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In the placing of your bees, observe it be so 

 that in the winter and spring, the faces of the hives 

 may stand to the rising sun; and so order it that 

 neither in winter nor summer, they be too hot or 

 too cold; observing above all things, that the air be 

 wholesome, as also the herbs, plants, and flowers 

 growing about them. The herbs, &c. that bees 

 most delight, are these, thyme, cassia, rosemary, 

 savory, smallage, violets, sage, lavender, myrrh, 

 wild marjoram, wild thyme, balm, sweet marjo- 

 ram, saffron, bean flowers, mustard seed, mellilot, 

 poppies, roses and the like. And those they hate, 

 are for the most part, yew trees, wormwood, wild 

 cucumbers, elms, cornel, spurge, laurel, and all 

 bitter herbs and flowers. They thrive better in 

 the vallies than on hills, and love to be near clear 

 water springs. The best honey is extracted from 

 thyme, the second from wild thyme, and the third 

 from rosemary. You may place their hives in 

 three ranks, arid stand a yard one above another; 

 suffer them to be quiet and undisturbed, keeping 

 all hurtful creatures from them; as the toad, red- 

 breast, woodpeckers, moth, hornet, lizard, swal- 

 low, sparrow, spider, serpent, and stork; all which 

 are utter enemies to the bees. All winter they rest, 

 and live upon part of what they got in the sum- 

 mer; or if you have taken the honey almost bare, 

 you must feed them by putting in sticks very gin- 

 gerly, dipped in honey, or sugar and water boiled; 

 as also figs, raisins, currants, or the like. About 

 the sun's entering the sign Jlries, they come abroad 

 ^and labour diligently, framing their combs, the 

 which when they have done, they begin to breed, 

 and afterwards till them with honey; their wax, 

 being extracted from gummy trees and the honey 



