good House-wife is to regard There must care be had that the Hen-house be every day made clean even so soon as the Pullen be out and the Dung put aside fot the fatting of the Meadows the Baskets for them to lay in often shaken up and refresht with new Straw and Nests and their Pearches and Ladders scraped every Week Their Water-pots must be kept clean and filled with clean Water every day and that twice in Winter and thrice in Summer and their Water must be clear always for the filthiness of their water causeth the Pip as well as want of water Let there be no holes broken about the Hen-house for fear of Cats Foxes VVeesles Pole-cats Fulmers and other beasts given to ravin abroad in the night as also the Kite Hen-harrow and Owl which sometimes will swap into the very Brood-house to catch the Kitchin To every dozen of Hens one Cock is sufficient and he must not be of Colour White or Gray but Red Tawny or Black his Body well compact his Crest or Comb very upright Red thick and not notched toothed or gasht with Cuts and well raised Neck and high his Bill short thick and crooked the Pinions and flight of his Wings great his Ears great and very white his Eye black in a Circle that is Red Yellow or Azure his Wattles of a Rose colour standing of a White and Red mixture the Feathers of his Neck long golden and changeable his Legs very scaly thick and short his Claws short and fast his Spurs stiff and sharp his Tail upright gross thick and crooking backward The Tawny or Reddish Hen likewise is the best and that which hath the Feathers of her Wing Black the stature of the Hen should be indifferent her Head great her Comb upright and very Red her Body great and square her Neck thick and Breast large The Dwarf or little Hens do lay more Eggs then the other but they are not so good to sit on Eggs to bring forth Chickins and if you be not disposed to keep a Hen to brood and bring up Chickens you must within a day after she hath brought forth her Chickens let her forth again to have the company of Cocks to the end she may forget them and begin again to lay then take a great fat Capon and one that is young pull all the Feathers off his Belly and â—ub his Belly with stinking Nettles and after deliver him the Chickens to brood and lead and by that means they will be better defended both from cold and ravenous Birds as also better fed he must be put under a large Basket made with Osiers with his brood of Chickens and so leave him there some time to the end he may fall in love with them so soon as he shall be at liberty he will bear them up keep them lead them and become a more foolish doting or true lover of them then the Hen her self would have been when they are two days old you must crumble them some soft Bread and Cheese or else some Barley-meal and Garden-cresses or leaves of Leeks chopt very small and a little sodden and this will be good for them against Rheumes and the Pip and after this time for the space of fifteen days the Capon or leader must be kept under a Coup and let the Chickens run in and out about the Coup and then at the end of those days to let them run about both leader and followers giving them still the same nourishment to feed upon It will not be good to let them go too soon into the Court-yard or abroad and beware that the Snake do not breath on them or hiss at them For the smell of such breath is so pestilent unto them as that it generally killeth them all to prevent which you must burn often near unto their Coup Harts-horn Galbanum or womens-hair for the fume or smoke of these doth drive them away As concerning the cutting of Cock-Chickens it must be done shortly after the Dam hath forsaken them and that they begin to Crow and be in love with Pullets for if they scape the first year and half there is no medling with them So after you have made choice of such as shall serve for the benefit and leading of your Hens as those which are best made and most bold you must cut the other for to feed and fat either in the Coup or Chaff-house Of Geese AS the profit of them is great so the loss also profit because the charge of keeping and feeding them is not so costly as their watch and ward is gainful being indeed better then that of the Dog as hath been shewed long ago by the Geese of the Capitol in Rome who awakening the Souldiers and standing Watch were the cause that the Enemy was repulsed and driven back Again she declareth when winter and hard weather draweth nigh by her continual squeaking and crying She layeth Eggs hatcheth Goslings affordeth Feathers twice a year for beds writing and for shafts which are gathered at Spring and Fall The loss and discommodity is because they crave a keeper for otherwise they will bruise and knap off the young Sionces of Trees the Herbs off the Garden and Shoots of Vines as also injure and hurt the Corn when it is shooting and putting forth it s Stalk as well by breaking it as by dunging upon it in such sort that in Countries where Wild-Geese haunt there is found sometimes a great piece of Corn wasted and destroyed in less then halfe a day and the Tame-Geese do not less harm if they be let alone and suffered to do it for they pull up the Corn by the Roots aud besides where they Dung there will nothing grow for a long time after The best Goose and Gander is of Colour White or Gray and the next with White and Gray is also indifferent