Pope, The Dunciad, i. 101 (1728).
Beaver. When a beaver is hunted, it bites off the part which the hunters seek, and then, standing upright, shows the hunters it is useless to continue the pursuit. [Æsop tells a similar story of a civet-cat.]--Eugenius Philalethes, Brief Natural History, 89.
Bee. If bees swarm on a rotten tree, a death in the family will occur within the twelvemonth.
Swarmed on a rotten stick the bees I spied,
Which erst I saw when Goody Dobson dyed.
Gay, Pastoral, v. (1714).
Bees will never thrive if you quarrel with them or about them.
If a member of the family dies and the bees are not put into mourning, they will forsake their hive.
It is unlucky for a stray swarm of bees to alight on your premises.
Beetles. Beetles are both deaf and blind.