of Plinies Naturall Hiftorie. | oF 
A honey indeed fhe had not generally infected with this hurtfull qualitie, like as fhe had armed all 
Bees with fharpe prickes and ftings,yea,and the fame of a venomous nature : & therfore againft 
thefe creatures verely fhe hath not deferred and put offto furnith us with a prefentremedic.For 
the juice of Mallowes or of Yvie leaves ferveth to annoint the tinged place, and keepe it from 
rankling : yea and it isan excellent thing for them that be ftung,to take the very Bees in drinke ; 
for itisanapproovedcure. Bucthis [marvell much at, That the Beesthemfelves, which feed of 
thefe venomous hearbs, that carie the poyfon in their mouths, and are the makers of this mif- 
cheevous honey,doe efcape & die not thereof? Whereof I can give no reafon atall,unleffe dame 
Nature,that ladie and miftreffe of the world,hath given unto thefe poore Bees acertaine Anti- 
pathie and vertue contrarie unto poyfon: like as among us men to the Marfi and P/yii, the hath 
B imprinted(as it were)a repugnancie in their bodies,to refift the venome of all Serpents what{o- 
ever. 
Cuap. X11lls 
2% Of a certaine kind of honey which Flies will not touch. Of Beeebives.How toorder the 
— fame,and namely when Bees want meat and arein dannger to be famifhed. 
The manner alfo of making Wax. 
Here is in Candie another ftraunge and woonderfull thing,as touching Honey, gathered 
| aboutthe mountaine Carina, whichtaketh ninemiles in compafie: within which {pace 
and circuit of ground,thereis not a Flie to be had; andthe honey there made,Flies wil not 
© touch in any place wherefoever.By which experiment, this honey is thought to bee fingular for 
medicines,and thereforethoife is made thereof before any other. 
As touching Bee-hives,they ought to ftand on the open fide upon the Equinoctia]] Sunne, 
- rifing,that is to fay,when the daiesandnights beequall. And in any wife,regard wouldbee had, 
thatthey open not intothe Northeaft, and much leffe the full Weft. The beit Bee-hives be made 
of barkesandtinds of trees: the fecond in goodneffe be thofe of Ferula or Fennell-geant.In the 
third place are fuch as be wrought of oifier twigsMany have made them of Talc,which isa kind 
of tranfparent glaffe ftone, becaufe they would fee through them howthe Bees doe wotke and — 
Jabour within. Daubed they fhould be if they were well ferved,both without and within with Oxe 
___ dung. Thecoverand lid thereof ought to be mooveable and have libertie to play up and downe 
D behind, that it may bee let downe farre within-forth in cafe either the hive bee too large and of 
greater receit in proportion than the Bees are in number;for feare they fhould flacke their work 
_ and give over their travell defpairing ever to fill the fame, feeing it fo big and of fo great capaci- 
tic: and being thus let downe(to make the hive feeme the leffe)it muft be gently drawn up again 
. by little and little,that the Bees may be deceived thereby ,and not perceive how their work grows 
upon them.In Winter time Bee-hives fhould be covered with ftraw:and oftentimes pertumed 
with beafts dung efpecially ; * for this isagreeable to their nature.Over and befides,itkilleth the * Confidering 
wicked vermine that breed in them, Spiders, Butterflies,and VWVood.wormes: yea,and this pro- naa rae 
pertie it hath moreover,to ftirre up and quicken the Bees, and make them more lively and nim- witt be cngeed 
ble about their bufineffe. As for the Spiders aforefaid,they verely are not fo harmefull, and bee dred. 
E foone deftroied: but the Butterflies doe the more mifcheefe,and are not fo eafily rid avay. How- 
beit,there is a way to chafe them alfo,namely,to wait the time when the Mallow dooth begin to 
bloffome,to take the chaunge of the Moone, and chufe a faire and cleare night, an then to fet 
up certaine burning lights juft before the Bee-hives : for thefe Butterflies will covet to fli¢into 
the fame. But whatis to be done,when you perceive that the Bees doe want victuals ?Then it will 
be good to take drie Raifins of the Sunne,and Figges,to ftamp them together into a maffe, and 
lay itat the entrie of the hive. /tem,It were not amifle to have certainelockes of wooll well rou- 
zed & carded,and thofe wet & drenched in cuit either fodden to the thirds,or totwo thirds,or els 
foked in honied wine, for them tofettle upon and fucke. Alfo to fet before them in their way the 
raw catkafes of Hens,naked and pulled tothe bare flefh, Moreover,there be certaine Summers 
F fodrieandcontinually withoutraine, thatthe fields want flowers to yeeld them food, and then 
muft they bee ferved with the forefaid viands,.as well as in VVinter feafon . When honey isto 
be taken forth of the hives,the holes and paflages for the ingrefleand egrefle of the Bees ought 
to be well rubbed and befmeared with the hearbe Meliffophyllon and Genifta brufed and ftam- 
ped: orelfethe hives muft be compafled about in the middeft with branches of the white pi 
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