Affection of Bees

The Republican Compiler
May 10, 1847, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Affection of Bees.

An elderly lady at Nantes, who had an estate in the neighborhood of that town, where she used generally to pass the summer, had a remarkable partiality for bees, and kept a great number of them upon her estate. She took great pleasure in attending these little insects.

Towards the end of May, 1777, this lady, having been taken ill, was conveyed to Nantes, where she died a few days after. On the day when she was to be interred, and enormous number of bees made their appearance in the house where the body lay, and settling upon the coffin, would not be driven away. A friend of the deceased, wishing to ascertain whether these were the same bees that she had taken such
tender care of when living, repaired immediately to the estate, where he found all the hives emptied
of their inhabitants.

thanks to Historical Honeybee