order page 51 Cucumbers hurtfull to Bees page 57 D Driving of Hives how when and the use 39.41.42.47 the benefits 43. choyce of stockes to drive 44. avoyding inconveniences in driving page 49 Droanes whether to be killed how and when 43. their iniurie page 41 Dung hurtfull to trees page 54 E Elme hurtfull to Bees page 57 F Feeding of Bees page 14 G Googe confuted page 47 Guelding of Bees page 47 H Hils opinion for killing of Droanes page 35 Hives how to be placed 6.8 the dawbing of Hives ibid. hurts in setting Hives too close 7. the choyce 16.17.18 Hives must not be too broad 18. the trimming of Hives 19. anoynting 20. what Hives have most store of Honey page 45 Honey when most plentifull 26. how to order it page 49 Hoysting of Bees page 33.34 I Iramboys good for Bees page 55 L Lavender good for Bees page 57 Lisimachus good for Bees page 57 M Mallowes good for Bees page 57 Mault good for Bees page 20 Mayweed hurtfull for Bees page 57 Mellilot good for Bees page 57 Mice enemies to Bees page 68 Moathes enemies to Bees page 44 O Olibanum good for Bees page 15 P Pallatilla good for Bees page 55 Peach trees good for Bees page 53 Pease good for Bees page 20 Plants good and hurtfull for Bees page 52 Plinie of the nature of Bees page 59 Plumb trees good for Bees page 53 Ponds how hurtfull page 8 Primrose good for Bees page 56 R Rapes good for Bees page 55 Raspis good for Bees page 55 Removing of Bees 4.12 observations in removing ibid. the time of the yeare ibid. how they should stand page 5 Rivers how hurtfull page 8 Rosemary good for Bees page 54 S Sage good for Bees page 57 Sallow good for Bees page 56 Sarazanica good for Bees page 57 Snayles enemies to Bees page 6 Solidago good for Bees Southernes way of Coating of Hyves page 10 Spat of Bees page 62 Spiders enemies to Bees page 44 Spurge hurtfull to Bees page 57 Stecados good for Bees page 57 Sticking of Hives page 19 Swarmes when to be attended page 21 how ordered 22. that but one swarme rise at one time 24. whether many swarmes from one Hyve 25. in what season they swarme most ibid. putting divers swarmes in one Hive and how 27. when Bees will swarme 30. to hinder Bees from swarming 32.33 how long swarmes may rise without danger 36. what swarmes to save page 1 Thime good for Bees page 57 Toades hurtfull to Bees page 8 Trees good and hurtfull for Bees page 52 Trimming of Hives page 19 Turneps good for Bees page 55 V Violets good for Bees page 56 Virgil on the Master Bee page 66 W Waxe how to order page 51 Westerne honey not good page 49 Wicker Hives page 18 Winde and weather how to defend Bees from them page 9 Woade hurtfull to Bees page 57 Wormes hurtfull to Bees page 8.44 Wormewood hurtfull to Bees page 57 Y Yewe tree hurtfull to Bees page 57 FINIS A DIALOGVE CONCERNING THE ORDERING OF BEES Tortona Petralba TOrtona Well met good neighbour Petralba but whether away so fast man thus early in the morning I suppose your businesse is important you make so much haste Petralba O I cry you mercy Sir I saw you not before you spake in good sooth I was even comming to you my friend and kinsman that was Philippo Ambrosia having as you know made me his Executor amongst some other things hath left me some eight or tenne Hyves of Bees which at the first I made small account of but after my businesse of greater regard was over I beganne to looke over his Bookes amongst which I found these discourses or Pamphlets concerning the ordering of Bees whereupon I began not onely to consider the profit reported to arise and come of them but also to take especiall delight as well in their order and government resembling the forme if they report the truth of a most exquisite and well governed Common-wealth as also admired their notable arte and industry in framing of their combes gathering of their honey and other labours and great travailes to maintaine and preserve themselues and their Brood Tortona Good neighbour Petralba there is no man more welcome unto mee then your selfe and I am very glad that any cause hath made you to take pleasure and delight in Bees because my selfe as you know doe also the same For by this meanes I shall have a companion to converse withall for according to the old Proverbe simile simili gaudet and that may-communicate with me in the same pleasures and so make them the more delightsome unto mee which for want of conference with such as take pleasure in the same seeme often wearisome and irkesome unto me And to talke of Bees to those that love them not is like musicke out of tune or a pleasant tale told to the sorrowfull But wherefore doe you bring your Bookes with you Petralba Marry Sir although my Bookes have stirred up in me some affection towards Bees as before I said and have some what informed me of the manner how to use them at the least in my conceit yet knowing your great practice and long experience amongst Bees with the plentifull increase and profit that I suppose you make of them by that little that I have read of the profit of Bees I made bold to conferre with you first before I put in practice any of those preceps that are taught in these my bookes and for that cause I have not stirred nor meddled with them as yet untill I might perceive how your opinion agreed with their writings or dissented from the same and this was the cause that I brought my bookes with me Againe my purpose is shortly to remove them to mine owne house if you thinke the time fit and convenient for the same Tortona Concerning the time fit for their remove I will tell you my opinion hereafter but first let me know whose works those bookes are that you have brought with you Petralba The one is that which we commonly call Googe his husbandry who amongst many other precepts of husbandry concludeth his worke with a Dialogue of the ordering of Bees the other is a Pamphlet set forth by one Master Southerne to the same purpose I have also seene a booke called the Country Farme lately set forth wherein also there is somewhat said concerning this matter I make no doubt but you have seene them all Tortona Yea verily I doe know them well the first of them is principally a short collection gathered out of the works of sundry learned men that have long since written of Bees as Aristotle Virgil Varro Pliny Celsus Collumella Didmus Dionysius Thaseus and others rather then any great knowledge or experience that himselfe seemeth to have had in the ordering of Bees But the other is onely certaine practises and experiments gathered by his owne observations by long keeping of Bees as himselfe confesseth Both which workes no doubt are worthy of
