A profitable instruction of the perfect ordering of Bees/First Treatise/Chapter 20
Of the battel that Bees ſometime haue among themſelues. Cap. xx.
VErgill {{bl|writeth, that the Bees ſometines minding to fighte, do haſtily bruſt out of the Hiues, and as it were in ciuill battels among themſelues, do fight lyke ſtrangers one againſt the other, & ſmite eagerly in their fight one at an other. If ſo be one byue hath eſpecially two kings bred vp in the ſame, whych very well may be knowne, when as the bees cluſtered and heaped togiiher, doe repreſente or repreſſe as it were the forme of two beardes hangyng downe. Now theyr readineſſe to fight is knowen, when in the ayre is heard a greate ſounde and noyſe among the Bees lyke to the manner of Trumpets, whiles they fiercely and cruelly fighte togither among thēſelues, & in this battell they glitter with the wings, ſharpen the ſtings with their beakes, beare forth their breaſtes, and about the king they gather and ſwarme. So that they ſhoute wyth great noyſe, flying and daſhing togither, and that in heapes and rounde companies mixed or ioyned togither, and greate is the noyſe made among them. And to be ſhorte, in this ſtrong and eager battell, many of them fal headlong downe, and that thicker then haile ſtones to the ground.}}
The kings themſelues in the meane time flying in the middel frontes, doe fight with a fierce courage within themſelues, and they alſo are ſeene to flie hither and thither among thicke heapes and ſwarmes of the Bees, (like as valiaunte Capytaines are wont to do in the time of a battell) with their gliſtering wings and beakes, beating downe of the ſwarmes, here & there and on eche ſide of them, of both parties. So that of themſelues not giuyng ouer this eager battell, untill the one part be forced to turne the backe to the other, and flye away with expedition. Therefore ye this doubful battel in the meane time may be ceaſed and quieted betwene them, the wiſe practiſers wyll that the keeper of Bees, do ſtaye and appeaſe this broyle of thē, by the caſting of fine earth ouer the Bees, whiles they be thus fighting, which (as the wiſe affirme) of experience doth forthewith pacifie the great ſtomackes and courages of both partes. But if this auayleth not, then with honny and water ſodden togither, or rayſons in like order, or with any other ſweete licour ſprinckled on them, is their furie appeaſed, whiche doth as it were with the pleaſaunt ſweeteneſſe, quiet the irefulneſſe of ye warriours, and wyth the ſame in this controueeſie they are maruelouſly appeaſed. If neyther of theſe remedies do yet preuaile, then let the keper marke diligentlye thoſe whyche fyghte in the fronte, and bee moſte eager Capytaines, that hee maye kill them with expedition, for by that meanes, and with the other remedies aboue taughte, maye the battels and fight of the wariours be throughly ceaſed.
{{bl|Now after the Bees are thus quieted, and the ſwarme ſetled rounde on ſome greene bowe nexte hande, then marke whether the whole ſwarme hangeth downe like a cluſter of grapes, whiche ſo ſeeing, declareth there to bee eyther one king or two, by good agreement reconciled, whiche let alone on ſuch wiſe, vntil they flye backe vnto their proper home. But if the ſwarme ſhal be deuided into two or many round cluſters, then iudge that there be yet manye Captaynes lefte, and that their yre is not ceaſed: and in thoſe partes, where you eſpecially ſee the bees to cluſter moſte thicke and rounde togyther, there diligently ſeeke out the Captaynes. Yet annoynt your hand before with the iuyce of the hearbe Baulme, that touching or handling the Bees, they flye not hither and thither, after which put in your fingers gently, and ſeuering the Bees aſunder, ſeke diligently among them, vntil you finde out the author and procurer of the battell, whiche you oughte like wiſe to kill}}. Vergill writeth, that the kings ſometimes fly forth for a vaine delight, to ſport them flying in the aire, which you may eaſily ſtay and let, if that you pluck of the kings wings, that he cannot afterward flye.