good notwithstanding the White doth abound more in laying of Eggs then the others and hath also a better flesh and it is good to make choice of such a one as hath the knee-joynts and space betwixt the Legs great and large The Goose layeth three times she be kept from sitting and hatching but it is a great deal better that she sit upon Eggs because the young ones thereby brought forth do nourish better then the Eggs and also do increase the Flock and at every laying time some will lay twelve Eggs and more sometimes others but five at the first four at the second and three at the last and these three several times come between the first of March and the last of June and they do never forget the place you first bring to lay in if you take not up their Eggs they will begin to sit as soon as they have their full number but it hath been credibly reported That if you take away their Eggs as they be laid they will not cease laying till they come to a hundred yea so long and so many as some say until their Fundament
to bud there shall be fresh Dung laid to the Roots thereof during the new Moon of March thereby to bring it forward for otherwise for lack of the leaves of the Mulberry-tree if it should happen the VVorms should be bred or hatcht you must for their food have recourse to the Heart of the Thorn Elme-leaves the tender tops of Nettles and others all which will but keep them alive and as concerning making choice of such VVorms as are to be breeders you must take the seed which being bathed in Wine falleth to the bottom and doth not float above the time of breeding then is about the fifteenth or twentieth of April from the fourth unto the tenth day of the Moon but never in the decrease for then they will bring forth their Silk at such time as they are strong in such sort as that their ends and husks will be greater harder and more finely haired then any other that are bred at another time For these that are bred in the decrease of the Moon are always feeble and yield no profit the way to make them hatch is after that you have watered and bathed them in the VVhite-wine rather then warm water to lay them near the fire till they are a little warm then lay them betwixt two Pillows made likewise something warm and so as they hatch and come out of their Eggs to take them gently away and put them upon Mulberry-leaves and to lay them upon Boards or Papers that have been rub'd over with VVormwood or with Sothernwood or some such like Herb and give them fresh Mulberry-leaves Evening and Morning increasing them every day as the VVorms shall grow greater and greater unto the fourth change for then they will stand in need to be fed at noon also because then they eat more then they were wont but be cateful that when they mew or change you must give them sparingly for then they are weak and feeble and in any case let not the leaves be moist wet or rotten and if it should fall out that they are wet when they are gathered you must wipe them throughly with clean linnen and dry them a little at the fire if need be They must be gathered of old Trees rather then young ones and not to gather them in the Morning when they are wet with the Dew or other thing until the Sun hath gone over them and be sure to pick the bad from the good before you give them to the VVorms These little Creatures must not be touched with your hands but as little as may be for the more they are handled the more they are hindred because they are very exceeding tender and dainty especially at such time as they cast their sloughs or claing yet notwithstanding they must be kept clean and neat and all their little Dung taken from them once in two or three days the place where they are kept must be perfumed sometimes with Frankinsence Garlick or Onions that you may minister matter of pleasure to these little Creatures and if they are weak and sick these smels refresh and recover them again You shall take notice that they are wont to sleep especially at such times as they cast and change After they have cast and changed the fourth time they eat better then ever they did until such time as their bodies begin to shine and that they make shew of the Silk that is in their bellies which if it be to come white from them their heads will look as if they were Silver if Yellow their heads bear the Colour of Gold if Green or Orange Colour their heads foretel the same Thus they feeling themselves well filled and fed do seek out some resting place for the purpose to fasten themselves unto and there orderly to avoid their Silk every one shutting up himself in his scale or husk which they make or build up in three days at most When you perceive them begin to spin and fasten themselves to the Paper or other thing that they are kept on You must make them little Coffins of Poper putting but one in each Paper and so pin them up about the Room to the hangings or other things convenient when they begin their work they are so eager as that they go mad till they be packed up in their little Clews and Bottoms where they are so inclosed that a man would think they would be stifled they have finished their work in two or three days more or less as the weather is cold or hot at that time When any begin to spin mark the Paper-coffins when you pin them up with the day of the Month for in six days you may wind off their Silk though they lie thus in their husks