Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1858-05-21
PARIS, ME-,
Curious Instance of Bees at War and
in Wax.

The wars Of bees with each other arc
among the strange mysteries Of nature. A
few year. ago. in Conncaut, Ohio, no less
than seventy swarms, it is said, engaged in
battle which was continued from three
O'Clock in the afternoon until SIX. They
were all the property Of one man who had
them about equally divided on opposite sides
Of his house. No one could account for
this desperate contest, and though the ground
was covered with slain. neither party gained
the victory. Two young hives were entire
~ destroyed, and Others were greatly weak
cnei.
In Carlisle, England, swarm Of bees
living over a garden in which new colony
had been recently placed, settled upon the
hive, and a contcs, cn.ucd which resulted in
the defeat Of one party, while the yictors
settled down in the branch Of &. nciehhorine
tree. In thi. case the cause Of the battle
may h,v, been ia, desire to secure posses
SION Of the quarters occupied by the first
colony.
Tho attack Of bees upon an army i'a
matter notpro,ilcl for IN the ordinary book
on tactics, But W. have reccutly had in
,hc papers the following account of a resi.
men, put to ilight by swarm Of brcs.
" In India, lately, while the army were
returning from Alumbagh to camp, one OF
the lancer. was tempted TO poke his spear
into a b,c.' nest, when the swarm al once
turned out and attacked the soldiers with
such rerocity, that they al turned tail and
l,l. both officer. and men, a'andonidg their
guns, and they did not stop until they had
reached the camp, where they were enabled
90 partially protect them.elyo, from their
active prosecutors"
Still moro remarkable, however. is the
U.s. Of bees as a means Of defence ueains, an
armed force, aud We clo.c the number with
some curiou. matter. Of history dr wu FROM
sources not generally accessible to our read.
crs.
"a small printocr with forty or iny
men, having on board some hives Of car.hen.
ware fgll OF bees, was pursued bya Turkish
galley, manned by five hundred s'amen
soldiers. rs soon a. the latter came along.
side, the crow OF the printccr mounted the
rigging with their hive, aui hurled them
down on the deck Of the galley. The Turks,
ast1nished at thi, novel mode OF warfare,
aud unable to defend themselves from tho
siius' Of the cnraScl bc,., became 50 terri
fed that they thought Of nothing but to
escape the,r fury while the crew Of the
smaller vessel, defended by mask, and gloves.
dew upon their enemies, sword in hand, aud
captured the vessel almost without rcsist.
ancc."
When Amuraih. ,ho Turkish Emperor,
during the ,,isc ol Aba Grr,a. bad batter.
cI down part Of the wall. anl WAS aboat to
take the town by assault, he found the
brssch defended by bees, many hives of
which the inhabitants had placed ou the
ruins. The Jani,,arie., although ,hc brlycst
soldiers in the Ottoman empire, dur't not
encounter this furnil.hlo line of defence,
and refused to advance" (Jariinc.)
KIRBY and Spencer quote another incident:
" Daring the coniuaon oeclsioncd by a ,iuo
Of war in 1925. a mob Of peasants assem-
bling in llohn,ii,n n, attempted t. riilago the
house Of the minister OF EIendc. who hav-
ius IN vain employed all hr' c!oqucncc to
di~uada them from their desisu, ordered his
domestic. TO fetch biz bcc hives aud throw
them INTO the middle OF the furious mob.
The cG,c, wa. what nigh, be expected :,
they were Immediately put to aisht, happy
to escape being 'iuuS.
American Agriculturalis,.