Historical Document · 1713
The True Amazons or, the Monarchy of Bees -- Also, how to make the English Wine or Mead
- beekeeping
Historical Document · 1713
= .THE TRUE | |ledf M A o% ONS: Ay the MONARCHY of | BEE S Being a tiew Difcovery and Improvénient of thofe Wonderfal Creatures, ” Wherein is Experimentally Demonitrated, L That they are all i gove qed ya QUEEN. | 7 The ahazing Beatty and Digni es her Perfon. » aT, He ceasing Authority and Power. Their exceéding Loyalty and iparaleleg Love t6 : their. @ VEE V. Their eat, Male and Fernales | [VI The Manneh of their Breeding. VII. Theiv Wary. . VII. Their Enemies; with Diredions hn plitn and eafy bow to thanage them, both i . Straw-bives and Tranfparent Boxes ; fo that with laying out but Four or Five Pounds, in Three or Four Years, if the Summers are kind, you may get Thirty or Forty Pounds pet Ainum. A}fo how to make the Englio WINE: or MEAD; equal, if not fuperiot to the beft of other Hines. | By JOSEPH WARDER of Croydon, PHYSICIAN. sag nee ee he Mecony Cricion wich Avditions. Sic vos non vobis mellificatis Apes, Virg. Lon DON, . Printed fot John Pemberton, at the 1. Buck and Suh over again aft St. Dunftan’s Church ' jn Pleet-fireet, and William Taylor at the Ship in Pater- mafia hie @ ev iv. The Dedication. ritories, Prerogative and Pro» PY, ° Domihion tnd Loyalty, | War and Peace. = I bave with a Sindions Dex ‘light, for near Twenty Years pat, convers'd with bef Ina nocent Creatures . the Bees, and bave not failed ‘(to take all) Opportunities) to tnform my elf, by the moft curious © — Obfervations of their Nature aad Occonomy, wherein I find fo many things that refemble Your Majefy's: State dud Government, a all the while I was iting ‘of this Book, I could: not forbear | oie ing I inight Dedine it to : Your _ The. Dedication. v Your Majefty ; but thofe Ama bitions Thoughts of mine were foon cur¥d, by refleting on: the Meannefs of the Oblation, iil! Irecovered my felf by the Confideration of Your ex% tenfove Goodnefs , who like ‘the Sun difplay the Beams — Of Your Favour an the Une worthy, will a “the Meri. — | Dorions, , “Indeed , 10 Monareb in ‘the World. #s fo abfolute as the Queen of the Bees; (which — pleads very ‘much with me , ‘tbat Mamacby is founded . in . Nature, eprvied by the ee hier | iinet ae 3° Of vi The Dedication. ob, what Harmony, aehat lovgs ly. Order is\ there mr. the. Gon —- vernmentof tbe Rees)! The Queen = Bee Goveens with — Clemency. and ‘Swmeetnefs , fo doth Tour Majefy:s. foe. 4 Obeyd.” and_° Defeaded , ~ ont Of. “Choice. and ' iclingsion oby ber Subjetts, fo 6 Tour. Man jefty. And bere 1 . cannot bug wilh that all Your Majefty’s Subjects were . as unanimoufly ‘Loy va as.-the Subjels of the : ‘Queen-Bee, th. “whofe Na ture there is fo ‘frroingly (as well ‘as _firan, ely). “pace a Principle | of Oi iwberéas I doubt - bere Tour Meets, é baa lige. IN ** gether The: Dedication.: (vib gee, fo bapey'; for. ‘though the Thonfinds of Tour. Prianaick Hrael efteem Your; Majeftys Perfon as: Sacred ;. ” and Scarce fich a Villain.is am, “mong- us, who would ‘not Infe, bis Life in she Defence of Tone, Majefty 3 yee eT fear *tis not, bard* to. find fome few unguice — Spirits. tho "tis not ‘in their — Power,' to trouble’ the Serenity of Your Government ; or dia frrb the Quiet F: Tour Englith a bere prefen Your Man “ati with a ‘true State of thee Amazons, or rather, 4 State of the true Ama- UA. 4. zons; "vil The Dedication ‘ e zons ; ad though there be- Male. as: well as Female. dn. rong them’, . "ts pot - for norbing, nor by, chance, sbab foonld thas place’ the Governe ment of tbeir fambus . Moxars thy in. a Queen, who dosh thoagh with aweful Diffance from Your -Majefy ,. fre ‘a peacefal Scepter, if not afn fronted nor affaulted ;- there wife like that of Tour Mas jefty’s > one Terrible to ber "Enemies , who will mamtain War. with any State shat dares Affanls ber , or Ite ‘wade even the Borders A ber Territories, attempting any Plunder. or. Devaftation on. the Goods of ber Subjeds, Thef- 7 noble Creatures bave (of late — efpecially) been much negletted, and their Induftry not improm ved in Your Majefty’s Domia pions ;, the chief Caufe of which, bas been Ignorance of the right -way of managing them, and of the great Profit arifing from re age , which _ by Divettons at lar — - perience, wmbich will exceeda ingly belp the Poor, as well @ delight the Rich; not . \ “Oden Phe: pales dtion= only with’ variows Obferva- _ tons © and © Speculations; by > means of their’ Tranfparent’ Hives here deferibed, but alfa witha Liquor no way “infen rior\to the beff of Wines, com ming either from France or Spain ;° which if they ‘will but try; they will foon ft down contented under their own Vine, — audwith me refrefh themfelves. with Drinking Your Majefty’s. | Health’ in a °Glafs * of [uch as our Bees can procare us ; dud no more Long for” the | -Expenfive Wine ‘of our Enes mies, we se, ‘ - The, Dedication: xi .-Lbus, Dread: Sovereign, E have prefumed\.t0, Say my Queen=Bee..