THE HOXEY-BEE. 195 



by bees, many hives of which the inhabitants had 

 stationed on the ruins. The Janissaries., although the 

 bravest soldiers in the Ottoman empire, durst not en- 

 counter this formidable line of defence, and refused 

 to advance. " Our bees/' says M. Feburier, in re- 

 marking on these anecdotes, "are not so terrible. 

 Still, if we place ourselves within a few feet of a hive 

 to examine them, and do not carefully avoid all hasty 

 movements, we shall very soon perceive one or two 

 bees wheeling rapidly round us, with a shrill and pierc- 

 ing sound, very different from their ordinary humming. 

 In this case it will be prudent to take ourselves off, 

 or plunge the head into a bush, because the number 

 of the assailants will increase rapidly, and the attack 

 commence without a moment's delay. If, notwith- 

 standing the shelter of the bush, they continue their 

 enraged buzzing around us, it will be most prudent 

 to get quietly and quickly out of the way." 



The following anecdote from Lesser, quoted by 

 Kirkbyand Spence, will shew that even in the temper- 

 ate climate of Europe, the irritability of this insect may 

 be made a formidable means of defence. " During the 

 confusion occasioned by a time of war in 1525, a mob 

 of peasants assembling in Hohnstein in Thuringia, 

 attempted to pillage the house of the minister of 

 Elende, who having in vain employed all his eloquence 

 to dissuade them from their design, ordered his do- 

 mestics to fetch his bee-hives, and throw them in the 

 middle of this furious mob. The effect was what 

 might be expected ; they were immediately put to 

 flight, and happy to escape unstung." 