from all glosse or flourish of ayrie words from the folly of amazing Inventions and from the intricate windings turnings and returnings of a wilde braine which many times carries the Reader into a new world farre beyond all his acquaintance That here every good man and good Minde shall finde as much as he can expect and yet no more then is sufficient For mine owne part I have had a singular affection and an earnest desire in the pursuit of this knowledge and was once a great Master of these creatures neither have I spared to bestow my pen in the advancement of the Art and knowledge of the Bee yet not with that felicitie and happinesse which this Gentleman hath attained unto to whom I cannot chuse but allow all possible praise and estimation confessing ingeniously that I have not read or seene any worke of this Nature more exact and compleat then this is And howsoever others have or may adde more words more quaint devises and more amazing Meanders yet the substance of the Art and the excellent things which are meet to inrich and adorne every good mans knowledge cannot be better or more fully discussed for here you shall know what the Bee is his breeding and government how to order him house him and maintaine him how to remove him purge him from injuries and to preserue his health of swarming driving hoysting and destroying things superfluous And lastly of their profits and how those profits are to be disposed and what accommodations are necessarie for the support and encrease of so usefull and delicate a commonwealth And he that in this Art will looke beyond this let him looke beyond the Moone I will neither lend him mine eyes nor my commendations Your Admirer GERVASE MARKHAM I. S. ad lectorem FOr profit pleasure policy and fame High pregnant wits themselves have lost to finde But couched here lo under Levetts name These vertues grave flow from his godly minde Athenians looke for news of other kinde Fables not truth their fansies for to feed Sure vertue is news who is to her inclinde Vertue is gone Maecenas being dead From Court and City to the Country fled Obscure she lives amongst her rurall friends Thence by her beames are little Bees discried Their wit their work their policy and kindes But pore not much upon this regall race Lest ere you know they sting you on the face Idem Non quantum sed quale Iovis primordia parva Rebus in exiguis grandia saepe latent S. Purcas VNskild am I to usher forth thy Book Or blaze thy selfe with termes of commendation Nor busie Bees such idle court ' sies brook Nor can I rules queint affected fashion Thy selfe thy selfe enough enough thy Booke Thy Book commends and I my Levett leave it Here in small Bees Gods greatnesse first I looke And then thy selfe though dead to live yet Industrious Fly fly forth and sound him farre Which here sounds thee thy nature art thrift keeping Much can he prayse thy peace and much thy warre Modell of policy a sweet good seeking And in those lazy Drones thy sting fix sure Which nor their own nor others paynes can dure Idem ad I. L. Editorem hujus libelli VVEll hast thou shewed the world thy fathers worth As by the foot is known in Symetry The body whole when thou this Book sett'st forth Iust witnesse of his wit and industry And though he never sipp'd at Hipocrene Nor clymb'd Parnassus top he well devised Of Mathematicks which no Academe Him taught but studious paines and time high prised Of policy of States of peace of warre Of natures art plants planting lands to measure Of Histories times places neere and farre Off oh but death hath rob'd us of this treasure Earth hath his earth heaven his heavenly part his name Thou here intomb'st while Bees there be in fame Nos quoque nostra A. Cook Let Bees be praysed by that Latian Bard That sweetly sang their occupation Enriching with his song his song rich nation Himselfe with never dying fames reward While thee we prayse with hearty loves regard That hast set forth this sweet Flyes operation With Maro's skill though in another fashion To thee thy Country men like fame anward Oh had thy Countrymen enioyd thee still How many choise fruits had they reapt by thee Which now death envies to posterity What art-surpassing drops did heaven distill Into that graden where this plant did grow And thousands more which natures hand did stow The winged Citizens of mount Hymete Forsaking once their flowry mansion Flew down to Athens laden with sweet meat For infant Plato's mouth to feed upon There did they turn his cradle to a hive And gently buzzing harmlesse busses gave him Thereby presaging that his name should live And that his wisdome from to dy should save him I saw a swarm descended of that stock Fly to our Authors tomb from whence proceeds This posthume birth conceiv'd of heavenly seed I heard the humming of that airy flock Mourning his death then swearing on this book His fame as they should dure their flight they took L. M. utcunque P. A Table of the principall heads contained in this Booke REmoving of Bees page 1 Coating of Bees page 9 Ordering of Bees in the Spring page 14 Chusing of Hives page 16 Trimming of Hives page 19 Swarming of Bees page 21 Hoysting of Bees page 32 Killing of Drones page 34 To know if Bees will live page 37 Of driving of Bees page 39 The ordering of Honey page 49 The ordering of waxe page 51 Trees and Plants good for Bees page 52 The nature of Bees page 58 The breeding of Bees