the ſpace of ten yeares, and beyonde this age no ſwarme can paſſe, althoughe the keepers ſupplye the Hyues yearelye with yong Bees, in the ſteade of the olde deade, for in the tenth yere, in a manner, of the generall death of them, the vniuerſall kinde of the whole Hyue is then conſume. And therefore, that thys maye not happen throughe all the Hyues in that place you muſt alwayes increaſe your Hyues with yong Bees, which diligently Hyue in the ſpringtime, or beginning of Sommer, when as the ſwarmes be firſt and newe thruſt forth of the Hiues, and ſo maye the number of your Hiues be encreaſed. Agayne ſome wryte, that in the Countrey of Pontus, the beſte Bees bee white, bycauſe they gyue theyr yeelde of Honnye twyce in a moneth. And Gulihelmus de couchis affirmeth the beſte Bees to be aboute Thermodoon in Capadocia, abyding in the Earthe, for that theſe doe buylde and make a tryple yeelde of ware, and giue alſo aboundaunce of Honny.
The foreſayde Varro, affirmeth thoſe Bees to be in healthe, which often kepe and be in a ſwarme togither, that be clenly & can do their buſineſſe and worke alike, and that quicke & light in the ſame, beyng neyther hearie nor foule of body, or appearing duſtie, ſuch alſo which be not ouerleane of body, and that out of any of their cotages no dead bees be carried thēce, & forth of their Hiues. For all theſe notes do declare ſuche like Bees, to be both euill and vnprofytable. Palladius declareth, that the beſt Bees may be knowen by the fulneſſe or emptineſſe of their veſſels, for if the Hiues be full, then thoſe Bees doth be beſt cōmende, if the Hiues be nothing ſo full ſtuffed, thoſe Bees doeth be greatly diſſalowe. And he alſo praiſeth thoſe Bees, whiche excelleth or paſſeth others in the loudneſſe of humming, or do abound in the great haunte of the ſwarme, not broughte to the Hiues from farre places, ſo that there maye be ſuch agrement, that they be not after feared alwaye, with the newneſſe of the aire and place.
