MALADIES OF BEES. 



another occasion, lost one of his asses, and one of his men was 

 almost killed by them.* 



212. Bees, however, as we have already observed, are not 

 usually ill-tempered ; and, if not molested, are generally inoffen- 

 sive. Thoiiey relates, f that a maid servant, who assisted him in 

 hiving a swarm, being rather afraid, put a linen cloth as a defence 

 over her head and shoulders. When the bees were shaken from 

 the tree on which they had alighted, the queen probably settled 

 upon this cloth, for the whole swarm covered it, and then getting 

 under it, spread themselves over her face, neck, and bosom, so 

 that when the cloth was removed, she was quite a spectacle. She 

 was with great difficulty kept from running off with all the bees 

 upon her. But at length her master quieted her fears, and began 

 to search for the queen. He succeeded, and expected that when 

 he put her into the hive the bees would follow. He was, however, 

 in the first instance disappointed, for they did not stir. Upon 

 examining the cluster again, he found a second queen, or probably 

 the former one, which had flown back to the swarm. Having 

 seized her, he placed her in the hive, and kept her there. The 

 bees soon missed her, and crowded into the hive after her, so that, 

 in two or three minutes, not one remained on the poor frightened 

 girl. After this escape she became quite a heroine, and would 

 undertake the most hazardous employment about the hives. 



213. The duels of rival queens have been already mentioned. 

 Similar combats take place occasionally between the workers of 

 one hive and those of another. Nor are such wars confined to 

 single combats. General actions take place now and then between 

 neighbouring colonies. This occurs when one takes a fancy to a 

 hive which another has pre-occupied. Reaumur witnessed one of 

 these battles, which lasted a whole afternoon, and in which great 

 numbers fell on the one side and the other. In such cases, each 

 combatant selects his opponent, and the victorious one flies away 

 with the slain body of its enemy between its legs. After making 

 a short flight thus, she deposits it on the ground, and rests near 

 it, standing on her four anterior legs, and rubbing the two hinder 

 legs against each other, as though she enjoyed the sight of her 

 victim. 



214. The following account of a bee battle was published in a 

 Carlisle newspaper. A swarm of bees flying over a garden, where 

 a newly tenanted hive was placed, suddenly stopped in their 

 flight, and, descending, settled upon the hive, completely covering 

 it. In a little time, they began to make their way to the door, 

 and poured into it in such numbers, that it became completely 



* Park's Last Mission, 153, 297. t Thorley, 150. 



Ill 



