that is which we call Westerne honey which for mine owne part I loath to taste and I haue seene some hereabouts not much better But how they use it I know not nor haue any list to understand But howsoeuer it might not be of the best gathering yet I verily beleeue it would have beene much better if it had beene well handled Concerning the manner that I use and like I will shew you two wayes The first way is this Take a great earthen panne or such like and spread over it a large new Canvas cloath that is very thinne and wring the honey out of the Combes as hard as you can when you haue done all knit the cloath at the foure corners together and hang it up by putting a sticke or staffe through at the knitting right ouer the said panne and so let it runne into the panne of its own accord without forcing Then put it up into a pot that hath not beene washed or if it be washed let it be perfectly dry againe and so keepe it for vse and you must take heed that no water or other things runne neere unto it to fall into it For there be many things that will corrupt honey The other way is in this sort in stead of your cloath take a searce and lay it over your panne and so to refine your honey by letting it runne through it Both which wayes I take to be good enough And this is all that I use to doe with my honey at the driving of my hiues And as for the keeping of it afterwards it shall need nothing else but that the pots be close and safe from any thing comming or falling into them And if any rosse worketh or spurgeth up as sometimes it will doe you must take it away Yet this I must tell you that the honey of aswarme will not be so thicke as that of an old stocke nor honey that is gathered late so good as that which is gathered in the former part of the Summer But I suppose the chiefe reason to be for that the former hath continued longer amongst the Bees who with their heate haue composed it to a better substance then that which hath lyen a lesser while amongst them and therefore is not so well refined as the other is Petralba After what manner doe you deale with your Combes to try out the waxe Tortona The manner thereof is so common and well knowne to every one as I shall not need but for forme sake to say any thing thereof And therefore I will be the more briefe When the honey is all gotten out put all your Combes as well those that had no honey in them as the rest into a good quantity of faire water of this water some make a kind of drink called Meath which if you doe change your Combes into other water and boyle them a little while till the Combes are well melted then put the Combes and water together into a Canvas bagge made like an Ipocras bagge viz. narrow at the lower end and straine as much as you can thorow the same letting it runne into a vessell of cold water casting away the rosse that remaineth in the bag After this gather the wax well together and melt it in a posnet or such like at a soft fire and let it be made into what forme you please but if it be not purified at the first trying well enough as peradventure it will not be then try or melt it againe first having scraped or pared of the rosse that settleth at the bottome But if you will haue your waxe very yellow you must not put to it the Combes of your swarmes that you drive but try that by it selfe for the waxe of swarmes is much whiter then the waxe of an old stocke and being tryed with it will make it haue a more pale colour then otherwise it would haue And this is as much as in my conceit shall be needfull to be done concerning the well keeping and ordering of Bees Petralba Mr. Googe and others that haue written of the ordering of Bees make report of many sorts of Trees Herbes and Plants which as they say are profitable and helping to Bees if they bee placed and set neere unto them and that by gathering of them they will prosper and increase much the better Therefore I pray you let me not be without your opinion and iudgement concerning that point also And if you think them any furtherance to their prosperity that you would set down the names of those that you think most necessary and the manner how and when to plant them Tortona It cannot be denied that as all other creatures are benefited and furthered by such things as Nature hath created for their sustenance and delight euen so the silly Bees also are not without their benefit by being neere such trees and plants as they ioy and delight to gather of especially such as blossom in the beginning of the Spring when few or no plants are to bee found for that purpose growing in the fields but if Aprill be once past I hold it not much materiall because then euery field hath plenty of flowers and plants for them to gather of And therefore I do like well that you should plant such things about your gardens and yards the names whereof and the manner how to do it I will declare unto you of so many as I can remember But for those that blossom later as things of lesse regard for this purpose I will only name them without any more ado And yet one thing I will here remember vnto you that should haue been spoken of before I hold it very good to plant yong trees about and neere unto your Bees so that they stand not to the South of them which will be both good for them to light and settle upon in swarming time as also for them to gather vpon their blossoms if they be fruit trees Petralba What fruit trees do you hold best for that purpose Tortona Such as blossom early as Cherrytrees Plumtrees and Pearetrees and in that number you may also reckon Apricocks and Peaches which blossom at that time of the yeere or rather more early for if you obserue it you shall see the Bees exceedingly to gather in their blossoms when they blow Petralba What sorts of them do you think best to be planted for I would plant of such as should bee best for them Tortona It is not my purpose in this place to distinguish of the goodnesse of fruits as not materiall to the matter in hand because Bees delight as well in the blossoms of the worst as of the best And again I suppose it a busle peece of work to performe for euery mans taste will challenge a censure in that thing because we see one man loueth that which another can scarce abide to see yet would I wish you if you plant to plant such as are of most account and that you shall best fancy in your taste
