeds to the next one. When his task is done the apiary man knows exactly what he can depend on in the several flavors. The trackers are well paid–enough to let them loaf between seasons.”