264 THE HONEY-BEE. 



their hives if the master or mistress of the house 

 chance to die, except the hives be presently removed 

 into some other place ? And yet I know this hath 

 hapned to folke no way stained with superstition.' A 

 vulgar prejudice prevails in many places of England 

 that, when bees remove or go away from their hives, 

 the owner of them will die soon after." 



A correspondent of The Bee Journal writes under 

 the head of " Norfolk Bee-Superstition": "A neigh- 

 bour of mine had bought a hive of bees at an auction 

 of the goods of a farmer, who had recently died. The 

 bees seemed very sickly, and not likely to thrive ; 

 when my neighbour's servant bethought him they had 

 never been put in mourning for their late master. On 

 this he got a piece of crape and tied it to a stick, 

 which he fastened to a hive. After this the bees 

 recovered ; and when I saw them they were in a very 

 flourishing state a result which was unhesitatingly 

 attibuted to their having been put into mourning." 



It is more difficult to suggest the possible origin of 

 these curious fancies than to explain those previously 

 mentioned. We may, perhaps, be on the right track 

 in supposing that it has often happened, when the 

 master or mistress of the bees has been ill or has 

 died, the insects have missed, especially in autumn or 

 early spring, the attention required for their welfare, 

 and have, in consequence, perished. Then other 

 persons of the household, unacquainted with the 

 actual connection in many instances a vital con- 

 nection between the bees and their owner, have 

 attributed to them a bond not actually existing; 

 and so, being led to the silly notion of the insects 

 grieving, or needing to be informed, and to have their 



