noon before
Thousands of the little creatures perished by means of this new invention of man , and the rest soon after were led away by their chiefs to seek some new deposit for the fruits of their industry . The sad butterfly , Waving his lackered wings , darts quickly on , And , by his free flight , counsels us to speed For better lodgings , and a scene more sweet , Than these dear borders offer us to-night . SIMMS . It was noon before Ben and Gershom dared to commence the process of cutting and splitting the tree , in order to obtain the honey . Until then , the bees lingered around their fallen hive , and it would have been dangerous to venture beyond the smoke and heat , in order to accomplish the task . It is true , le Bourdon possessed several secrets , of more or less virtue , to drive off the bees when disposed to assault him , but no one that was as certain as a good fire , backed by a dense column of vapor . Various plants are thought to be so offensive to the insects , that they avoid even their odor ; and the bee-hunter had faith in one or two of them ; but none of the right sort happened now to be near , and he was obliged to trust , first to a powerful heat , and next to the vapor of damp wood .