The practice of telling of the bees of important events in the lives of the family has been a widely observed practice for hundreds of years. Although it varies somewhat among peoples, it is invariably a most elaborate ceremonial. The procedure is that as soon as a member of the family has breathed his or her last breath, a younger member of the household (often a child) is told to visit the hives, rattle a chain of small keys, tap on the hive and whisper three times:
Little Brownies, little brownies, your mistress is dead.
Little Brownies, little brownies, your mistress is dead.
Little Brownies, little brownies, your mistress is dead.
A piece of funeral crepe is then tied to the hive and after a period of time funeral sweets are brought to the hives for the bees to feed upon. The bees are then invariably invited to the funeral and have on a number of recorded occasions seen fit to attend.
From: http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/bees/bees.htm
See also my entry: https://beelore.com/2007/09/24/the-edinburgh-beekeepers-funeral/
See also: http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2008/12/little-brownies-little-brownies-your.html
Bee Lore 
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