wilt liaVe the favour of thy bees that they sting thee not, thon 

 must avoid some things that offend them ; thou must not be 

 unchaste and uncleanly, for impurity and sluttiness (they them- 

 selves being most chaste and neat) they utterly abhor ; thou 

 must not come amongst them with evil breath, caused by eating 

 of leek, onion, garlick, and the Hke, or by any other means, 

 the noisomeness whereof is corrected by a cnp of beer ; thou 

 must not be given to surfeiting or drunkenness ; thou must not 

 come puffing and blowing ilnto them, neither hastily stir among 

 them, nor resolutely defend thyself when they seem to threaten 

 thee, but, softly moving thy hand before thy face, gently put 

 them by ; and, lastly, thou must be no stranger unto them. 

 In a word, thou must be chaste, cleanly, sweet, sober, quiet, 

 and familiar ; so wiU they love thee and know thee from all 

 other." 



It is a fact to be treasured, that a bee never yet stung any 

 other living thing wcmtonh/. He is a sober, peaceful worker, 

 and wiU never interfere with you if you give him no offence. 

 They are singularly sensitive on certain points : for instance, 

 if you breathe hardly on them, or while you are near them 

 whistlej so that they feel it, they wiU attack you at once ; if 

 you kill one of their kind, they seem to be roused to anger 

 by the smell of the carcase, and swarm about you to avenge 

 the murder. " Never resolutely defend thyself when they seem 

 to threaten thee," writes old Butler ; and the better to impress 

 that excellent maxim on the mind of the amateur bee-keeper, 

 and convince him how such a course may help him in the 

 direst strait his bungling may bring him to, I will relate to 

 him a marvellous little story told by Thorley, the bee-master, 

 and furnished by him in his " Female Monarchy :" — 



" One of my swarms settling among the close twisted branches 

 nf some codling trees, and not to be got into a hive without 

 more help, my maid-servant, hired into the family the Michael- 

 mas before, being in the garden, very ofiScionsly offered her 

 assistance so far as to hold the hive while I dislodged the bees, 

 she being little apprehensive of what followed. 



" Having never been acquainted with bees, and Hkewise 

 afraid, she put a linen cloth over her head and shoulders, con- 

 cluding that would be a sufficient guard, and secure her from 

 their stings. A few of the bees fell into the hive, some upon 

 the ground ; but the main body of them upon the f loth which 

 covered her upper garments. No sooner had I taken the hive 

 out of her hands, but, in a terrible fright and surprise, she cried 



