MAY. Ho 



r. 



pick up so bare a living as to have occasioned 

 an old couplet, often quoted in the country, 



The pigeon never knoweth woe, 



Until a benting it doth go. 



The leafing of the trees is commonly com- 

 pleted in this month. It begins with the 

 aquatic kinds, such as willow, poplar, and al- 

 der; and ends with the oak, beech, and ash. 

 These are sometimes very thin of foliage even 

 at the close of May. 



Bees. Towards the end of May the bee- 

 hives send forth their earliest swarms. One 

 queen-bee is necessary to form each colony ; 

 and wherever she flies, they follow. Nature 

 directs them to march in a body in quest of a 

 new habitation, which, if left to their choice, 

 would generally be in the trunk of some hollow . 

 tree. But man who converts the labours, and 

 instincts of so many animals to his own use, 

 provides them with a more secure dwelling and 

 repays himself with their honey. There is 

 something very picturesque in the manner of 

 reclaiming the swarms of bees. Their depar- 

 ture is announced for a day or more before it 

 takes place by an unusual bustle and humming 

 in the hive. Some person, commonly a boy, is 

 set to watch, and the moment their flight is 

 proclaimed, a ringing is commenced upon a pan, 

 or fire-shovel, which, as country people say, 



