The English custom of telling bees family news and draping hives in mourning

The English have a remarkable custom of telling the bees the family news. Not only the beekeeper but his whole household must converse with the hives and relate the most important of what has happened, and it is especially vital for the bees to learn of a recent death. In days of mourning the hives were to be draped in black cloth. Should the little bee-cottages not be dressed in mourning, this might cause irreparable offence to the bee family, and bring about resentment, a loss of honey and even their departure.

Report a translation error

September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

The English custom of telling bees family news and draping hives in mourning

Read more

September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s