Telling the bees
Telling the bees is an old English folk custom: after someone in the household dies, a family member goes to each hive, knocks or whispers the news and sometimes ties on black crape, so the bees will not desert the hive.
What it may mean
Telling the bees asks something hard of the person left behind: to walk out to the hives and say the news aloud. A correspondent quoted by Brand tells of a servant in the Isle of Ely who asked his master whether he would inform the bees of a relative's death or whether the servant should do it, and of a cottager who said that when her aunt died she told every hive herself and put them into mourning. In one Midwestern farm family of English descent, someone still knocks on each hive and whispers the name of the person who has died. A student who recorded it noted that the task takes the grieving outside and gives them a slow, careful thing to do. The custom leaves a question worth keeping, about the people around you who have not yet heard your news from you.
Depending on how you saw it
Black crape on the hive
Brand's correspondent saw black crape tied around hives, or on a small stick beside them, in Gloucestershire, and found the custom in Cornwall, Devon and Yorkshire as well. What small outward sign do you use to show that something has changed?
A share of the funeral feast
In Yorkshire, the bees were given a taste of everything served at the funeral meal, or they would desert their hives. Who in your household gets forgotten when everyone else is being looked after?
Quarrels near the hive
In Oxfordshire, Brand's correspondent was told that if a husband and wife quarreled, the bees would leave them. Which shared project of yours suffers first when the two of you argue?
Why it happens in nature
A honeybee colony can dwindle or abandon its hive for many reasons, including disease, a failing queen, poor forage and repeated disturbance. Bees respond strongly to vibration, which is why a knock on the hive makes them stir.
What folk beliefs say
England (Isle of Ely and Suffolk)
A correspondent quoted by Brand heard of a servant in the Isle of Ely who asked whether his master would inform the bees of a death in the family or whether he should, since bees left uninformed would desert the hive; a cottager said she had told every skep herself and put them into mourning.
Source: John Brand; Henry Ellis (ed.), Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. 2 (1849), vol. 2, p. 300. View the page
England
The same correspondent found the custom in Cornwall, Devonshire, Gloucestershire and Yorkshire, and in Gloucestershire saw black crape put around the hive or on a small stick beside it; the news was whispered to each hive in turn.
Source: John Brand; Henry Ellis (ed.), Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. 2 (1849), vol. 2, p. 300. View the page
England (Yorkshire)
In Yorkshire the bees require a taste of everything served at the funeral feast, or they will desert their hives and cause trouble to the family, Daniels and Stevans note.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 190. View the page
Midwest (United States)
On a family farm in the Midwest, a custom handed down from English immigrant ancestors requires someone to go out after a death in the family, knock on each hive and whisper the name of the person who died.
Source: Eliott Lanz (collector), Telling the Bees (USC Digital Folklore Archive) (2026), folklore.usc.edu. View the page
To reflect on
Who still needs to hear your news directly from you, rather than from someone else?