page 61 Of the master Bee page 65 The government of Bees page 69 An Alphabeticall Table of all the things contained in this Booke A A Bricots good for Bees page 53 Ayre how hurtfull page 13 Angelica good for Bees page 57 Ants hurtfull to Bees page 8 Apple trees good for Bees page 53 when to plant them page 54 Avens good for Bees page 57 Author his way of Coating of Hives page 10 B Balme good for Bees page 57 Basons not to be rung page 23 Barley good for Bees page 21 Bearefoot good for Bees page 55 Beanes good for Bees page 55 Bees are lovers of quietnesse page 58 how to place them 6. of the master Bee 31.32.64.67 how long Bees will swarme 36. to know if Bees will live 37. the best seasous for Bees 38.39 if Bees be to be killed 41. how long Bees will live 46. guelding of Bees Ibid the nature of Bees 58. the breding of Bees 61. the governement of Bees page 69 Black-berry bush good for Bees page 57 Box tree hurtfull to Bees page 57 Buck-Hyssope good for Bees page 57 Burrage good for Bees page 55 C Cabbages good for Bees page 55 Cherry trees good for Bees page 53 Claver good for Bees page 57 Coating of hives 9.10 when to Coate page 29 Cow dung good for Bees page 15 Combes how to
in Winter and are done with little or no cost but onely a little paines taking twice or thrice in the yeere to renew such as decay or to make new for the swarmes in swarming time for once or twice a yeere at the least these must be viewed and some of them amended or renewed as need shall require Petralba Although these Coats or coverings which you teach the making of will defend the Bees as you say from the raine heate and cold yet me thinke Mice Flyes and other vermine should have great meanes to hide themselues yea and to breed also under them which must needs be very perillous and hurtfull to the Bees as both your selfe and all others that write of them confesse Tortona It is out of all doubt that without looking unto once or twice in a moneth it will fall out as you say for no commodity is without his discommodity and therefore to auoyd that you must as I said before sometimes lift up or else take of their Coats to see if any such offensiue vermine be there and to drive them away or kill them if it be possible and also to looke that it be not perished so that the raine may runne in and hurt the Hive for whosoeuer will haue profit and commodity of Bees must ouerlooke them many times and be viewing and repairing their wants as need shall require because they require much more diligence paines and industrie then either expences or cost Notwitstanding to those that loue them it is rather to be tearmed a pleasure and delight then any irksome or laboursome toyle at all for what is it to spend a quarter of an houre amongst them once or twice in a moneth or sixe weeks to overlooke them which will serue although you had halfe a hundred Hiues Petralba I doe not perceiue that they need any great paines and that may be done at idle times for the ouerlooking of them But one thing I must aske you more concerning their remoue I find them now close stopped up except one little hole to the South not much bigger then will suffice for one Bee to come out at When I remoue them shall I stop them up so close againe Tortona If you remoue them before the latter part of March stop them up againe as close as you found them but alter that time whether you remoue them or not open their holes or mouths by little and little vntill it be mid Aprill or toward the beginning of May for by that time you may open them as wide as shall be needfull namely as I haue said elsewhere some foure Inches at the least Petralba Why may I not open them as wide as need shall require at once rather then to make so many workes of it Tortona You may doe so if you please as many others doe Yet me thinke reason should teach you that as a man or woman hauing long time kept house and beene out of the ayre if at their first comming abroad they continue long therein or be in a place where much ayre commeth it will much offend them and therefore such are wont by little and little to accustome themselues to the ayre euen so to let much ayre come into the Hiues upon a suddaine at that time of the yeere there then hapning after many cold blasts it cannot be but with great danger to the Bees especially if they be weake or feeble as my selfe haue often seene for a little thing helpeth or hurteth them at that time of the yeere Againe at the time when you begin to open them or within a while after lift them easily cleane up from the board whereon they stand and scrub and sweepe away all the filth and sharings of Combes or other things that you shall find vnder them and then set them downe gently againe for so shall they haue the more pleasure to labour and to repaire their Combes those noyous and filthy things being taken away Petralba What if some of my Bees be poore and weake in the Spring time shall I not seede them or doe somewhat else to cherish relieue them Tortona Master Southerne doth utterly mislike the feeding of Bees and alleadgeth some reason against it namely that old honey will make them to scowre and dye or else the vse of feeding will make them fall to robbing and some other reasons which for mine owne part I cannot absolutely allow For I haue seene Bees euen almost dead reuiued againe by a little feeding Truth it is it must be very warily done and not often vsed but it an extremity And when necessity shall constraine to doe it you must take especiall care that the other Bees come not vnto them and therefore you must stop them vp sauing a little hole to giue them breath for otherwise the stronger Bees will fight with them for it and not onely get it away but will kill them for it And yet I must needs confesse that in the beginning of the Spring I haue seene more hurt then good come by feeding of them But this I haue both seene and proued that when in the latter end of May or beginning of Iune a cold and Easterly wind hath continued long or some continuall