xii RIVERSIDE LETTERS 97 



the family belonging to the manor. He said 

 that it was a well-known fact that bees if 

 they were not told, by knocking on their hive 

 and by the voice, of a death in the family, 

 would either die or leave their hive. I can 

 scarcely believe this to be more than a super- 

 stition, founded on an occasional coincidence, 

 but here is a plain statement of fact that at any 

 rate is curious. My lady informant writes : 

 " There is a remarkable superstition (?) that 

 obtains in Hants, and I think in all bee- 

 keeping provinces, viz. that on the decease of 

 any member of the family, a man has to go 

 round to the bee-hives, tap them gently, and 

 tell them of the death, or else the bees will 

 die before the next swarming time. That they 

 die if not told I have proved to be a fact in 

 my own family, and the only explanation I 

 offer is, that by or through the wonderful 

 instinct of the bee, it divines that there is a 

 shadow of misery over the home they are 

 connected with, which so overclouds their 

 sensitive nature, that they need the reassuring 



H 