for the most part twenty days more or less according to the softness or hardness of their Bottoms of Silk and then if you do not wind off their Silk before they will eat their way out As concerning the choice of their Husks or Cods the Orange-coloured are the best and not the Yellow and least of all the White or Green When you go about to wind your Silk you must have in readiness a Reel and then after you have pulled off all the loose Silk till you come to the hard bottom find out an end which you may do by drawing two or three ends together till they run single and so do by the rest and you may wind 10 or 15 Husks together and your best way to wind is out of water a little warm and wherein some Gum-Arabick hath been soaked After this manner you may wind so much Silk off the Husks that the Worms will drop out into the water and the Gum'd water gives the Silk an excellent gloss Take the Worms out of the water and lay them on sheets of Paper to dry keeping them safe from Rats Mice and other Vermin and then make choice of the best for breeding which are the grosest and blackest for those are the strongest and afford better Eggs then any of the other you must take more female-then males and for the knowing of the one from the other the Eyes of those Creatures do sufficiently testifie thereof for the females have thinner Eyes and not so black as the males but this is known best when the become Butter-flies which will not be till the middle of July or after and then as soon as they come forth out of their Husks they will couple and lay their Eggs one will lay about 200 Eggs which will stick to the Paper as they are laid and there should be kept without stirring all Winter till brooding time come again and you must be sure to keep them from the Winter-frosts As concerning the diseases whereunto these little Creatures be subject when they have not been so carefully looked unto as they should to be kept clean when the cold Northern-wind or the hot Southern-Sun hath molested them as also when they have eated too much then they become sick wherefore keep them
very cleanly stop the Windows and holes by which the cold winds do enter and get in and carry Coles of fire that smoke not into their Rooms setting thereupon Frankinsence for they so love this smell as that it presently cureth them and also besprinkle them with a little Malmsey or Aqua-vitae And if they have been troubled with too great heat of the South Sun then sprinkle on them some Rose-water if they have over-eaten themselves the contrary dyet will cure them as the keeping them two or three days without eating any thing if there be any of them that ure spotted with duskish blewish or yellowish Colour and there appear withall upon their Bellies a certain humour that doth wet them they must be speedily taken from out of the company of the rest and carried out and in the Morning before the Sun rise set the whole and sound in the air for some small time and after put them in their places again and sprinkle them with good and strong Vineger and rub their Rooms with Wormwood or Southernwood and also to give them air and let them feal the force of the Sun provided that the Beams thereof do not touch them and so fit the Windows that the Morning air may season and send his breath throughout the whole house And as for those that are sick keep them upon Papers by themselves and now and then sprinkle on them some Rose-water or Aqua-vitae and rub their Papers with Wormwood as before The pleasure in the keeping tending and observing this little Creature is not to be conceived but by those that have had the government of them As concerning their shapes first their Eggs are laid all round together upon the Paper and in such order that none are laid upon another and they are about the bigness of a Turnip-seed or small white Beads which within a week after they are laid do turn Yellow and in a week more they are Brown and the week after they are a Dun Colour which Colour they hold all Winter till the latter end of April at which time or beginning of May they will hatch and bring fourth young as hath been shewed before When they are hatcht they are black and no bigger then the end of a small Pin when they they are about a fortnight old their heads begin to be white and a fortnight or three weeks after that they cast a slough or skin and the bodies begin to be white and so at every time they cast their Colour doth change until such time as they begin to spin and then you may perceive them to be clear and shine of such Colour as the Silk will be that they spin From the time that they are hatcht to the time of their spinning will be about seven weeks and after that they never eat any more for after the Silk is wonnd off and the Worms come out of the bag in a short time they come to be Butter-flies as you have heard before and then after they have coupled and laid their Eggs there is no more care to be taken of them for then they pine away and die OF THE Hony-Bee And the Government thereof IF the greatest part of the profit of a Farm depend upon the keeping of Cattle I dare be bold to affirm that the fruitfulest thing that can be kept about a Countrey-house is Bees indeed there is some pains and care to be taken in choosing feeding watching and keeping of them clean in their Hives but withall what so rare and singular commodity have we as the