rainy weather hath hapned the Bees haue first brought out the Drone spat and after that their owne spat and lastly if it hath continued haue died themselues In the yeere 1600 between the 17 of May and the 6 of Iune I had twelue as goodly swarmes as euer I saw and then there hapned a dry and cold East wind that my swarmes for the most part perished and my other Bees also hauing brought forth their brood or spat began also to die themselues which I espying by the great number I might see dead on the ground at the mouth of the hive did a little feed them in the euenings and mornings and it did presently strengthen them that no more died And euer since at that time of the yeere I do diligently obserue that when I see them begin to bring forth their spat being forced thereto by any cold and dry weather presently to feed them as I haue taught you and whereas for the most part euery yeere since about that time such a like cold hath hapned yet by this meanes I haue preuented the danger that would haue falne upon my Bees But to feed them in February March or Aprill is surely to no great purpose without a great chance Petralba Is there no course to be taken at the beginning of the spring for the help and strengthning of such hives where the Bees be poore and weak Tortona Mr. Southern affirmeth that if about the later end of March you perceiue the Bees in any of your hives to be faint and that they go but slowly out and in it is good to buy some Olibanum at the Apothecaries and take a little of it bruised in a morter or such like and sprinkle it upon a chafing-dish of coales and then hold that Hiue of
the most part rather then to swarme yet commonly when a Hive maketh a great noise and stirre in the euening it is a great probabilitie that it will swarme ere it belong Petralba I remember Master Southerne saith that if two swarmes happen to goe together they will not be so good as one For saith he although they will tarry together yet there will be contempt betweene them so that they will not thrive nor prosper Tortona That is nothing but a meere conceit of his without probability or ground for I hope he taketh not Bees to be reasonable creatures to know one another a long time after there comming together to be of another breed And although that Bees and other unreasonable creatures meeting with others of the same kind will often at the first sight strive and fight amongst themselues yet being a little accustomed together they agree well enough without thinking how they came together or contending for superioritie For else it must needs be granted that they should haue memorie which is a part of reason whereof all creatures except man are uncapable of And for mine owne part I can assure you that alwayes I have seene by experience that they have liked and done very well Yet this I haue often seene that when two swarmes have gone together of their owne accord that one of the Master Bees hath beene found dead upon the board or Fanne whereon the Hive hath stood which hath beene killed as it seemeth by the rest of the Bees to avoide confusion in their government which must needs happen by multitude of Governours Petralba Because you heere speak of master Bees you put me in mind to aske your opinion concerning them For Master Southerne seemeth to denie that there are any such kind of Bees contrary to the opinion of all that euer I thinke wrote of them and affirmeth that Bees are led either as other creatures by those that put themselues formost or else by the Drones who are more stronger and lustier then the other Bees and doe make the greater noise which saith he the other follow Tortona He seemeth to be of that opinion indeed wherein he sheweth exceeding ignorance in that thing and I therefore imagine that hee never saw Master Bee And yet me think had he no other reason to perswade him but the very master Bees houses or cels hee might well haue supposed them to bee a different kinde of Bees from the other both considering the different fashion in the making thereof as also the place apt and fit for command Petralba Is there any such great difference in the maner of the making and placing of their houses that should declare so apparant a difference betweene them Tortona Yea for certayne very much for all the other Bees have their houses or cells ioyned together in an uniforme order without any difference as every one can place himselfe which we call the combes But the houses or cells of the master Bee are not placed like the other nor have the like fashion but are made by themselves long thicke and much stronger then the other Besides that they are not ranged amongst the rest but are placed at the passages of the Bees as they goe to and fro up and into the hives in such sort as a man may well perceive are most fit to oversee and command what is needfull to be done but I will more at large answer that Mr. Southerns objections in another place Petralba Well Sir then I will propound no more questions concerning that at this time yet I remember you were of this opinion with Mr. Southern that many swarmes were not good out of one hive what meanes is there to preuent it Tortona Surely in some yeeres and of some hives there is little remedy for it neuerthelesse my order is that when I haue had one swarm of a hive within a while after if it be in May or Iune for if the first swarm bee afterwards there is no great likelihood of a second or third swarm I hoist or lift up the stock the thicknesse or sometimes the breadth of a brick and so lay brick-bats under the hive round about except at the mouth prouided that they go no further under the hive than the thicknesse of the sides then do I dawbe it well up againe and make a handsome mouth with a peece of a trencher or little board And this will make them more roome and cause them to bee busie in filling the empty place up againe so that it is a great chance if they swarm any more that yeere I haue seene in Suffolk and North-folk things made of straw for that