310 SINGULAR INSTINCT OF THE BEAR. 



to this country, all mention of him may be considered as 

 irrelevant. We cannot, however, refrain noticing the manner 

 in which the bear obtains possession of the contents of a 

 hive, in those countries which are subject to its visitations. 

 It is seldom known, according to l'Abbe della Rocca, that 

 the bear attacks a hive openly ; for although his shaggy hide 

 may protect him from the fury of the stings of the bees, 

 yet his muzzle is by no means protected ; and the bees appear 

 to be endowed with the instinct of always attacking the 

 most vulnerable part of their assailants. The bear is also 

 conscious to himself that his muzzle would be pretty well 

 punctured with stings, were he to manifest an inclination to 

 appropriate to himself the contents of the hive as it stands 

 in the apiary ; he therefore takes the hive between his paws, 

 and carries it to the first pond or river, into which he plunges 

 it, until all the bees are drowned. In those countries, there- 

 fore, which are infested by the bear, the bee masters fasten 

 their hives to the walls or posts, so that the bears cannot 

 detach them ; but he is an enemy so very conspicuous, and so 

 soon discovered, that a couple of bullets can soon put an end 

 to his predatory visits. 



The fox is a truly formidable enemy in some countries ; 

 but although we once possessed an apiary in a district in 

 which that animal abounded, we never knew a single in- 

 stance in which the hives were attacked by it. Speaking of 

 the fox as an enemy of the bee, Mr. Ducarue says, " These 

 rascals of foxes eat the bees as well as the honey, but it is 

 the honey to which they are the most partial. For two years, 

 a particular fox came every winter to overthrow my hives. 

 I put a chicken and some bread to amuse him, and some 

 poison to kill him ; but no, the cunning thief would not 

 touch either ; he went directly to the hives. Mark the 

 sagacity of the animal : he would not come in summer, when 

 the bees were in full vigour, as he knew in what manner he 

 would be received; but he steals slily to the hives when 



