A profitable instruction of the perfect ordering of Bees/First Treatise/Chapter 21
How Bees, may be recouered and founde againe. Cap. xxj.
IF it ſo happeneth that bees are flowen away, & that you be in doubte whether they be lodged neare hande, or farre off, Palladius {{bl|doth inſtructe and teache many goodly wayes to finde them againe. Firſt he teacheth to take red leade, or red Oker infuſed in water, or any other colour, ſtayning, and to carry the ſame wyth you in a little ſhallow diſhe. Unto ſuche a ſpring or rūning water as the honny bees haunte, eſpecially in ye moneth of Aprill. And there ſitting downe, awayte the comming of the Bees to drinke, which after they be come, and there drinkyng, ſtayne in the meane whiles ſuch bees, with your ruſh coloured redde at the ende, as you may well retche with the ſame, ſitting yet ſtil, and watching the comming againe of thoſe Bees marked to drinke, whiche if they ſhortlye returne, then is it an euidente note and token, that their lodging and cottages be neare hande, but if thoſe Bees are long before they returne and come againe to the place, then maye you ſuppoſe and iudge them to be farre off, and the diſtaunce you may geſſe, according to their long tarrying and ſoone comming againe. That you maye eaſily finde the place where the Bees lodge, whether the ſame bee farre or neare hand}}, Palladius teacheth the ſame wittily, in this manner.
Firſte he willeth to take one whole ioynt of a bigge cane or Elder ſticke ſtopped at ye one end, and the other end left open, to annonynt within, with a little honny, whiche laye neare to that ſpring or running water, that the Bees daylye haunte vnto.
{{bl|When Bees reſort to the ſame, and that certayne be entred within the quil through the ſauor therof, then ſtop the hole with your thumn, letting one of ye Bees afterward to flye forth, whiche dylygently marke, and follow that way it flyeth, for it wyll ſhewe you part of the way to their home. And after you can ſee the ſame no further, then quicklye ſet forth another be, whoſe flight in like manner marke, and followe after, for that it maye alſo ſhewe parte of the way vnto their home. And ſo let flie the bees by one and one, vntil they bring you vnto the place of the ſwarme. Nowe if the ſame place be deepe in the earthe, then with a ſmoake make eyther of drye flare or Brimſtone, driue ye Bees out, and when the ſwarme is come forthe, then ring on a baſon or ſhrill panne, for being by and by feared with the ſhryll ſounde of the ſame, the ſwarme eyther lighteth on a yong tree, or on the opener bowe of a bigge tree, which ſo founde out, couer ouer with a hiue prepared for the nonce. But if the ſwarm be placed in the hollowe of a tree, and hauing bowes, or in the ſtocks of the ſame tree, then with a verye ſharpe ſawe (of the meanes of the ſame will giue leaue) cutte it aſunder. And in ſuch ſort, that the parte emptie aboue the bees be firſt cut, and the parte beneath in which it ſeemeth the Bees to be lodged, to be like cut aſunder, and the ſtocke thus cut aſunder, at both the endes, couer with a faire ſheete, leaſte any large cliftes appeare after the cutting, whiche alſo annoynt with honnye, for the better ſtaying in of the bees, and after carrye the ſame home, which place by your other hiues making final holes in ye ſame, for theyr flying in and out (as afore was taught) in the ordering of the other hiues. But it behoueth the diligent ſercher, to choſe the morning times for ye finding out of Bees, wherby you may haue the ſpace & libertie of the day before you, to finde out ye reſort of Bees. For by loking late after thē, it falleth out ſo, that although the Bees are neare hande, yet bycauſe they haue then done their buſie and careful laboure, they flye no longer abrode to ſeeke foode, nor yet reſorte to drinke.}}
Throughe which it ſo commeth to paſſe, that the ſearcher after Bas knoweth nor then howe neare, or far off, the ſwarm is from the ſpring or running water. Some take the iuyce of the hearb Baulme in the Spring time, and annoint the ſame round about the hiue, whereby the ſauour of the iuyce maye cleaue and abide on the veſſell, whiche afterwarde being fayre within, ſprinckle aboute with a littl honny, ſetting the ſame hiue downe neare to the woodde or groue of trees faſt by that ſpring or water rūning by it, and after the ſame be filled with a ſwarme, carry it gently home. Yet doeth not this like, but in ſuch places where the ſwarmes of Bæs do abounde, for that oftentimes it ſo hapneth, that vnleſſe the hiues be dailye watched, that the goers by do take them away. But to loſe ſundrie hiues, gretly hindreth not, ſo that you may in the mean whiles enioy one or two of them full.
Nowe hitherto hathe beene ſufficientlye taughte, ſuche remedies and helpes, as neceſſarily ſerue, to the taking, and recouering of Bees loſte, and otherwiſe to finde oute ſtraunge ſwarmes.