\ ith .\ ah.ber Subjects, ..at. your, Royal. Feet for Protection, \ wifbing that..all Your Majefly's. Subjects may be a Affettionate and Dutin fil to Your «-Majefty. as my “Bees. are ; 10 their Queen ; then would the prefing Weight of Government . grow eafy on Your Royal Shoulders ; and to. the Foy and Happinefs of all Your Subjetts, You would be long, vee ry.long able to bear the Weight of Tony . Imperial Crown, And when, 19 the nyexa ‘prefible Grief of all Your Loving «ti «= The) Dedication. — Loving Subjetts, You lay down vhis Your éartbly Diadem, that ‘it may be to ‘Your Majéfty-a mot bappy’ Bxchange for a Crown of Evernal Glory, is, and foal be the Prayer of _\ Pread’ Sovereign, i L © +" Your Moff Loyal “4 JN And: Maft Dutifut ~ | —— Suibjeg and Servant, — Foliph Werder, TABLE. CONTENTS. Page Bila and Deesiten of the Pema or Honey-bee. Anatomy ead Defiription f the Melee 2 or Drone. ‘Age tf Bees oo. Breeding tb of heir up cout Q Deah intoner of id eit Burial. 12 Bees lofe no Opera ¢ eather Honey. oan 4 - B28 Bees Enemies. _ ~ 2 af Box-bives with Gif mi oo _ Ae Box bow 1 make, in ir Bee. ‘CONTENTS, oo" Beé Troiigh “for them to drink in, ~ 114 Drones he and batch the “Brood. iz . Damage in killing | the Drones in the : _ Spring. wed 13 Double of Cabs, or Second Swarms, 80 Dreffing the Hive... ‘ ' 83 30 Dibebtions how anil when to furnipo-the Bee-houfe with Bees. 130 Dire tions how and when to vale Jour cae je on 4 and ag Pe ons bow to take off your Straw-bine mey, and return the Bees Sound patel ‘to: their Fellows, that none may 13g. path bow to" take of ibe upper Box, “ the next Tear after the Straw-bive — is gone. ves Tag Direftions bow to havea Swarm out of. @ Bow, a well a out of y eens . oa Dead, Beer to raife. to Tif > 148 Encinig, 5 of Bees, and their Remedies “AL Earwis an Enemy to. Bees..- . Bg: Of ‘their Feeding their Poung. 33 Heeling your Bees,’ bow, ied ‘whens a Ses Re. ‘in 7 CONTENTS. Hornets and Wafps are Enemies to Bees — Honey bow to take 592 Moufe an Enemy to Bees. . 45 Moth an Enemy to Bees. 53. Mead bow to make, no way inferior to Spanith Wine. . - «155. Queen-bee, and the Layahty of ber Sub- jeds. | ; 57 Swallow an Enemy to Bees. 59 Swarming, and why. " Fo . Robbing and Fighting of Bees. 86 - Remedy againft Robbing. 100 Robbers known from the true Bees. . tor Profit of Bees where many are kept, and how to reife a good Number. . 104 - ay" —— | rae a AMAZONS: a OR eb ae ~ Monarchy of Bees. 7 ‘CHAPAL The Defeription and Anatiny of the BEE. HE Bee of all Infeés.is certainly thé :mioft noble: ;: for tho’ there are. inaumerable : variety of In- feds ‘that. afford ts matter’ for Speculation. and Admiratién, (not without their ufe) and do loudly proclaim their’ Thoughyful “Maker not in ‘hafte in their Formation 5 yet none can.compare with the. Bee, if we udd-to their. curious Form, their ‘admirable ‘Work, and the great Be- nefit, that by their moft:indefatigable La- oS B bour C2) bour doth arife to Man, for whom they ‘were creafed. And fince the knowing their Nature, doth very much conduce to the improving there Labours ; and finding that moft of the Authors now extant, that have given the World an account of their Notions and Speculations about the | Bees, have taken many things upon Truft, and handed them .down to Pofterity for: Certainties, either having no Experience at all, or elfe, through the multiplicity of Avocations, have not been very cu- rious in their Obfervations ; or have been too fhort, (as fome) or too voluminous (as others) for the Vulgar to apprehend, they being ftill at a great Lofs how to manage thefe their induftrious Servants. to the beft advantage, for their Profit as well as Pleafure ; the fupplying of which ’ Defect, is the Defign of this Book. I have tryed for. many Years, the mani- fold ways of keeping of Bees; and am at’ laft prevailed upon, by the Importu- nities of many, to give the World: an account of ‘what Knowledge I have, -by infallible Experience gained, that I may ' not only direét: my Countrymen how to manage them, but free them from many — ‘Miftakes about them. | The C3) : The Bee.is a {mall Creature, about three quarters of an Inch long, having four Wings moft curioufly fhaped, with ftrong Fibres round and crofs them, to ftrengthen the fine Cyprefs of which they are framed, fix Legs, ‘a large Head, but very {mall Neck, alfo very flender in the Wafte or middle part. Nature hath provided her with two forts of Inftru- ments for War and Defence; viz, her Fangs, or Mouth, wherein are her Teeth, but meet in a different way from other Creatures, they meeting fideways like a pair of Pincers, and not one over the other 5 with which they defend them- felves and affault others. But their chief Inftrument for War, is in their Tail, -and called their Sting ; with their Fangs they lay hold of Robbers which come © to {teal their Honey, . whilft another comes and carries Death to her Bowels with her Spear or Sting, which always car- ries