The Portland daily press., 1876-10-27
THE HONEY FLY.
A Society of Portland Girls.

A number of young ladies of this city, believ-
| ing that women have as much call as men to
| form themselves into societies with sounding
| names and mysterious and imposing rites, that
| girl has as much reason to style herself a
Duchess as man to dub himself knight of
| the Red Cross, have formed an organization
which partakes of the quality of secrecy which
attaches to the societies which their brothers
hold in SO much account and which is known as
the Order of the Honey-Fly( Mouche-a-Miell tax
ing its name from the decoration worn. The
society is secret more in assumption than in
really, though men are never admitted except
as honorary members, to its ranks, the useless
creatures being looked upon as drones by the
busy little bees. Each particular society is
called Hive and has applied to it some distinc-
tive epithet Thus the Portland society may
be known as the Forest City Hive, though
that does not appear Its objects, so far as can
be gathered from the reluctant statements of
its members, are literary and artistic. 1t is in
fact society for mutual improvement in art,
study, literature and bellies lettres generally.
Presumably studies are carried on in concert,
essays read, &c, though the programme can
only be guessed at by the ipquisitive ones who
are not admitted to the sacred membership.
The society is understood to have been formed
for social as well as other objects, and is BY no
means merely school or art club. 1t is made
up of Portland's brightest and best The de-
coration is jewel in the form of bee, either
of gold or enamel and the searching eye may
discover it worn as breach or pin. The name
Honey-Fly is literal Translation of the French
Mouche d-Miel which would perhaps be more
correctly rendered by HopeyBee.
The Order doubtless had its origin ia rem-
niscense of the famous society formed by the
Duchesse de Maine, granddaughter of the
great Condo, lady who was renowned for her
wit in the time of Louis XIV. She long held
literary court of her own at Sceaux, and ex-
ercised with her courtiers all her ingenuity in
inventing from time to time some new diver
sion. 1t occurred to her one day that she would
institute an order of chivalry, for both sexes,
and call it the Honey Fly (Mouche-a-miel)
The idea was taken from Tasso's lne-'She is
tiny, but she can infiict severe wounds which
had been applied to her on account of her d.
minutive stature aud great powers of repartee.
The distinctive mark of the Order was gold
upon the reverse the line quoted above. The
members of the Order had to take the follow
ing oath: L swear by the bees of Mt. Hymet-
tus obedience and fidelity to the foundress of
the Order swear that all my life long will
wear the Order of the Honey Fly. and obey
the statutes. If am false to my oath, may the
honey become gall in my mouth, the wax tai
low, the flowers nettles, and may wasps AID
hornets sting me- The costume of the Order
was coat in cloth of gold, spangled with sill
yer bees for the chevaliers; and the ladies wore
a robe of green satin, embroidered with silver
bees, and diamond of flies and emeralds. The
institution of the Order was great success,
and the fetes in celebration of it lasted many
days at the Chateau de Sceaux but the Order
did not outlive its foundress
Whether the above oath be that in use by the
Portland Order is not certainly known, but
there is strong reason to believe it u.s. with the
exception of the clause swearing obedience to
the foundress. The witty Duchess, however,
is held in high regard as the institutor of the
society, and is fancifully known in its ritual as
the Queen Bee. There is said to be quite a
rage for portraits of her, which are believed,
however, to be unattainable.