Wax and the Honey which we enjoy by their admirable workmanship both profitable and pleasant for the use of man Let not it then seem strange if I advise the Housholder to be careful to keep Bees about his Farm and withall teach him in a few words what should be the ordering and governing of them and their Hives and what time and hour it is good to gather Honey and VVax The Housholder therefore shall first make choice of some fit and secret place in his Garden of pleasure for the keeping of his Bees in the bottom of some Valley if possible to the end they may rise on high to fly abroad to get their Food and also when they be laden they may descend the more easily downward with their load but especially let the place be open to the South Sun yet where they may be shaded sometimes and that by some wall ramport or house-side that they may be defended from winds and tempests and so also that they may sly sundry and several ways for to get diversity of Pastures and so return again to their little Cottages laden with their Composition of Honey And it is convenient to have them where there is good store of Thime Organy VVinter-savory VVild-thime Rosemary Sage Gilliflowers Violets VVhite-lillies Roses Saffron Beans Mellilot and other sweet Herbs and Flowers wherein there is no bitterness and also Fruit-trees Peach-trees Pear-trees Apple-trees Cherry-trees and other such like The place must be closed in with a strong Hedge or good wall for fear both of Beasts and Thieves for Kine and Sheep do eat up their Flowers and beat the Due off from the Flowers which should load them but of all tame Beasts there is none that doth so damnifie these little pretty wretches as Swine and Goats for the Goats wast their Food and jump against their houses yea and oftentimes beat them down the Swine besides the wasting of their Food rubbing against their Hives do overturn them and the seats whereon they be set Sheep in like manner loosing some of their locks of VVooll upon the Hedges are the cause that the silly poor Bees now and then become entangled therein when they labour to get their Food and so leave their Carcasses for a pledge Hens likewise have a glutronous appetite towards them Snakes and other like venomous Beasts sometimes take up their Inns in their Hives but to take away this casualty at once and for ever you must plant Rue round about them in good quantity for such Beasts cannot abide this Herb. Their place also must be far from the Dunghils and all dirty or miry places which might hurt them with ill smells for they are deadly enemies to all filthiuess and uncleanness but let their places be as near as you can to some little Brook of water naturally and of it self continually running and this Rundle must have by the edges thereof Stones or Boughs of Trees for the Bees to light upon But whatsoever the place be whether in the Garden of pleasure or else where it must not be hem'd in with very high walls on every side unless you leave slits or holes in the walls a-about four foot from the ground that the Bees may pass the easier in and out The place and standing for the Bees being thus appointed the next thing is to provide for Hives the best are those which are made of Boards wide enough but not very long and
thus they will not fail to go into it Another way and which is the best in my opinion is thus When you see that the young Kings shall be come forth with their young Train which within a day or two will all become together at the mouth of the old stock and shew by sufficient signs and tokens that they are desirous of some place of their own and peculiar to themselves then set a Hive ready drest before them and they will go into it and rest contented therewith and abide therein It is to be known when this young Host will come abroad by the noise and humming which they will make in the Hive three days before that they purpose to come abroad as if a Camp of Warlike men would rise up and remove And to know when they make this noise he must lay his Ear at Evening to every Hive that so he may hear the noise and humming when they make any And yet indeed this noise and humming is sometimes a sign and token of some fight or strife raised betwixt them as where there are more Kings then one which must be well prevented otherwise by such civil Wars and deadly fights all the whole Troop and Company will quickly be overthrown and brought to nothing but this intended Combat is quickly taken up with a Bowl of boiled Wine set unto them or else some Honied VVine or other such liquor which by its sweetness is familiar to Bees for these will appease their fury but yet if you perceive that these fights and skirmishes are not thus ended you must make hast to kill the Kings of the Bees which are the cause of such seditions and tumults These poor Creatures are so inraged with love towards their King that for to defend him they willingly cast and expose their own lives into open hazard against all his Enemies which come to assail him besides other incredible obeysance which they continually yield unto him At this time of the Spring it likewise sometimes cometh to pass that by reason of the hardness of the winter past or of some disease or sickness there is great want and scarcity of Bees in old stocks and this must be remedied by putting a new Swarm into that hive killing the young King that so his Subjects may