festooning

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of festoon

plural festoonings

1. Material with which something is festooned.

   The second tier of boxes, still with the red festoonings and the luxuriance of creeping vines, had, as its chief adornment, holly, laurel, and cypress trees of irregular height[…]

   1890, Chauncey Depew, Titled Americans

2. The act of honeybees to join together in a chain.

   To construct chains and give the appearance of a festoon, bees engage in a process known as festooning.

   (Can we date this quote?), Willie Oosthuizen, Smiley Honey, What is Festooning?