C.4. 
S/Cc- 
7 
The Drone it the 
Male-Bet. 
r.c.i.»'U. 
K t.6.».6,& 7 
^».l8. 
4 - 
Diners reafnns 
froutng the 
Drone to he the 
' Male. 
The fir ft reafin 
is, that they are 
(offered in brte - 
dingtime mely. 
V.n. i 8 . &19. 
Nat.hiiLli.tr. 
c.ii. 
r.ir.j.M.4. 
y. 
The feeond rea 
fon is , that the 
Drones being ta- 
kfn away in 
breeding time , 
the Bees breed no 
more. 
Vx. 6 .h. 18 . 
A. **• 
^v/, < 4 v*aA <& to, 
y.cj.n. if. 
1 
Of the breeding of Bees, 
former. Thefe ©pinions th en , being one as likely at ano- 
rher, let them goe together. [The truth is, they are of the 
f am efpecies With the hony-Bee, but of a diffe renc Sex. J 
For albeit he be not fecne to ingendcr wirlTthebony-bee, 
v . either abroad, as other infefta dOe, or within the Hiue, 
( where yet you may by means behold what they do/) t'.ycc 
without doubt is he thcMalc-Bee, by whofe natural! heat 
and mafeuline vertue the hony-Bec, which breedeth both 
hony-Becsand Drones, t/.fecretly concciueth. 
, Thereafons that moue me thus to thinke, are thefe. Firft, 
bccaufe although they be great waiters of the Bees itore, y ct 
vntillthey begin to leaue breeding, and haueconceiued for 
the next yeere^ (which fome doe about Leo, molt before 
Virgo jthey fuffer them : after ward they begin to beat them 
away. Which if fome doe not, before Scorpio they die natu- 
rally : and from thenceforth all the Winter, vntill the Bees 
breed new againc,*/. there is not a Drone to be had In rerun* 
naturx. When they are quite gone, then doe the Bees lay no 
more feeds that y cere, but onely hatch and breed vp thofc 
that arc already in the celles. 
Secondly, as the rather and the more theDrones are, the 
more and greater are the fwarmes; ( Ccrtequo major fueritfu - 
corum multitude, eo major fiet examirtum proven tut 3 v.) fo 
where the Drones are few and late , there is fmall increafe; 
and therefore if you kill the Drones of a Hiue before the 
Bees hatie done fwarming and breeding, (as fome fondly 
haue done beforeMid-fommcr,to faue their hony from thefe 
lazie lurchers) neither will the fwarmes come forth that were 
formerly bred , nor theftocke thenceforth breed any more. 
After which time bringing in Ambrofta,v. as much as be- 
fore, and hauing no young ones to fpend part, they lay it vp 
carelefiy in their cells , where it corrupteth and turneth to 
(linking Hopping, v. which will caufe them fo much to 
miflike their Hiue , that the next Virgo they will ealily yeeld 
'to the Robbers, v. And if by your induftry they be then 
preferued ;in7^j/cer,when breeding time is, finding their 
wombes barren , and therefore loathing euen themfelues 
and all, they yeeld their goods to them that will take it : and 
after - 
