THE HONEY-BEE. 
1 95 
by bees, many hives of which the inhabitants had 
stationed on the ruins. The Janissaries, although the 
bravest soldiers in the Ottoman empire, durst not en- 
counter this formidable line of defence, and refused 
to advance. “ Our bees," says M. Feburier, in re- 
marking on these anecdotes, “ are not so terrible. 
Still, if we place ourselves within a few feet of a hive 
to examine them, and do not carefully avoid all hasty 
movements, we shall very soon perceive one or two 
bees wheeling rapidly round us, with a shrill and pierc- 
ing sound, very different from their ordinary humming. 
In this case it will be prudent to take ourselves off, 
or plunge the head into a bush, because the number 
of the assailants will increase rapidly, and the attack 
commence without a moment’s delay. If, notwith- 
standing the shelter of the bush, they continue their 
enraged buzzing around us, it will be most prudent 
to get quietly and quickly out of the way.” 
The following anecdote from Lesser, quoted by 
Kirkby and Spence, will shew that even in the temper- 
ate climate of Europe, the irritability of this insect may 
be made a formidable means of defence. “ During the 
confusion occasioned by a time of war in 1525, a mob 
of peasants assembling in Hohnstcin in Thuringia, 
attempted to pillage the house of the minister of 
Elende, who having in vain employed all his eloquence 
to dissuade them from their design, ordered his do- 
mestics to fetch his bee-hives, and throw them in the 
middle of this furious mob. The effect was what 
might be expected ; they were immediately put to 
flight, and happy to escape unstung." 
