Honeybee Histories

Bees and Honey in the Ancient Laws of Britain and Ireland Part I: The Laws and their World

Some of the most important knowledge we have about beekeeping in the early medieval era comes from the laws that were made to protect and control beekeeping.

Thomas Hill – Chapter 7 – How bees work with care and diligence

Part 14 in a semi-regular series of essays examining the 1568, A Profitable Instruction of the perfect ordering of Bees, written by Thomas Hill.

Isidore of Seville – A Gateway to the Medieval Drone

One of the earliest medieval descriptions of the Drone (male) honeybee can be found in Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae. It would be accepted as the true account for centuries.

The Massacre of the Males

In the early 20th century, Maurice Maeterlinck included three chapters in his “The Life of the Bee”, elegantly describing the rejection of the drones from honeybee colonies at the end of summer.

The Drone Bee as summarised by Palladius, last of the Roman writers

Finishing the examination of knowledge about drone bees in antiquity we come to Palladius, who summarised much of his work from Columella.

Thomas Hill Chapter 6 – Bees for man’s Use – Utility and Profit

Part 13 in a semi-regular series of essays examining the 1568, A Profitable Instruction of the perfect ordering of Bees, written by Thomas Hill.