Specifically, re: What do the bees do?

My beloved "Encyclopedia of Superstition" (Philosophical Library, 1949? -- an educated guess as to date and publisher) states that if you keep bees, you must advise them immediately of any births, deaths, or marriages in your household or they will take offense, swarm, and set up housekeeping elsewhere.

I'm stating this from memory (as I child I memorized nearly every entry in the book -- I did mention I was odd, didn't I?) as the book is packed, so unfortunately don't know whether this belief comes from Sussex -- from the UK/Ireland certainly, as every entry in the book is attributed to some region or other of the British Isles.