Death where-ever it comes amongft their’ own kind , and generally Death ‘to themfelves, when their Sting pier- ceth any thing human , for tho’ fome- times a Bee may give you a light touch with her Spear, and away ; yet generally {peaking, they leave their Sting behind a Ba them, C4) | them, with their Bowels joining to it, anid’ confequently their Life, fpr tho’ ‘ they die not prefently, yet they live _not.an Hour, and would live as long, nay I'believe longer, cut afundér ‘in’ the middle, than they will without. their Stings, Their Sting is very: taper and - fharp, very apt’, when exetted by the Bee, to pierce the Skin or anty other har- der body; I have had my Hand ‘ftung through a thick Buck-fkin Glove: But notwithftandirg all this its Strength, it is a hollow Tube, and contains its Poyfon about’ the middle of it, plainly. difeo- vered by the help of Glaffes, Their Eyes are very large, covered over with a thick ‘Korfy Membrane, which is: the occafion of their being fo dim-fighted: But to fupply' this Defect, Nature hath given her two Horns, which grow above her Eyes, about the tenth ‘of an Inch long, in eack of which there are two Joints, one if the ‘middle and another near the end, by which they can put them forth when they will’ to the “full length, and draw them in Clofe to their Head when they pleafe. Thefe are the Iriftruments ‘of Feeling’; they ‘commontly'carry them thraft out be- fore them, by ‘which they’ feel tenderly . any Cs > «thing that is tangible, .which, doth. huaely help their dimnefs of Sight. . Hey Tongue is much longer than her Mouth will contain, “aiid “fo is~ doubted" under- ‘neath, and reacheth a goed way down her Breaft. Her Body is all over hairy as a Fox, and her Head too, nay a great part of. her very Eyes are covered with .ftpall - Hairs, but fo fmall, that they canpot.be _ difcerned by the naked Eye, without the thelp of the Microfcope, which will" alfo difcover the Brain in their Hed... With- in the Breaft, fhe hath a. reddith fibrous Fiehh, with Heait and Lungs, proper: In- ftrotnents fot Breathing: In the hinder parts there.is a Gut, with its Anus and Sphinéer, as alfo their Bottle or Bag, “in which they! carry their. Honey, which . Cby Mufcles firly adapted for: that! pur- pofe) fhe emptyéth into the Honey-comb: In this Bag fhe--often fetcheth Water, ‘to mix up her Sandarach or. Bee-bread,: for the feeding her Young, which they>are very diligent ‘and careful. about, being very fond. Mothers of their Children 5 till they! can-fhift for: themfelves 5 “for after great Pains taken,*'and curious ‘Ob- fervations made; with the-wfe of the beft ‘Olaffes, -I-maft, ome’ to:this-certain. Con- i B30 clufion, | (6) clufion, that all the working Bees are’ Females. CHAP. IL The Defeription and Anatomy of the Male Bee, vulgarly known by that ignominious. Name of a Drone. BS “PU "Here-are none that have kept Bees” sat all, but they know the. Drones ‘ from the working Bees, but they are for the moft part abfolutely ignorant what thefe Drones are,. or what Nature hath defign’d them:for. I perceive the Opi- -nion that moft: prevails among{t the Coun- try Bee Miftrefles, is, that they are Bees that have loft their Sting, and’ fo grow- ing to that prodigious bignefs, (out of all Proportion to the other Bees) they become Drones. Now this their Miftake is occafioned by their feeing’ they do not work, nor cannot fting, and that the fmal~ ler Bees bear rule over them, and fo they give them that contemptible Proverbial Nane. of aDrone, 9.9 Now I conceive I ought to fpeak fome- thing in the behalf of this poor abufed and - | (7) defpifed Creature, efpecially finbe the Ma- nagement of Beed doth not.,a: little de- pend upon the: right knowing of. thefe. Drones. . SS Ge There have been many. Errors. about. them, and fome as old as Virgil, (Igna-: vum fucos pecus a prafepibus arcent_) from- whoin and many others, ,(not ‘being wil- ling to go through thick arid thin for com- pany) I muft crave leave. to! differ con- cerning this noble Creature, which | fhall no longer call a Drone, but the Male Bee. Since he is very induftrious in the Work which Nature hath defign- ed him for, which is not. only Procrea- tion, but his great Ufefulnefs in fitting upon, and hatching the Eggs, and by his great Heat doth keep warm the Brood when hatch’d, thereby giving the work- _ ing Bees the more Liberty to follow their Labours abroad, whilft they fupply their place at home, by taking care of the Young ; fo that the Male Bee is not only of great ufe, but of abfolute neceffity, not only ~ to the Being, but the ‘Well-being of the Colony of Bees, which we fhall defcribe as follows. lo The fuppofed Drone Bee then is the Male Bee, as will more at large hereafter Ba appear o . ¢ 8) appéar, | Above half a8 big: again as: the. Ee ale. working: Bee; fostewhat longer, aid: not» qaiterfo dark ‘poloured -abqur. the. Head and Shoulders, efpecially his Head and Eyesotatich: larger than.the Hopry- tis Voivs much more loud and