ANGER OF BEES. 
311 
Cotton, quoting from Butler, who, in these remarks, 
follows mainly Columella, says: 
“ Listen to the words of an old writer:— 1 If thou wilt have the 
favour of thy bees, that they sting thee not, thou must avoid such 
things as offend them : thou must not be unchaste or uncleanly; 
for impurity and sluttiness (themselves being most chaste and 
neat) they utterly abhor; thou must not come among them smell¬ 
ing of sweat, or having a stinking breath, caused either through 
eating of leeks, onions, garlick, and the like, or by any other 
means, the noisomeness whereof is corrected by a cup of beer, 
thou must not be given to surfeiting or drunkenness ; thou must 
hot come puffing or blowing unto 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 will they love thee, and know thee from all others. When 
nothing hath angered them, one may safely walk along by them ; 
but if he stand still before them in the heat of the day, it is a 
marvel but one or other spying him, will have a cast at him.’* 
“ Above all, never blowf on them; they will try to sting directly, 
if you do. 
“ If you want to catch any of the bees, make a bold sweep at 
them with your hand; and if you catch them without pressing 
them, they will not sting. I have so caught three or four at a 
time. If you want to do anything to a single bee, catch him ‘as 
if you loved him,’ between your finger and thumb, where the tail 
joins on to the body, and he cannot hurt you.” 
If a person is attacked by angry bees, not the slightest 
* Many persons Imagine themselves to be quite safe, if they stand at a consider* 
able distance from the hives; whereas, cross bees delight to attack those whoso 
more distant position makes them a surer mark to their long-sighted vision, than 
persons who are close to their hives. 
t While bees resent the warm breath exhaled slowly from the lungs, I have 
ascertained, that they will run from a blast of cold air blown upon them by the 
mouth of the operator, almost as quickly as from smoke. Before employing smoker 
l oiten used a pair of bellows. 