purpose which are very good but wee haue them not here abouts Now if the hive bee hoisted before then there is no remedy that I know but that they will swarm as often as they list Petralba Mr. Southern I think speaketh of such a matter but he would haue the hoisting taken away and the hive set down again towards the winter Tortona He doth indeed and I cannot but wonder at his error for I neuer saw any hive hoisted up in my life if it were done any thing soone in the yeere namely in May or Iune but the Bees did worke downe to the board or planck they stood on againe and then euery man may conjecture that the combes would be pressed and thrust together by taking away of the brickbats or other hoisting and many of the Bees killed as also the place would be stopped up for others to go to and fro and much of the hony pressed out with the weight of the hive and hony Petralba Surely in reason a man would imagine no lesse and therefore I think he must needs be deceiued in this And yet I suppose he holdeth another opinion as absurd as this and that is that hee would not haue the Drones killed who all the world hold to bee enimies to the Bees deuourers of their food that they should liue by in the winter and such as altogether do liue by the labours of others Tortona But therein you deceiue your selfe for although I confesse I am not fully of that opinion with him in this matter yet do I hold also that the Drones are necessary and helpfull to the Bees so long as they exceed not a due proportion much like to our Lawyers but let their number grow to great as often it doth and they will indeed deuoure the substance of the Bees as the Lawyers of the Commonwealth and finally bring it to destruction And therefore Nature hauing taught the Bees to perceiue this thing hath also armed them to kill in the later part of the Summer when they increase too fast so many of them as shall bee a burthen unto them I would reason would teach us by their example to prouide a remedy against the unmeasurable multitude of our Lawyers which I dare boldly speak haue the same quality in our State that Drones haue in a hive namely to be
good if they exceed not proportion Petralba Then you would not kill any Drones your selfe but let them alone to the pleasure of the Bees to kill or saue as many as they list Tortona I am in part of that minde indeed yet haue I seene some hiues so full of Drones as I think verily that the Bees were not able to ouermaster them without some help and therefore in such a case I would haue you with your finger or knife standing close by the hiue that you see surcharged ouermuch with them kill a good many of them as they come out and in amongst the Bees and hauing made a good beginning you shall see the Bees go forwards and performe the rest marry to do it with a Spark leape or engine of rods I utterly mislike For so you may kill the master Bees or some of his brood instead of Drones as sometime I haue seene and againe by that meanes all or the most part of the Drones may be taken which is also hurtfull for this assure your selfe you shall neuer see a hive prosper well be it a swarm or an old stock untill there bee some good number of Drones in it Petralba Do you not remember that Mr. Southern scoffeth at Mr. Hill for a deuice he hath written how to destroy Drones namely by pulling off some of his legs and one of his wings and to let him go into the hive againe for the Bees saith he will fall upon all the rest and kill them Tortona As fantasticall as Mr. Hill is that conceit of his is not altogether so absurd as Mr. Southern maketh it For this you shall well perceiue if you diligently obserue it that about mid Iuly or somewhat after at which time Bees begin to kill their Drones if some hive do not then fight with and kill their Drones do but maime or kill some two three or foure and lay them upon the board at the mouth of the hive or put them into the same a little and this very thing will begin the fray and contention between them and they will kill them sooner then peraduenture otherwise they would haue done Neuerthelesse except it bee about that time of the yeere it will nothing at all preuaile and that might deceiue Mr. Hill who indeed like a forward Gentleman published his experiments at the first sight as he did the setting of Wheat and many other phantasticall toyes without due proofe good probability or sure ground of reason But to our killing of Drones I hold it the best way to let the Bees themselues to execute their justice upon them whom nature hath taught to do that which shall be for their owne good as well in this as in sundry other matters as experience doth well teach Petralba Vntill what time of the yeere will Bees swarm Tortona Bees do commonly cease from swarming about the fifteenth of Iuly yet haue I had some in the beginning of August notwithstanding when they happen so late in the yeere they are nothing worth except it bee to driue and to take that little hony and wax that they haue gathered about September and to kill the Bees Petralba How long may it be ere a hive swarmeth and yet the swarm in likelihood may liue Tortona I cannot giue any certain rule for that because the goodnesse of the yeere and greatnesse of the swarm may make much to the furtherance of the same yet haue I sundry yeeres obserued that those swarmes which hapned at or before the fifteenth of Iuly haue done well but neuer later in all the time of my obseruation amongst Bees and yet notwithstanding it must bee understood of such as are either first swarmes or where two or three are put together as before is taught Petralba Then it seemeth to me by that which you haue said that all such swarmes as happen at or before mid Iuly are in probability likely to liue and such one may keepe for store or else not Tortona The time of their swarming as I said before cannot bee giuen as a certaine rule to judge by whether they will liue or die untill the next yeere For I haue had swarmes about the eighth or tenth