dread= fil ofters eating. Fear: where ng Fear. is, efpecidlly to, the fair amdi timerous Sex 5” foruHe having noe-any Stiag,: -15 not in the? leat: capable:-of hurting thams sor any other: Creature}:: but: is ablelate— ly under the. ‘Dominian of..thé Females, But to g6/on; he hath -his: Velvet Gape about’ his. Neck, and is ety: Haisy abt over his Racle ;: bis ‘Torigue.zs much {Hor- ter thar. that: of. the: Females, neithey cin he work-if he -would,. his Tongue . being not' dong enough: to reach the, Feo ney out of the focketed-Biowers. bs > As to his: Sex, thdrevare many Argur ments for. what'l afferty as that all Cueae _ tures breed Male and Fervale;. arid. he-as is often feéh in other -Cremiurtes; being the biggeft, tis moft probable. that he Is of the Malekind. J ronfete, ‘ithat being. fube je@ to the other . Bees, is an Argument again{t me, but as there is no general Rule without ‘an Exceptien, fo: here | nuftibeg Mr. Lilly's leave _ to. alert. contrary: ‘to Gram- a> Grammar, .-that ay eminin -mOre ora ay A ling a nIhohg zit the Hen ath fae fe ie oe dae stat ¢ unintelfig ibh Ie “Per- fe less, th a tp a elds eM em 1 thi QUIAeEN i Hh Roig He ate hath ia € res, ‘atid pies telfs ua ne Bia A f Bees, at, ge aan Dp n, that: Drone. ined ne eee ee th at ta. }of her nigger, a as 4 Miffake mVe oor us a tor Anych ies ble, ch hei Js red tie ani- mable,,. Matter: ae red, by ‘the > working Bees ang.caft into ¢ Drone. Comb, into WH Estes eb ry the King ‘Bee did Sperm, o., Drones, are produ- "Wags rjdi eee ully falf ae firft, there ig:p0 shina Matter.g pathicred by the Bess, mor, if Feheraere, I$ iF there. any King,.Bee to impregnate it by: his Temi- nak Virtue, bat, a ‘this more when. we - opme to. teat of thei, Breeding, and, Go- veRnmnents.. oni L-confels it. ‘was. 4 “Bold ftioke’ of Mr, Roufden, to,Jay. down 4 fuch othe- ‘. and sinpote it.on the W Wate Nts ee-oh Fats, without, giving “Us “one, ra tional fs tional Argument td. prove it, or any’ one Experiment by which he’ was let into the Secret. “ But to, put: the ‘matter into a clear light, let any Gentlemah (whofe —Curiofity leads him, to know the-Truth) but gently cut up’ with a Launcet, or very fharp Penknife, the Belly, ‘or hinder part of ‘the Drone-bee, there he fall find. tn the fame manner ‘as in Birds,-’ a large air of Tefticles,as big as great Pins Heads, lilk. white, joined together upward by - the Spérmatick Veffel, and hanging -divi- ded downwards in the very fhape of the Stones 6f a Lamb: “The Penis’ or Inftru- ment of Generation, ‘indeed is tnuch more ftrange, and will feem incredible ‘to the Reader, till he hath -try’d the’ Experi- ment ; “it grows near the end of the Tail, and fometimes only gently prefling one of thefe large Bees whilft' alive, will make it ftart out , the ftratigenefs of its Form and Magnitude at firft did not a little fur- prize me. It is of areddith white, and in ape tnuch refembling the Head ofa Bul- - lock with its Horns. This ftrange diffe- rence from the common Bee, doth make ~ fome of opinion, that they are ofa diffe- rent Specits' of Bees; and (as Roufden ) bred itr a different matiner, when indeed + 4 it is plain ‘they are:all’ of one Species, only differiig in Sex, : Male and Female, and: fordewhat in Magnitude and “Colour, . oecafion’d' by’ their difference in Sex, as it is in‘moft other Creatures, as in Man, the top- of ull the “fublunary Creation ; our Bodies “‘niore ‘flrong ‘and robuft, .. our Voice like that ‘of 'the Male Bee, ‘more deep and’ dreadful, “whilft the tender Sex, like that-of the Hone; «bee, is’ {ataller, ~ more fhrill-and delighttil 3 but to fay all thar willbe ‘ufeful ofthe Male-Bee, or the, fuppofed Drone,’ as they are the Male-bee, fo they are ‘abfolutely~ neceflary ‘to. the breeding of Bees ; an vas they are help- ful in the 'thanaging of their Young,” fo _ are the yf, ned ete oY their great Heat they fit, and h h ‘the Brood, eep- - ing the Eges warta,’’whilft the Honéy- bees, or Females, follow’ their delightful © ‘Vocation of gathering ‘and. bringing’ home of Honey’; ‘during wh ich'time, the Drone Bees are. noe fuffer’d to'ftir from the Brood, but about ‘One or Two a Clock, -when the chief part ofthe Day’ Work is done by the Bees, midft of them repairing home, take care-of their own Brood, and fo give . leave to thefe their obedient Mafeuljne Servants to-recreate themfelves abroad, . theig 2) their Heat, now, Ji Jones: foie > then. you. fee | nie enbees Peat thick tbat Mouth of the Hive, flying:to an dk froy fiye, or, fix Farge Circuits, tarepreate and § aptyit chee - fef pict _ then, retains: again te their be: . ‘Ne ar, where... they. aye fata. time Hindly received Py ‘their, imperious Dames, Secially ‘in ;thg;. Months: of: May -and Fune, that being. fe si chief tine - of their Bree ng.;,.,and : the way, lee me cautian’ thife... ho. ave! ochappy:. 