commendations and have profited many yet neither the one with his authorities nor the other with his experiments doe so fully intreate of them but that much more may be added and many things also are alleadged by them which for mine owne part I cannot approve but do hold them altogether impertinent or dangerous Petralba Surely my selfe imagined no lesse and because I am not able to distinguish the good from the counterfeit I was desirous to conferre with you as I said before I meddied with them Tortona You must understand before that you remove them it shall not bee amisse for you to observe three things First the fittest time for their remove and the manner how to doe it Secondly a place convenient and good for them to stand in and thirdly the order and manner how to place and set them Now concerning the time of their remove I hold it not much materiall so it be carefully gently and quietly done with as little sâ—irring them as may be yet doe I thinke the best time to be betweene the moneths of Ianuary and May having especiall care to keepe them as much from the ayre and cold as is possible which will doe them much hurt at that time of the yeere And the worst time of remove I hold to be betweene the beginning of May and November for at that time of the yeere they are either full of Bees or else heauy with honey and by that means are apt to take hurt by much troubling the Bees or stirring and breaking the Combes and consequently of spilling and spoyling their honey But for Swarmes the best time to remove them is as soone as may be after they are swarmed And concerning the fittest place to set them in you are well informed in your bookes namely in some Garden or Orchard or other severall place free from cattell or much resort if it may be for they are great lovers of quietnesse and hate the contrary againe it were good they had the South and West Sunne open unto them but if they be defended from the East and North it is much the better be it either by pale hedge trees housing or such like You must also observe that a hill or mountainous place is not good for them because they will be the more subiect to stormes and wind which is very hurtfull and perillous for them and doth exceedingly hinder them in their labour Petralba Master Googe saith that the place of their standing would neither be to hot nor to cold but as temperate as may be so as they be neither offended with the cold of Winter nor the heate of Summer Tortona In more hotter regions as in France and Spaine I am of their mind which so affirme yet could I never perceive that Bees were offended with the heate of any place that ever I could see in this Country provided that their Hives be well coated as I will after shew to defend them from the heate of Summer and the extremity of cold in Winter for otherwise the extreame heate of the Sunne in the Summer may melt their Combes and cause their honey to runne out as many times I have seene amongst my neighbours Bees where provision hath not beene made to prevent it And againe the extreame frosts in Winter will so benume them as they being pinched therewith will fall out of their Combes and presently dye and all for lacke of warme keeping of them both which extremities may bee prevented by one remedy namely by the coating of their Hives as after shall bee declared Petralba Well Sir now let me have your opinion concerning the manner of placing or setting of them Tortona Touching the manner of placing of them Master Southerne hath written very well and therefore I will discent from him very little because I hold his Iudgement the best therein of any that I have read And first to begin with all I would have every Hive placed upon a severall plancke board or stone within two foote of the ground at the most for so the winds will have the lesse power over them at the entrance into the Hive And the plancke board or stone whereupon the Hive standeth must be some three or foure Inches at the least broader then the Hive on the South part where the hole or mouth of the Hive must be for so the Bees shall have roome to light upon it before they creep into the Hive and I hold it best that the South part of the plancke board or stone should stand somewhat lower then the North part for by that meanes no water snow or hayle can runne into the Hive but will presently fall off againe as it melteth Lastly let the upper part of the mouth of the Hive bee but a little distance from the board least Snayles Myce or some other vermine creepe in to the great danger and hurt of the Bees neverthelesse you may let it be some three or foure inches broad in the Summer time or else they will want convenient roome to goe in and out at their pleasure But round about the Hive except at the mouth let the Hive be dawbed up close with Clay Cow-dung or Morter or rather a mixture of the two former with Ashes or Sand. Petralba In every place where I travaile except with you I see them set upon a plancke or board almost close one to another wherefore then should you place every one upon a severall board which as I think requireth much more planck or board and also many stakes with a great deale more labour Tortona I confesse the manner you speake of is most usuall especially in this Country but how hurtfull it is might easily bee perceived if those that use it would diligently observe the same For at some times by standing so neere one another they will undoubtedly infect one another with their smell especially when any infection or diseases happeneth amongst them as many times there doth Secondly they will bee the more ready to run one to another and fight and by that meanes the weaker are often oppressed by the stronger Againe their neernesse will hinder one another in swarming time and when they do labour much And lastly their coats cannot be taken off and on as occasion shall serve And whereas you object that it will spend more planck and board that is not so for the planck or board need be no longer than the breadth of the Hive only it must be wider and so it must be the other wayes now for a few more stakes and the greater paynes it is not worth the speaking of considering the benefit that will arise by it prove it who that will Petralba But do you hold it of necessity that the mouth or hole of the hive must stand towards the South Tortona No verily I would not have you take mee so yet do I hold it absolutely the best both because the Bees delight chiefly to fly that way as also it is the hottest and the South sunne in his
