The eleventh Booke of 



of them thus now and thcnjmaketh them more frefh to goe about their vvorke. For when they G 

 lieflill and doenoihing,they make their combes look dead and bIackifh.Againe;,ifthey be over- 

 much fmoaked^ they will be the worfe for it : and furelyjthe very honie foonecatcheththe hurt 

 hereof : for fo tender and weakc will it be^that with the lead dew that is,you fhall have it to turne 

 andwaxefoure. And therefore in all kinds of honiethey obfcrve and keepe that which is called 

 Acapnon3[/. without fmoke.] The honie gathered of both forts of Thymejcalled thereupon Bi- 

 ihymumjis not white : howbeitjvery good it is for eies and to cleanfe ulcers. 



Now as touching the generation of Bees, and how they multiply and encreafeamuch difputc 

 there hath been among the learned, and a nice queftion this is.For firft and foremoft^Becs were 

 never feen to engender one with another : and therefore moft men have been of opinion y that 

 young Bees muftneeds be made of flowers fitly and handfomly laid togither and compofed^ac- « 

 cording to Natures lorc.Others fay^that one mafter-Beejwhich is the king in every fwarmejdoth 

 beget them all : and that he forfboth is the only male jbiggcr alfo than the refi and more i^rong, 

 becaufe hee (liould not faint and faile in the adion; for without fuch an one, we fee there is no 

 breed : and him all the other Bees attend upon, not as their leader and captain^but as the female 

 follow the male. Certes this were a good conjcdurall opinion, and founding to a truthj but that 

 the breed of thefe Drone-bees abovefaid, doth checke and overthrow it clcare j for what reafon 

 istherethatoneand the fame manner of procreation, fhould bringforth Tome perfedand o- 

 ihers unperfecl ? The former opinion yet might feeme more probable, but for another difficul- 

 tie and inconvenience that crofTeth it too: for otherwhiles in the utmoft edges and fides of the 

 combs jthcre are feen to breed the biggerkind ofBeeSjwhich chafe & drive the others awayiand 

 this vermin is called Oeflrusjp.the gad-Bee oiHorfe- flie.] Now if thofe little wormes or grubs ^ 

 from whence the Bees come, were made of flowers, which they thcmfelves formed and brought 

 intofailiion^howcommeththisgad Bce,and whereof is hee made ?This is certein, that Bees 

 couvic and fit as Hens doe : and that which is (after a fort) by them hatched, feemeth at the firft 

 to be a little white grub or maggot, lying crofle overthwart the honey, and fo fafl flicking there- 

 to, as if it fcemed to feed thereupon. The king that fhalbe, at the very firft is yellow, and of the 

 colour of honey ; as if he were made of the moff choife and excellent flower of all the refi ? no- 

 thing like to a grub as the other,butprefently hath wings.The reflof the multitude, when they 

 beginto take lomefhape,are called Nymphse: hke as the Drones at the beginning, be tearmed 

 Sirenes or Cephenes. If a man take their heads from either fort, before they be winged, it is a 

 nioft pleafan t and excellent meat for the old dams. In procefl!e of ,time,as they grow bigger ;the K 

 old Bees difhlfand drop meat into their mouthes, as they fit upon them : and then they'keepc 

 moft humming (as fomc thinke) for to fet the combs into an heat, which is requifite and necef^ 

 fariefor the hatching of them : and thus they continue, untill thelitde pellicles or membranes 

 be broken ; within which,everie one lieth by it felfe,as egs : and then they break forth all togither 

 andiliew themfelves accomplifhed Bees. The manner and experiment hereof, was feene upon 

 a time in a ferme nearc unto Rome,belonging to a Nobleman of Rome who fomtime had been 

 Confull : for hee caufed his hives to be made of lantcrne homes that a man might fee through 

 into them. Thefe young wormes be 45 daies before they come to their perfection. 



There is found in fbme combs, a certaine bitter thing and hard like to wax, which the Latins X- 

 -call Clem<, This is as it were the abortive and untimely fruit of the Bees, to wit, when either by 

 maladie or idlenes, or rather upon fome barrennefTe and unfruitfull difpofition by nature. Bees 

 are not able to bring the fame toperfedion. 



As for the young Bees,they are not fo foone abroad, but they begin to labour with their mo- 

 thers, and are trained by them to learne how to gather honey. This young jxople have a young 

 king alfo, unto whome they make court,and whome they follow. And many fuch kings are bred 

 at firfl, for fearc Icaf^ they fliould want ; but when the Bees are growne bigge, they all agree with 

 one accord and voice, to kill thofe thatbemofl untoward among them, forfeare they fhould 

 make divifionsj factions, and fiding to parts. Thefe kings be of two forts: thole that are red all 

 overabe better than the bJacke or partie-coloured. All the race of them be verie fajre and goodly ^ 

 to fee to 5 and twice as big as the refi;: their wings fliorter, their legges {freight 5 in their port 

 and manner of march, more ff ately : carrying in their front a white ff arre, like a diademc or co- 

 ronet sfarre brighter alio and more neat they be than the common lb rr^ 



CHA^# 