49 to keep thefe. indultsiqus. Servant, :. againft an unhappy Miltaka which. they are re apt to fall into, af ki ing. the; Male- Drone as foon ‘ag they. fee thea, by seth they “hitder their. Breed, (the, Male-bees _ being but few, in inumber at fit) to the gréat eae jth spot. utter Deftrustion of the Hive of for they,had better Kill fix. ‘workin "Bees, than ane-of thefé reat: sees in, May; or the: ‘beginning, of Sune 5” >. Uinlefs, you..can fappele,-that 3 Shep herd havipg .Tom Rams: amongtt -4 Thoutind ‘Ewes, dhould ‘be+ fo, void of Senfe, As to imagine. that the beft’ way to increafe his flock, would be to kill half a.dozen' of; his. Rams, shat, they may not’ ‘eat up. the Pyfture fromthe Ewes 5 et as erg Jet me thetefore perfwade you'to fparg . him a: little fonger, “for he isa very {hopes liv'd Creature, and he'-will.not fail to make’"9 you amends,” if he be’ not flain,”’ to“die of himfelf, but of this 'inore in the:next nur be a de | ewaR mL The time and manner of their Breeding, length of Life, caufe-of Death, and manner of Burial,” eee - A Sto the time of their Breeding, the forward Stocks begin in February, and the latter,or thofe that are not fo lafty, leave not’ off till the latter end of. Fray s So that there are fix Months in which Bees are bred ; and the fooner they ibe- gin, the fooner they: make an end, ‘itho’ there are more Bees bred‘in two. Moaths, than in all the other four, and this-two Months for the moft* part, are May! and Sune, tho’ this is famewhat uncettain for ma very forward Spring’ the Flew- ers blow early, by whith means:the Bees, ' by early gathering grow’ lufty ‘betimes, - and throwing off their Winter Torpidi- ty, C4) ty, fall to breeding the fooner ;_ in this cafe the two chief breeding Months, may be April and May : fo ina moderate warm flowery Spring, tho’ not fo warm as was laft {poken of, the chief of their Breed- ing will be from a Fortnight in April, to a Fortnight in ‘Fune , fo contrariwife ina very backward Spring, the Flowers blow: late, and fo the Bees are late be- fore they are invigorated for Breeding, - and then une and Fuly willbe the two chief Months for their Breeding , and if it be an extreme cold Spring, the more backward will the Bees be in their Breed- - ing. But it happens beft. for the Bees, and moft profitable for the Bee Mafter, | when the Spring is.neither very early nor very backward, having formerly, to my coft, had experience of both thefe. Extremes. . . My Reafons, grounded on Experience, are thefe. In avery early Spring, when February and March have been very warm, the Bees having (as above) received Vi-+ pour from the early Flowers, begin to breed early , fo that in April the Hive is full af Bees and ready-to fwarm, nay fometimes have {warmed tho’ very rarely 5 and all this is no damage, but very hap- PYs | (15) ‘py, if the Spring. continue to.be .ve mn, that they Foep on their Work wv well .as their Breeding, then all will be- fafe :- But if the Stock be not very rich in Honey, and there thould come but a Week or two of: cold Weather ‘to: hin- der their Working, .they will all be in dan- ger of being loft ; for the Family’ ftill increafing, more and more Brood ftill co- ming to hand, not only: to be capable, | but to have an abfolute neceflity of Feeds ing, and whilft they expe& Food from their pitiful Mothers, .who have none to give them, nor any for themfelves, and the Weather ftill continuing cold or wet, or (as it is fometimes) both, that thefe provident Mothers cannot go abroad to get Bread for theirChildren, both Young and Old muft unavoidably perifh toge- ther ; fo that in this cafe the Stocks that are moft forward in Breeding, tho’ always the beft, are in moré danger than thofe.. that did not begin to breed fo early: But this Misfortune may be happily prevent- | ed by the wary Bee Mafter, (the man- ner how, you fhall find in the Chapter of feeding the Bees.) ‘The other Ex- treme, is a very cold and backward Spring, when the Flowers blow not, by reafon of . the the ‘Cofdnefs of the Weather > thatly of them’ being’ kept in’ their Soc Ret a“‘long time, that fhould’ have blowt, had any _ warm Weather come, ‘till ‘at’ Iéngth the * “Seafon of the Year being’ far «advanced, the Weather changes of a fudden, becomes _ warm or perhaps very lrot, _ fo’ that abun- dance of; Flowers bio together, “juft im the ‘Height, of their Breeding, ‘at which time. ; oney-gathering, ‘coming djl toge- ther, {o that their Working~ mmf” hin- der their’ Breeding, or their Breeding muft hinder their Working 5 and if 4’ very-dty Summer fhould follow, a cold ’and ‘back ward Spring, the Stalls will be all poor’ 5 about, Which great’ care’ muft' be taker int Feeding, ‘oy elfe the next Spring’ you will find your. felf’ a. broken Bee- merchant ; and may try Virgi’s way of making new ones, [Vitg. Georg? 