I hold it good that you make a Crowne tree for them in this manner Take a sticke of Sallow or Hasell about the bignesse of a mans thumbe let it be a foote long or somewhat more then cleave it crosse wayes from one end untill you come within a handfull or thereabouts of the other end and no farther then bend every quarter a severall way cutting off the sharpe edge in the midst of every of them Then must you put the end that is not cleft to the crowne of the Hive and bending every of the parts a severall way sticke them into the sides of the Hive that they may force the upper uncleft end hard to the crowne of the Hive But if the Hive haue a little hole in the crowne as the most straw Hives haue then cut the upper end of your said crowne tree where it is not cleft small enough to goe thorow it a little way leaving a shoulder on the inside to stay it and this is good to keep the crowne of Hives from sagging downewards as they will doe except your Hiues be excellent good when they are heauy laden with honey but this you must obserue that if you put your crowne-tree through the crowne of your Hive you must make it somewhat the longer as experience of it selfe will teach you Lastly take a smaller stick and cleaue it cleane through in the midst cutting both the parts flat and smooth and put them crosse wise into the hive within foure fingers of the board they shall stand upon and this is all the sticking that shall need for any hive only this you must note that the foure lower ends of the crown tree should come and stick within halfe a foot at the least of the lower part of the hive Petralba Do you not usually dresse and trim your hives with some hony or other sweet liquor before you put any swarm into them Tortona It is a common matter so to do indeed yet if the hive bee new and sweet I hold it not materiall to do any such thing but the Bees will like it well enough without it Neuerthelesse because it is a thing that may help those that bee old and somewhat unsauory and cannot hurt any I will shew you what my selfe and diuers others use to do in this case Gather some fennell mallowes or other sweet herbs and dip them in fayre water drink or sweet wort putting a little hony into them if you haue it and sprinkle or rub well the inside of your hives and sticks or if you haue no hony do it with any of the former or with milk that is sweet and it will suffice But this kinde of dressing would not bee done untill you are ready to put the swarme into it or a very little time before Petralba Mr. Southern saith that if your Bees bee froward so that they will not tarry in any hive then it is good to take your hive whether it be old or new and pull out the sticks and put therein two handfuls of barly pease or mault yet the last saith he is the best and let a Hog Sow or pig eat it out of the hive turning the hive as hee eateth with your hands that the froth hee maketh may remaine on the hive then wipe the hive lightly againe with a cloth and put in your sticks as before and hive your Bees againe and they will undoubtedly tarry in the same as he saith Tortona True it is he affirmeth so indeed but whether it be so or no I know not because I never made any triall thereof for I neuer had any swarme that I could not make take liking of one hive or other that I had by mee and therefore I neuer trouble my selfe to make triall of Mr. Southerns experiment yet do I beleeue that hee would not so confidently haue written it without some good proofe and also the knowledge thereof if it be true is worth the noting and the triall also if occasion serue and thus much I hold sufficient for your instruction in the dressing and trimming of your hives Petralba Well Sir I thank you for your paines I would now intreat you to let me understand about what time of the yeere I may in likelihood expect swarmes because of giuing attendance and watching of them as I beleeue we must in swarming times Tortona Concerning the time of the yeere when Bees accustomably begin to swarme there can no certaine rule bee giuen because the forwardnesse of the Spring warmnesse of the weather and businesse of the Bees may make them swarme much sooner than otherwise they would do Yet do I hold it good to haue all necessary things ready by the midst of May at the farthest it not before for then euery day you may probably looke for swarmes if the other circumstances be fauourable and therefore you must from that time forwards so long as their swarming time indureth diligently watch and looke unto them Now concerning the using of your swarmes thus much when any hive beginneth to swarme haue a good eye upon them where they light or settle yet so that you trouble or molest them not with running to and fro amongst them and when they are setled take your hive made ready as you are taught before and put them into it in this manner If they bee setled upon the bough of a tree bush hedge or such like that you can put your hive under them lay first a fanne or board right under them with a stick or twaine upon it for keeping the hive that it stand not too close unto it so that the Bees cannot go out and in and then turne your hive upward and shake as many of the Bees into the same as you can and set it gently upon the said board or fanne and spread a sheet ouer the hive to keep away the heat of the Sunne yet so as some one place be open for the Bees to finde the way to the hive and to work and make cleane the hive But if any of them cluster againe about or neer the place from whence they were shaken shake them off againe or else sweepe them off with a wing and lay Mayweed or wormwood about the place and they will forsake it and follow the rest of their fellowes into the hive But if your swarm light so low in a hedge or such like place that you cannot put your hive under them nor shake them into it nor sweep them into it with a wing then may you set your hive ouer them so that it touch the upper part of of them and by laying Mayweed or wormwood under them and about them you shall make them run up into the hive without any other trouble still following them with the Mayweed or wormwood as they go up from it though peraduenture it will bee somewhat long ere they be all gone up yet they will go up at the last without stirring Petralba In some places I haue seene that they would
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