of Iuly that haue prospered better than some that were swarmed a month before for it is with them as with all other creatures where many times the likeliest and most goodly in shew or expectancy proue worst in the end and those that seeme little or nothing worth prosper and do well Yet I must needs confesse this is extraordinary and rare Neuerthelesse it is worthy of obseruation because without it you may presume of the goodnesse of aswarm according to the time of the swarming which without other considerations may be a falfe rule Petralba What rule is there then to bee giuen to know which are likely to liue and which for certaine will die because as I think if there bee no probable hope that a hive will live it is better to take their hony than to lose both hony and Bees also Tortona That is most sure and therefore many haue endeuoured to prescribe rules for the knowledge of the same amongst whom Mr. Southern is one who holdeth that except a hive haue fiue quarts of hony or neere thereunto it must needs die the next winter fallowing But I am farre from this opinion for in some wet Summers scarce one hive amongst halfe a dozen will gather so much hony as hee speaketh of And I do verily beleeue that I haue seene swarmes liue ouer a yeere that haue not had a pottle of hony nor yet scarce three pints in it But I must needs confesse that there is great ods and difference in some yeeres yea almost halfe in halfe and that consisteth especially in the goodnesse and temperatenesse of the Spring following because from some fortnight or three weekes after Michaelmas untill about mid February Bees for the most part do continually sleepe and so do spend but little of their food so that at that time of the yeere foule weather doth them no hurt if they bee kept dry and well stopt up but rather warm weather which maketh them come abroad and become hungry Now about the midst of February the Spring being at hand and the Sunne about noone giuing some forcible heat they will then begin if the weather be faire and warm to look abroad and to play about especially if the Sunne shine yet do they gather nothing worth the while untill towards Aprill nor then neither except the Spring bee forwards and therefore their hardnesse if any bee commeth in now and that is two manner of wayes The one is a late Spring by which meanes it is long ere Bees beginne to gather The other which is worse is when the Spring time falleth out sometimes wet and sometimes dry now hot and now cold for heat wakeneth them from sleep and maketh them to come abroad and after that cold pincheth them Againe wet and warm weather maketh them to drink much
copulation as some affirme and as may be without contradiction to the former opinion being thereby made able to spat or cast their brood I could like of their opinions which hold the Drones to be the Males Because ail experience doth teach that never any Bees were or can be without Drones and therefore without all doubt nature hath created them for some principall use and I nor no man can perceive any greater then this or as almost fit for little or nothing else Petralba If that were so I me thinke there should then be as many Drones as Bees and againe the Bees would not kill them because we doe not read of any other creature that the Males are killed by the Females Tortona You must not thinke that I would certainely affirme that which so many learned men have but gessed at yet by way of reasoning I may thus much say in answer of your obiection We see that many creatures doe increase best when there are but a few Males amongst them in comparison of the Females as Kyne Sheepe Coneyes and many others and although the Females of these kinds cannot of will not kill their Males themselues yet who knoweth whether this be not a peculiar property in the Bees or no when they find themselues to be surcharged with them And this is most certaine that the Bees never fall to killing of their Drones untill breeding time be almost out for that yeere Petralba How long is it ere the spat or brood of the Bees will come to perfection and be ready to gather Tortona Most of the ancient writers doe hold that from the first calling of their spat to the comming forth of the same it is forty and fiue dayes But Mr. Southerne affirmeth that they bring forth their brood in fifteen dayes at the most Yet notwithstanding Mr. Southernes supposed reasons to the contrary I rather yeeld to the former opinion as most probable by farre in my conceit Petralba I pray you what are his reasons that he aleadgeth against so many great and ancient learned men Tortona He alleadgeth two but the former of them he answereth himselfe namely that an old stocke after it hath cast a swarme within nine dayes hath cast another but this faieth he may be alleadged to be of the remnant of the other or else some that then were almost ready to flye and I say that this allegation is true or I have of ten seene a hive cast a swarme and within foure dayes cast another His other reason is that he hath had a swarme put into a new hive which hath swarmed againe within fifteene dayes after and therefore hee concludeth that these must needs be bred since their putting into that hive Petralba His first reason I confesse it is but weake but how doe you answer this last Tortona For answer of the other I said that no greater proofe then he alleadgeth cannot in my conceit weigh downe the long observations and reputations of so many learned men concurring in one opinion whereof no doubt some of them might and did make tryall But to let them passe I hold that a great swarme having laboured 15 dayes in which time about the begin of Iuly they might almost fill the hive with waxe and some honey and also haue left good store behind them of spat may swarme out more then halfe the Bees which will be a pretty swarme and yet leaue some store behind in the hive to maintaine their spat and also to labour untill the other be ready as my selfe haue seene the like Neverthelesse