THE WEAPON OF DEFENCE 83 



times with fatal results, for the horse, mad with 

 pain, will lash his tail and kick his heels up in 

 a manner which only makes the insects more 

 determined to drive him off. 



A friend of mine had a hive in a field, and 

 a visitor who arrived on a pony incautiously 

 tied the animal close to it. A bee came out 

 and stung the beast, who immediately kicked 

 out violently. Unfortunately, the blow was 

 planted full on the side of the hive and overturned 

 it. The result was that the poor pony was stung 

 so thoroughly that it died within a few hours. 



Personally I have never been stung very much. 

 It is my habit only to meddle with hives at pro- 

 pitious moments, and as I have no fear whatever 

 of bees, I never make jerky movements or jar the 

 combs in my operations. Not but what, when 

 I do get stung, the result is pretty painful. The 

 worst stinging I ever had was on an occasion 

 when a swarm settled in a bough of a tree in my 

 garden, in a position most difficult to reach. 

 I shook the cluster down several times without 

 securing the queen, and, although the bees are 

 very harmless at swarming time as a rule, on this 

 occasion they were so irritated by repeated 

 onslaughts, that they provided me with over 

 twenty stings on one hand, the only place they 

 could get at. I had taken the precaution of 

 wearing a veil, or the result would probably have 

 been unpleasant in the extreme. 