content themselves to live peaceably under the old but if you have not a Swarm then the next way is to put the Troops of two or three such diminished stocks into one bedewing or sprinkling the same before with some sweet Liquor and after to shut them up in the same Hive and set something within it for them to eat until they be well wonted unto it and so to keep them three days closed up giving them a little fresh Air at some small and little holes If Rainy weather continue long that the Bees cannot go out of their Hives to seek pastures and to bring home food unto their young brood you must not fail to help them with some provision of honey untill such time as they shall be able to fly abroad to get their own living and to work their Honey combs off for otherwise you shall quickly make an end of them as it oftentimes comes to pass All the Summer they must gather Honey whereof we will speak hereafter and at the same time every ten days their Hives must be opened and smoked with Oxe-dung and afterwards be cooled by watering the empty parts of the Hive and likewise be made clean and all Grubs taken out of them if any be therein In some fair day about the end of Autumn you must make clean their Hives but see that it be hot and calm weather and all the Winter you must not open nor touch them but keep them close within till the Sun-beams break forth again for their comfort stopping without whatsoever clefts and holes you find with Morter and Neats-dung mixed together so that you leave none open but only a way for them to pass in and out and also though their Hives stand under Covert yet cover them again with Hackles made of straw or some such like thing that as much as is possible they may be kept from cold and winds which they fear and abhor more then any other thing and you shall likewise provide in case of a hard Winter to make provision of Juice of sweet Balm Honied-water Sugered-water Milk or other Liquor which may be convenient for them in which Liquor you must steep pure and clean Wooll whereupon the Bee sitting may suck out the Juice or Liquor that is therein In the Combs are found Drones like unto Bees but greater which although they be unprofitable because they gather no food or sustenance but eat up that which others bring in yet do serve for something for they hatch the young brood whereupon come the small Bees and therefore you must not kill them at all but keep a certain number to the end that the Bees may not grow slothful and idle And to the end that they may not endure hunger in Winter and that they may not eat up the Honey they have made and which is best untaken from them it will be good to give them some dry Figs stampt or tempered in water or boiled Wine and likewise some Raisons stamped and sprinkled with water or else some Curranes stampt with good Wine or else to cast then in at the door of the Hive some sweet Liquors with Siringes as Milk and especially Goats-milk as the best of all the rest to bear out the scarcity and poorness of the time until Spring The diseases of Bees and their remedies THe Bee is subject unto the Plague in which case there is no more Sovereign a Medicine for them then presently to carry them far off they are troubled with the Flux of the Belly in the beginning of the Spring when the Spourges are in the flower and the Elme-trees bring forth their Seed where they are given to feed greedily and with great Stomacks having fasted all Winter and they be so desirous to eat of these new and young Flowers as some folk are to eat of new Apples and thereupon they die quickly if it be not speedily fore-seen For this cause you must quickly help this Flux of the Belly with the Rinds or Seeds of Pomgrannets dried pounded and serced and afterwards mixed with Honey and sprinkled with sweet VVine or with Honied-water wherein hath been boiled Rosemary or with Marselles Figs which have been boiled long in water Bees ore often sick when there is great store of Flowers for the Bees thereupon labour rather to make great store of Honey then any young Bees and so it cometh to pass that many die of excessive toil and travel wherefore when in the Spring time the Meadows and Fields are full of Flowers it will be good every third day to stop up the places whereat they go in and out of their Hives leaving only a few little holes but such as the Bees
they must be made so that one or two of the Boards may be lifted up when the Honey is to be taken or the Hives to be made clean There are some Hives made of Sallow or Willow twigs and some of Straw but not so convenient as the former they must be wide beneath and narrow above drawn over and drest on the outside with Lime and Oxe-dung mingled together that so they may continue the longer they must be set upon Boards fitted for the purpose and that near unto some wall or house-side but not close to it that so there may be a space left for one to go about them and make them clean or else upon some Vault of Stone or Brick to the height of three foot and as much in breadth laid over with morter on every side and planed so that that neither Rats Mice or other Vermin may clime thither to hurt them The Hives shall be so set as there may be a certain distance betwixt one and the other that when need shall require to look unto any one for the making of it clean or any other thing You may not shake or disturb the adjoyning