A Profitable Instruction of the Perfite Ordering of Bees: With the Maruellous Nature, Propertie, and Gouernemente of Them: and the Necessarie Vses Both of Their Honie and Waxe, Seruing Diuersly, as Well in Inward as Outward Causes: Gathered Out of the Best Writers

In Short

This sixteenth-century English manual brings together classical natural history, practical apiary management, and medicinal alchemy to guide rural households in keeping bees. Compiled by Thomas Hill from ancient authorities and contemporary practice, it details every aspect of bee culture—from building hives and managing swarms to harvesting honey and distilling wax into miraculous remedies. It stands as a foundational early modern text on animal husbandry, preserved for its fascinating blend of medieval lore, practical rustic wisdom, and early scientific observation.

The Story

The text begins by establishing the extraordinary economic and practical value of the honeybee, framing apiary management as one of the most profitable endeavors a landowner or farmer can undertake. Hill draws upon ancient authorities like Pliny, Varro, and Aristotle to detail the internal social organization of the hive. He describes the bees' strict division of labor, their daily routines, the military precision of their guard detail at the hive entrance, and the severe, lethal punishments meted out to sluggish workers.

Moving from natural history to practical application, the narrative outlines the precise requirements for establishing a successful apiary. Location is paramount: hives must be sheltered from extreme cold in winter and scorching heat in summer, protected from winds, and kept safe from thieves or livestock. Hill details the physical construction of hives, weighing the merits of cork, willow, hollowed logs, and traditional English straw, while strictly warning against ill-suited materials like turf or unbaked clay.

The core of the manual focuses on the seasonal rhythm of the beekeeper. Hill provides instructions for anticipating swarms, capturing wild bees, and preventing young swarms from absconding. He outlines methods for tracking lost bees across the landscape by capturing individual workers in hollow reeds and releasing them one by one to mark their flight path. When rival hives clash in civil war, or when diseased bees fall faint, Hill offers specific interventions: reviving chilled, motionless bees using warm embers and gentle ash, or burning medicinal herbs and sweet waters to purge hives of corruption.

The work culminates in the extraction and transformation of the hive's products. Honey is evaluated by region, color, and consistency, then processed into traditional Roman mulse water or medicinal wines like Oenomel. Wax is harvested, purified, and dyed red or green for various household uses. Finally, the narrative shifts into alchemy and astrology. Hill describes distilling honey into a ruby-red "Quintessence" capable of dissolving gold and reviving the dying, before concluding with a secondary treatise on predicting agricultural abundance or dearth based on weather patterns, oak galls, and celestial alignments.

How It Unfolds

The social order of the hive Hill establishes the industrious nature of the bee, detailing how guard bees watch the hive entrance while workers gather nectar and elders organize food stores within. Sluggish bees are identified and promptly executed to maintain the colony's health.

Setting up the apiary The author outlines proper site selection and hive construction, preferring lightweight bark, woven willow, or straw. He warns that hives must feature tiny entrances to block destructive pests like mice, butterflies, and beetles.

The character of the keeper A proper beekeeper must be clean, chaste, and free from strong odors, sweat, or foul breath. Rather than fighting stung bees, the keeper must act like a gentle flatterer, speaking softly to calm the swarm.

Hunting and hiving wild swarms To locate wild colonies, the keeper traps bees in a hollow elder stick with honey, releasing them one at a time to follow their flight line. Once found, hollow trees are sawn apart or smoked out while brass pans are beaten to signal the swarm to settle.

Harvesting honey and wax In early autumn, comb is carefully removed using specialized curved knives without destroying the colony's winter stores. The honey is graded by clarity and origin, while the raw wax is melted down and refined.

Alchemical distillation and prognostication Honey is repeatedly distilled into a golden "Quintessence" used to cure deadly illnesses, and wax is transformed into healing oils. The manual closes with astrological rules for predicting crop yields, plagues, and civil strife using the calendar and celestial signs.

The People

• Thomas Hill (The Compiler): The guiding voice and editor of the manual, who seeks to collect the finest wisdom of antiquity and adapt it for English farmers. He aims to make apiary management both highly profitable and systematic, occasionally correcting ancient figures to reflect reasonable real-world gains.
• The Beekeeper: The ideal practitioner envisioned by Hill, who must maintain absolute personal cleanliness, sobriety, and chastity. This figure acts not as a harsh ruler over the insects, but as a calm, flattering guardian who treats the swarm with gentle care.
• The King Bee: Framed in Elizabethan terms as the noble ruler of the hive, around whom the entire colony gathers. The health, presence, and leadership of the king dictate the swarm's discipline, productivity, and readiness for battle.
• The Classical Authorities (Pliny, Varro, Columella, and Aristotle): The ancient naturalists whose treatises serve as the intellectual foundation of the book. Their observations dictate everything from hive placement to medical remedies, tested against the practical experience of sixteenth-century husbandmen.

In Its Own Voice

"For if they happen to kéepe themselues in the morning within the Hyues, then doth the same declare a tempest to insue that daye."

A beekeeper must observe the subtle behavior of the colony each morning to foresee the day's weather.

"...not as one stinged endeuoreth to defend himselfe from them, but rather as a flatterer among his acquaintance, and children, hath learned to entreate, and please the Bées by a more gentle manner."

Working successfully with bees requires a calm, quiet demeanor rather than aggressive defensive movements.

"And setting the Bées in the sunne, and neare to their hiues, they will after recouer, and flie again into their cotages."

Apparent death from cold can be reversed by gently warming fallen bees in soft ashes and warm sunlight.

What It's Really About

Underneath its practical instructions, Hill's manual presents the hive as an idealized model of human society, order, and morality. The bee community reflects Renaissance ideas of natural hierarchy, where absolute loyalty to the king, ruthless devotion to duty, and strict punishment of laziness ensure the survival of the collective. The book argues that human prosperity depends on working in harmony with nature's underlying design, where even the smallest insects demonstrate divine wisdom. Furthermore, Hill bridges the gap between basic agricultural labor and sophisticated domestic science, showing how raw natural resources can be elevated through alchemy and medicine to preserve human health and predict the future.

Why Read It Today

A Profitable Instruction of the Perfite Ordering of Bees offers a captivating look at how early modern society understood biology, medicine, and the natural world. Readers fascinated by historical homesteading, the history of science, or Elizabethan culture will find immense pleasure in its vivid, period-specific detail. The prose carries the rhythmic charm of early printed English, filled with archaic spellings and unhurried instructions that make the simple act of checking a hive feel like a sacred ritual.

While modern readers must navigate sixteenth-century typography, obsolete medical theories, and references to alchemical cures, these historic quirks are precisely what make the book memorable. It reveals a world where beekeeping required personal moral purity, where stormy weather was predicted by insect humming, and where honey was distilled into legendary elixirs. Hill's manual endures as a delightful, authentic artifact of early English agricultural literature.