when such a thing happeneth it is as I thinke upon some fault in the hive or other dislike and will put the same in danger to dye the next winter as himselfe confesseth which could not be if all the old store remain'd behind who were able wel to maintain the hive But in very truth whosoeuer shall obserue the manner of their breeding must needs confesse that they cannot bring forth in fifteen dayes nor neere unto it as Mr. Southern conceiteth for when Bees first cast their spat it is as small almost as a little fly-blow then it encreaseth to the fashion of a worme and will be quick and dieth again lastly it obtaineth the form of a Bee some good time before it come to perfection whose continuance is so much that by mine owne experience I dare affirme that Mr. Southern is mistaken in this matter Petralba Although this should be granted that you say yet how should they do for another master Bee to go out with the swarme or else to remaine behind in the hive Tortona I do not take it for certain that there is but one master Bee to a hive or swarme for some hold there are to euery one two and some more and yet peraduenture the multitude of master Bees in that swarme may be one principall cause to make it swarme againe for it is an extraordinary matter to haue a swarm cast a swarm againe especially so soone as Mr. Southern speaketh of namely within fifteen dayes yet I confesse I haue seene the like by a great and forward swarm or when two haue gone together of their own accord betimes in the yeere Petralba But how do you know that the swarm that it cast was not of a new increase Tortona Besides the reasons that I haue alleaged this also may bee added for that in the like case a man shall perceiue but a few Bees to be left behinde for they will work much more slowly vntill the time come to bring forth their brood and then they will bee full again as before which would not be perceiued if the old Bees had been all left behinde Petralba What part of the yeere do you take to bee the principall time of their breeding Tortona They will breed or spat from Aprill vntill it be mid September but the principall time I take to be between mid Aprill and mid Iuly for between those times if you driue any hiue you shall euer finde great store of spat and yong Bees and yet aswarm will breed very much euen vntill the end of August Petralba Here commeth to my remembrance a question which I purposed ere this to haue propounded vnto you I beleeue you haue heard it to go for a common receiued opinion that Bees after they haue lost their sting by stinging of any thing will bee Drones which Mr. Southern seemeth to scoffe at I pray you what think you concerning that matter Tortona I am fully of Mr. Southerns opinion for that because what Bee soeuer hath lost her sting shall lose her life also within a short time after as losing some part of her intrals withall for Drones are bred as other Bees are as any man that driueth a hive shall well know the Drone spat by the bignesse thereof before it come to any perfection Petralba Well Sir now I pray you let mee haue your opinion concerning the King or master Bee first for his quanity and form for
their number and lastly for their power and command ouer the rest of the Bees Tortona Aristotle and Virgil do make mention of two sorts of Kings or master Bees the one sort being of a golden colour very fayre and gallant to the sight and these they suppose to be the best but the other sort are of the colour of other Bees Now all the master Bees that euer I saw differ little in colour from the other Bees but that their legs are yellow inclining to a golden colour they are bigger than another Bee and much more longer almost by the one halfe Concerning the number of them in a hive I dare not determine any thing for certaine yet do I think that one hath the principall command if they agree and prosper well their yong ones or spat are bred in their owne houses or cels and not amongst the other Bees as I haue often seene Now for their authority and command with the great obedience which the other yeeld unto them I will cite the opinion of Virgil Englished by Mr. Geoge Not Egypt in his prime Nor Lydia large and wide Nor yet the Parthian people great Nor all the Medes beside Do so their King obey Who being safe and well Their minds are altogether one He only heares the bell If the King perish the rest of the Bees neuer prosper but come to nought Not long since I had two swarmes did arise almost at one time and when the first was almost hived the other came to them and when part were gone into one hive I tooke that away cleane and put another hive in the place into which the most part of my Bees went and I set them up both but that which had most Bees by little and little came to nothing and I take the reason to be for that both the master Bees were gone into the other hive before I tooke it away which the other could not finde and therefore perished as I say for when I came to take a view of my Bees in August I found that they had almost gathered nothing which I doubted before by their lasie going out and in Petralba It is a maruell that Mr. Southern should be so much deceiued to think there are no such Bees contrary to the opinion of all men Tortona As I said before so I say again I do much wonder at it in a man of any practice amongst Bees for by the very master Bees houses which he could not bee ignorant of but must needs imagine such a kinde of Bee And I do verily beleeue that there is not any man that euer did driue a hive with any obseruation but will condemn his opinion as altogether absurd although that he neuer saw master Bee himselfe Petralba I pray shew unto me at large the difference you speak of Tortona You must understand that all the other cels or holes are made and placed in one uniform order as a troop or squadron of souldiers ranged in order of battell or lodged in a well pitched camp euery cell or hole being six square according to the number of the Bees feet and