Bees who do greatly fear when they are touched least their workmanship of Wax which is very weak and easie to be spoiled should be stirred or broken The Hives must have some covering or shelter of Boards or other thing besides the shade of Leaves and Boughs which may serve to preserve them against cold Snow Rain and heat although heat do not so much hurt unto Bees as cold Therefore behind the Bees as they stand there must be some building or at least a wall which may be to them instead of a Sunny-bank against the North-wind and keep the Hives in a moderate warmth and mark it well that you put the fore-part of the Hive where the Bees come forth something more towards the East then the South to the end that in the Morning the Bees for their earlier coming forth may have the Sun warm upon them for their better awakening The holes by which they pass and repass must be very little that they may may not give place for the entrance of much cold and they will be big enough if so be there may but one Bee pass at a time but according to the quantity of Bees in the Hive you must have more or less holes three holes will be sufficient for the fullest Hives It would be convenient that they be sheltered with Boards in Winter made with Windows to open and shut that you may close them up in Snowy or very cold weather I will say nothing here of the ingendring of Bees whether it be by the coupling of Males and Females together as we see in other kind of Creatures or by the corruption and rotting of the Belly and Entrails of a young Bullock whereof Virgil speaketh but I will describe them as they are already ingendred as what be the properties of such as are fit and like to make good Honey There are many sorts of Bees for some are of a golden Colour clear shining and bright others blackish rough and hairy some great some small some thick and round and others spare and long some wild and some tame but if you would buy or gather swarms to keep for their Honey look and take good heed that they have the Marks following as that they be little ones somewhat long not hairy golden coloured shining and sparkling like Gold spotted above gentle and loving For the greater and longer that Bees are the worse they are And if they be cruel they are nothing worth notwithstanding that their Choler and malice is easily helped if they be well marked and fruitful by seeing them oft for in your oft going to them they become tame but because one cannot perceive whether they have all these marks aforesaid if he see them not If you buy them before you bargain you must open the Hives and see if they be well replenished or not and if you cannot look up high enough you may guess what they are by considering if there be good store at the mouth and whether you hear a great noise and huzzing within and if they be all retired to rest if you blow into the Hive you will presently perceive whether they be many or few by the noise which they will make when they feel the breath It is good to buy them as near unto your abode as you can and not in other Countries far off for the change of their Pasture Air and Countrey doth astonish and amaze them besides also the farther they are carried the more they are pained in their Hives but if they cannot be had but by seeking far for them it will be best to carry them away in the Evening or before day and rather in Spring then in Winter and then to be born between two men and when they are brought to the place of their abode you must not open them till next day at night to the end that after they have rested all night they may be the fitter to come forth peaceably in the Morning There is no such careful heed to be taken in the choosing of those which are given nor of those which are taken out of the Fields or Woods although I could advise the contrary seeing the charges and pains are as great about the bad as the good notwithstanding when one taketh them out of the Fields or VVoods it is not possible to make such choise as he would and therefore must be content with such as come next to hand The manner used in some Countries to gather them is thus VVhen you have found out any place where store of Bees do use and keep which is commonly in in Woods and Forrests where Herbs do abound and Trees of sweet smell and near some small River or Fountain you shall use diligence to find out the place of their abode which you may easily learn by watching their return from water whether it be near or far off then afterwards in the beginning of the Spring with Thime and Balm bruised with other such like Herbs as Bees love annoint and rub a Hive well so that the smell and Juice thereof may remain behind after that make the Hive clean and sprinkle it with a little Honey and having thus handled it set it down in the Woods or Forrests near unto the Springs where the Bees do most use and after they have once found it out the Hive will quickly be full of Bees The good Housholder having provided Hives and fit places and also having bought or gathered good store of Swarms of Bees to replenish his Hives shall be careful to afford them a more diligent and attentive kind of Government and ordering then unto any kind of Cattel Because the Bee is more discreet and industrious then any other kind of living Creature For she hath a kind of wisdom coming near unto the understanding of man and therefore look then for a