4.) if you think fit: But to go yu, a Bee i$ firft an Egg, and. hot, 2s Mr. Roufden ignorantly {ppofes, made’ of animable Matter, (w ict he af firms of the Female Bee, as well as the Drone) to be gathered’ by the Bees front the Flowers and caft into’ the Combs, as their proper Matrix , then ‘hé-‘makes 2 King Bee, for there. is no {uch thing 7 (17) - (én rerum natura) .and-prefently makes a Town Bull of his. King:;. for he tells us, that the King Bee goes from Cl] to Cell, and cafts his Seed into every Cell, - of this prepared animable Matter, and thus Bees,: as well as Drones, are pro- duced, as was before hinted: And in- deed I might with as much probability affirm, that fome Fly or other had caft his Seed into His Brain, which being before adapted to receive the prolifick Vir- tue of the Fly, hath brought forth thefe improvable Maggats into the World... All that I can fay for him, is, that I be- lieve he might be drawn into thefe Mi- ftakes, by relying too much upon the fil- ver-tongued Virgil, who fays they‘ fetch their Young from the Flowers , and not obferving the Sex of their Commander, gives her the Title of Rex Apium : Which, "tis very probable, drew Mr. Roufden.in- to thefe two Miftakes, being refolv’d, not to contradi& fo celebrated a Poet , but he ought to have confidered, (that tho’ Vir- gil were a great Poet,.and the Bee a no- ble Subje@ for fuch a Pen) that in treat- ing of them, he writes more’ like a Poet, than an experienced Bee-mafter. In- deed there are many antient, as well ‘3s oo ’ this . C18) . this modern Author, that have ftrangely deluded ‘the World, with their unexpe- rienced Whimleys, about the Generation of Bees: Some, that they are bred of Ho- “ney; But this cannot be, except by Putrifa@ion ; arid that cannot be, for Ho- ney ‘putrifieth not, but by its conferva- tive Virtue, doth prevent other Bodies from Putrifaction. But I fhall not trou- ble the Reader with any-more of thefe antiquated Impertinences, but proceed to matter of Fad: Thefe Eggs, which are produced by the Bees, and in their time o@ become Bees, are exceeding white, fomething bigger than the common Fly- _ blow, but not fo long nor fo big as _ the Eggs of the Ant; they are caft into the empty Cells, not carelefly into any Cell, but only the middle Cells, which are always appointed for the breeding Cells, whilft thofe all round the Hive are referved for the Honey ; Nature, or rather the GOD of Nature, ‘having - taught thefe afeful Creatures, that if they fhould caft their Eggs near the outfides of the Hive, or Box, there would not - Heat fufficient come to them, to hatch; and bring them to Perfection ; which In- conveniency they carefully avoid, by lay- _ ing | (19°) _ ang their Eges all clofe one.to another, Hear the Center of the Hive, or Box, but always exactly, avoiding the Confu- dion and Abortion that would be produ- sed, if they fhould lay above one Keg - 'ina Cell: No Eggs are generally laid swithin three Inches of the top, bottom, or > Sides of the Hive, or Box; fo that the Bees being all round the Cells where aheir Eggs ‘are Jaid, as well as above and below, fo that by their natural Heat, that doth always keep them warm, they are brought on gradatim, ot ftep by ftep, till they are hatched, and come forth a erfed Bee: For this great and marvel-. ous Work, as it is not done all at once, ' fo are the-gradtal Steps that Nature takes, in bringing thefe-Eggs to be perfect Bees, both furptizing and amazing , for the Eee is with all the Care and Exattneds laid, with one end touching one of the fix Angles, or Gorners of the Cell, that a8 it grows in length, as well as bignefs, | it‘ may be the longer before it tome to touch; the oppofite Angle with its other end, which otherwife would incommode the Embrion ; for if it thould. have been laid againft one of its flat fides, or {quares, there. would not. have been fo much room a 7 or ( 20 ) | for its Growth from fquare to fquare,: as from corner to corner, fo that always ou find them, when firft laid, with one end of the Egg touching one of the cor+ ners, andthe other end pointing: againft its. oppofite corner : But this Pofture con- tinues not long, and ferves only for that time that this Embrion is without Life or Motion ; for at that time that it comes to touch its oppofite Angle, it receives its firft Life, (bear with the Expreflion, for IT muft anon give you account of a fecond) and then it comes to be a little fort. of a Maggot, and turns it felf, rounding at the bottom of the Cell, much refembling . a Halfmoon: In this Pofition it. con- tinues, till one end comes to touch the other inthe form of a Ring, till, by reafon of its continual Growth, it can lie no longer in that: Pofture,; then, with confiderable Life:and Vigor, it turns it felf, thrufting one end towards the mouth of the Cell., and from that time lies length-ways ; Nature directing, that this Creature fhall thruft it: felf with that end forward, toward the mouth of the Cell, which is to be the Head, thus it re- _Mains, growing both in: length and mag- nitude very falt, and is‘ now a Creature, oo. of \ (21) | of touch Like Vigor and Motion, much. like thofe Maggots which we:get of the Butchers, or Chandlers, called by us Gen- tles, which weufe in F ifhing, but muck . lager and whiter ,. but- no “manner of* fign of Wings, Neck, or Legs: And’ Here is a Wonder ! this Creature is now - as big asa Bee, and all: this while fed: by the Bees, but. is no more like a Bee’ than’ a Turnep.. Now comes on the: tine , when ‘it muft for. a while ceafe to live, at Jeaft in all appearance, that it may again live a more glorious Crea-: ‘ture: When the Creature: is come to this. - bignefs, the Bees clofe up: the top of | every Cell with Wax, their fond Parents Cat leaft as to fight) taking. their Leave . of thefe their helplefs Children, they being every one faft fealed up-in its pro- per Matrix, where they can ‘have no Food, neither can the leaft. Air come near “them ; and this work-of clofing up thefe Cells’, is, according to - the beft Conjecture T can: make, (for I can do -no more) . about - the fourteenth . Day 3 and thus it remains clefed up about feven Days more, to all appearance without Life cr: Motion : But. Nature, whe never cea han her Diligence «in bringing. lier Works C 3 to | Cm) to perfection, is not all this while idle, but very bufy in: forming this ill-fhapest. Maggot, before fpoken of, into a Bee; the firft appearance of this Work is in. her Neck, (which you may plainly fee, in few Days after they are clofed ‘up, if you will have the Curiofity to break them up). then the Middle, or Wafte, © begins to be fmaller, before.there be any fin of Legs, or Wings ; then the Eyes ; and laft ofall the four. Wings, and fix Legs, before fpoken of, ‘in the Chapter, of the Anatomy of the Bee: At laft, a- - bout the twenty firft Day froni its being an Egg, it is hatched, by lifting up, with. its own horny Head, the aforefaid Sea- lings or waxen Covers, and is now 2 -perfe@ Bee, for all its Parts and Shapes too, but differs only from its Mother in colour, being always whiter than the - old ones for a time, and are always fed’ for fome Days at the Mouth, as the Spar- row ‘feeds her young, and then begins to fy abroad, but very often ventures tod foon to leave their tender -Mothers, ' to. at- chieve the great Bufinefs of Honey-gathe- ring , fo being fcarce able to fly, they often fall down at the: Mouth of’ the Hive on the Ground, and can ever rifa s C3) to. reeover home again, but muft unavoi- Like. forward Youth grafping the weighty Shield, So , - And pand’rous Spear, toa late his Error That bis unpratijs'd Nerves at laft muft -yield a Oy To his more firong aud more vitforious Foes. ry sO But the Numbers. are not great of thefe forward Viragos, neither are all the young Bees that you find. fallen and crawling in your Bee-garden of this fort, but for the . moft-part they are fuch as are caft out -by reafon. of fome Defed&t in Nature, _ * which I have very often obferved, when I have taken them up in order to fave their Lives, but upon curious Examing- tien, have found that they .have want- ed a. Leg or Legs, or a Wing or two, L have known fome thrown out that have had all their parts exactly perfed,. but only one of the four Wings have not been | quite fo long as it ought to have been; ad by that means uncapable of flying . abroad to gather. Honey, and foare thrown 4 out” oe C24) , out as ufelefs, left -by keeping them in, they fhould become a Charge ‘to the Fa- mily , for the Law here amongft thefe in- duftrious Dames, is, no Eating without working ; tho” this’ their general Rule is not without Exception, for to the Male- bee they willingly afford Honey, (tho’ he work not) as long as they find his ~ Company beneficial to the Publick , but _ all ‘the Bee’s Eggs come not to be Bees, no more than all Hén Eggs come to be Chickens, tho’ moft of them, - if not all, “pafs the firft part ‘of their: Metamorpho- fis, from an Egg to a Worm, ‘and ‘then through fome Mifcarriage or other with- ' in the Hive, fome of them die in their Cells 5 but this feldom happens but to ‘fuch as are bred early inthe Spring, who -are in more danger of proving Abortives, than thofe that are bred in the warmer ‘Months ; for in the Spring, the Bees being but few in Number, lay many Eggs, “In order to encreafe their Family ; fo that the Weather being cold, thefe Eggs require no lefs than the- Warmth of the whole Nuniber, to vivify and hatch them. ‘Now this being a Work. of Time, - it ‘often happens, that of a fadden the Wea- ther alters to be very méderate, and ‘the . sO, / warm C23) warm Sun giving notice to thefe-indu-. ftrious ‘Creatures, that there is Honey abroad to be gathered, they advance to ithe City Gates, (the Mouth of the Hive) and finding it very warm, they fend forth * a Squadron. to fetch .in : Honey, who re-. turning richly laden, do animate their fellow Citizens to fally out and try their Fortune alfo, then fending out’ more numerous Detachments than before, ‘to fetch in -Honey. their Beloved: Nedar, they thereby. leave the young Brood, ef pecially: thofe of them that are ‘in the Jowermoft.Combs, too much expofed to the piercing Air, and fo it is chill’d in -.the Combs, and becomes Abortive ;\ for tho’ the Bees are