of the depth of a Bees length and somewhat more and this order is double as you see with a filme or stop in the midst that the one Bee cannot go thorow to another so that the thicknesse of this workmanship or frame which we call a combe is as thick as two Bees are long and are commonly as broad as the hive is wide and as long as the hive is deep all which are placed so neere one to another as the Bees may conueniently passe to and fro between the said combes But the master Bees houses or cels are not ranged or placed in the forme and order of the rest but are seated upon some side or top or corner of a combe in or neere such places as the Bees most commonly passe by with their substance that they gather and as the Captaines or other Commanders are pitcht in a camp or in the head or place conuenient in a troop or squadron of souldiers Againe the fashion of them is nothing like the other but they are sumptuously built round thick and long very artificiall and stately Petralba Is there but one of them in a hive or do they build many such Tortona There are sundry of them in every hive but the number is uncertaine yet did I never see fewer then 5 or 6. nor ever aboue 9 or 10. which being placed and dispersed into sundry parts of the hive seeme to be places of remove as occasion shall require to oversee any part thereof Petralba Doe not the Master Bees breed or spat in their houses as the other Bees doe in their Combes or Cells Tortona Yes without all question for my selfe haue often times found of their young in some of their houses of all sorts namely some ready to flye and some white spat and they hold that these Bees have wings and feete at the first and are not like a worme at all as the other Bees are These Master Bees are absolute in their authorities and commands and out of a regall power or civill discipline answerable to our Marshall lawes and as having a supreame prerogatiue aboue all the rest he over-vieweth all that are within the compasse of his squadrons he administreth Iustice unto all correcting the lazie floathfull and disobedient and giving honour and incouragement to those which are painefull laborious and diligent In recompence whereof and as it were a Tribute due unto him from their duties they ofter unto him all their services and loyalties guarding and defending him from all dangers whatsoeuer either civill and domestike as in his owne hive or forraine and abroad when they encounter with the assaults of other strange Bees This Master Bee doth not alone after a generall manner take view of their generall labours but particularly over-looketh every particular worke every edifice building store-house and whatsoever is necessary and appertaining either to the support or maintenance of that little Commonwealth and wheresoever he findeth errour there he inforceth a present amendment This Master Bee hath a sting as well as the rest yet more for ornament then use being so guarded and defended by those Armies which incampe about him that he seldome or never findeth any occasion to imploy it Againe as he hath this generall guard of the whole multitude or Army of common souldiers so he hath a sellect and particular guard of choice officers or supreme Commanders as Generalls Lieutenant Generalls Marshalls Sergeant-Majors Colonells and Captains and these whensoeuer he pleaseth to issue from his hive attend on him in a singular and formall equipage being so Marshalled abroad and incamped at home that no Millitary discipline can either exceed or amend the excellency of their orders and thus much I think shall suffice concerning the breeding of Bees and the power of the chiefe commander Petralba Well Sir now I pray you let me have your opinion concerning their order and manner of government so much spoken of and admired as well the ordering themselues in their hives as in disposing themselues to labour abroad and their gathering admirable and profitable commodities Tortona They live together in their hives as it were in a Campe and duly keepe their watch and ward at the mouth or hole of their hive in the morning you shall see them goe forth warily not too far at the first especially if the weather be suspitious whereof they seeme to have some knowledge by a certaine kind of naturall instinct as the Poet hath well observed in these words Vir. Nor from the hives if likely it be to raine They farre doe stray nor trust they will the skie If that the South winde blow but still remaine At home or busied be with water nye Being loaded they flye with the wind if any tempest suddenly arise they countervaile themselues with little stones flying in the wind as neere the ground as may be they labour both at home and aboard as appointed as Virgil affirmeth in these words Some range for food And ply the fields abroad Some still at home Doe labour busily And round about with waxe The hives doe loade Which from the gummes They painefully doe trye For they gather the waxe of Flowers and gummy substances that they find as may be well perceived by their going home loaden therewith upon their legges and backs Petralba It is a common received opinion that Bees gather as much honey of Flowers as waxe if not more Tortona I doe confesse it is and I will not deny but that they may gather honey upon some Flowers as upon the Bramble Flowers Glover and some other that blossome about the time of yeere when they gather most honey Yet for the most part I am fully perswaded they gather very little honey upon Flowers but almost altogether waxe except onely sufficient to maintaine life and to breed withall and yet they want of that also in the dry and cold times that after happen in May Iune but of this I haue spoken before where I shewed what Trees and plants are good for Bees and how the Bee garden ought to be accōmodated with al things that are necessary for the benefit and increase both of honey and waxe And so I conclude this short discouse or History of Bees with that of Virgil Sic vos non vobis c. FINIS