c. AD 500 (Oxford Book Greek Verse, no. 678) When bees come hither in the fair springtide, Tell them, ye nymphs … How on a wintry night Leucippus died.
1810 Gents Mag. pt. 1 309 [Pamber, Hants.] When the head of a family who keeps bees, dies, it is usual … to repair to the hives, and, gently tapping them, to say: ‘Bees, bees, awake! Your Master is dead; And another you must take.’ Otherwise the bees would either all die, or fly away.
1851 N & Q 1st ser. IV 308 [Bucks., c. 1825] It is common … for the nurse to go to all the bee-hives in the garden, and tap gently three times, each time repeating three times these words, ‘Little brownie, little brownie, your master's dead;’ when the bees, beginning to hum, show their consent to remain.
1867 Trans. Devon. Ass. 40. The bees must be informed, by tapping on the hive and whispering, of anything that takes place in the house, or if any of the family are ill, or going to, or returning from, a visit.
1870 Stamford Mercury 15 Apr. 6 [Stallingborough, Lincs., c. 1840] A woman staying with the bereaved family asked the widow, ‘Have the bees been told?’ The reply being ‘No’, she at once took some spice cake and some sugar in a dish [for the bees] then, rattling a bunch of small keys (I suppose to attract the attention of the indwellers), she repeated this formula: ‘Honey bees! honey bees! hear what I say! Your master, J.A., has passed away. But his wife now begs you will freely stay, And still gather honey for many a day. Bonny bees, bonny bees, hear what I say!’
1883 BURNE Shropshire 236. A woman at Meole Brace … lately tapped the hive three times and said, ‘The poor maister's dead, but yo mun work fur me,’ in which phrase … we have the key to the whole matter.
1906 KIPLING Puck of Pook's Hill IX. A maiden in her glory, Upon her wedding-day, Must tell her Bees the story, Or else they'll fly away.
1926 W. RAYMOND Verity Thurston XV. She … passed behind the row of beehives and fastened a wedding favour on the top of each with a hairpin. Then … she went down the front and told them … in … a little intimate confidential whisper at the entrance of each hive. ‘I be to be married today to Cap'n Merman.’
1946 Sussex N & Q 60. The teller should rap on the outside of the hive with the front door key.
1955 Sunday Times 24 July 2 [Worcs., c. 1925] She visited [the bees] many times a day … When she had any important family news she would dress very carefully—even to gloves—and leave the house ceremoniously by the front door. For a death she wore her very formidable widow's weeds and carried two pieces of crape to tie on the hives. For a wedding she donned her gayest dress and carried white ribbon; for a birth the ribbon was pale blue or pink.
1959 Woman's Day 5 Sept. 2 [Shrops.] He was not superstitious, and did not tell the bees of a death in the family, but some time later he lost seven hives of bees, and it was not because of lack of winter feeding—he always fed them on barley sugar.
1961 Shrewsbury Chronicle 3 Mar. 1. Sam Rogers was devoted to his bees. And when he suddenly died … his children … walked round the 14 hives ‘telling the bees’—to stop them, as legend has it, flying away. But as a memorial service was being held in the Shropshire village church of Myddle, the bees left their hives and settled in a great swarm all over the flowers on Sam's grave.
1969 S. MAYS Reuben's Corner 165 [Ashdon, Essex] Family letters with bad tidings should always be read to the bees, preferably those in hives, otherwise misfortune would continue.
1984 [Dulwich, London] My neighbour's son came round to say ‘Have you heard, I'm getting married.’ ‘Has your father told his bees?’ I asked. ‘Of course,’ he said. Cf. ROOKS informed of a death.
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