not. only fo careful,» but extremely zealous ‘for the Preferva- - tion of their Young, that they. will ven: ture their own Lives in their Defence; . ‘yet when a warm Day doth prefent Honey gathering before them in the Spring, they are apt to draw out too great Num- ‘bers for that Service, and fo hazard a part of their Brood, rather than ven- ture the lofing of an: Opportunity, which perhaps the next day would. not produce. So diligent are they in their gathering . of Honey at this time of the Year, that | ( 96) | Gf the next day prove Warm and Fair, they go forth in the fame manner to their Work as before, nay, let the Warm - and fair Weather continue never fo long; they will ftill keep.on their Labours, © and will not let fo:much time. as to per~ © form the Funeral Rites of their Dead | Children ;, not that they are negligent or carelefs, or do defer this piece of Cleanlinefs and Decency. for any other Reafon, but that anly of following their Labours clofe, to bring. in Food to main- tain. their Living Children, rather than {pend their precious time wherein Honey may -be got, in that now unneceflary Work of. Burying their Dead; for fhould “they ‘loofe thefe favourable Opportunities of gathering of Honey in the Spring, and Cold. Weather fhould come on, and con- tinue long, as fometimes to my Coft 1 have known it, -efpecially if the Stock be not very Rich, many Young Bees coming to hand that: muft be fed, and the bad Weather continuing to hinder their’ provident Mothers from Working, both Young and Old. mutt -die : together ; ' which fatal Difafter ‘thefe: laborious: Crea- tures: prevent by.’ their above-mentioned Diligence, in laying hold of every fair. Opportunity for bringing in Provifion but when-ever thege : comes a. Warm tainy . ay, .that. they aye totally hindred from - going out to gather .Foad,- thefe- curious Contrivers fet apart.‘that time. forthe So- lemnizing the Funerals of the Dead ; and let any who are curious. but. obferve “Ht, and they {hall hear ‘them very bufy.with- in the Hive, and fee them dragging ‘out their white dead young . Bees, thofe that have them in Boxes with glafs Windows, may with more SatisfaGion gratify their Curiofity ; Two or Three Bees: carrying forth one dead one,:.and when thay have got the dead Body’ clear of all incum- branes, without the ‘Mouth of the Hive, then fometimes a fingle Bee will take him up with his fore Legs, and fly quite away - with him out of fight ; and fometimes if. the Weight be too. great for one Bee to carry off, then I have feen two of them. lay hold of the Dead. Corps, one at the Head, ‘and the other at the Tail, and fo fly away with her, and when. they are got about twenty or thirty: Yards off the Hive, then’ they drap their Burthen, But I have often feen that a fingle. Bee ehdeavoring to perform this Work ‘‘alone, has dropt hex dead Burthen near the Mouth et 9 C28) of the Hive on the Ground, -and go- again and try with ali ‘her ‘Mightt ‘to © recover: the .dead-Corps up: again, - in. order ‘to bury. the: Body “farther from: theHive., and fometimes: with ‘Succefs, |‘ have again: recover'd ‘it up/into’ the! Air, :and: car- ried it-quite:- away ‘out of: fight ; they: keep on this: Work :all the: while that it contipues: .warm .and .-Wwet; or. at leaft till they have thoroughly ¢leans’d. the whole Hive, .nat only -from dead Bees,:but ail other things that: are. offenfive to. them, that is in their power to remove. . But if they are never. fo. earneftly engaged in this Work, ifthe Sun fhine- out,.they leave what's undone.till the.next Op- portunity, and fall to their more’ neceifa- ’ ry and delightful: Work of gathering Ho- ney; when, I. fay, if the warm Rain continue, . I mean fuch warm. Weather as would permit the Bees to go abroad to gather Honey, did not the Rain brevent them ; and fo being forced to flay at home,.. nat out of choice, ‘but neceflity ; they are: not. idle, . but. like good. Houfe- wives mind their Domeftick Affairs, which ‘can as well be performed. at that time as any other.. For if it be very cold, tho’ it be in the Sprisg, and there-are Oo _ Flowers | € 29 ) | Flowers blown, and Honey in them, and no Rain to hinder them, they ftir not from the Hive, or perform any cleanfing Work within, © well ‘knowing that they © cannot bear fuch kind: of. Weather abroad, nor dividing themfelves within ‘about the - neteflary Work as above, but are ‘forced to: make the beft Defence they can againft it at-home’ for their own Security, for they cling all very clofe’ together betwixt the Combs’ in the Center of the’Hive, _ by which means their natural: Heat is not only imparted to ‘one ‘another, for = - their own common Prefervation, ‘but doth alfo keep the Brood of young Bees very warm, and preferve them in their progref- ‘five Growth, which otherwife would be int great danger of being Chill’d, not daring to break the Clufter’; for ifby«any Force or Difturbance : they are forced'one ‘from another in cold Weather, they are in a moment f