BUTLER, Charls. The Feminine Monarchie, or The Histori of Bees. Shewing Their admirable Nature, and Propertis; Their Generation and Colonis, Their Government, Loyalti, Art, Industri; Enimies, VVars, Magnanimiti, &c. Together With the right Ordering of them from time to time: and the sweete Profit arising thereof. [16], 182 [i.e. 180] pp. (There are no pages 113-114). Title partly printed in gold. With woodcut illustrations and music. Small 4to. Modern half calf. Oxford: William Turner, 1634.

Third enlarged edition of this classic bee book. Charles Butler is considered by many to be the father of English beekeeping. He observed that bees produce wax combs from scales of wax produced in their own bodies; and he was among the first to assert that drones are male and the queen female, though he believed worker bees lay eggs. The Feminine Monarchie, first published in 1609, is the first full-length English-language book about beekeeping. The book's first edition was revolutionary for being the first known natural history of bees. It remained a valid and practical guide for beekeepers for two hundred fifty years, until Langstroth and others developed and promoted moveable comb hives. Butler revised The Feminine Monarchie in 1623 and as here in 1634. The book gives an excellent account of skep beekeeping, including methods of predicting - from tone pitch of the buzzing bees - when swarming will occur. Butler even transliterated the tones and included them on a musical score in the book. Some wear, but nevertheless a sound copy. All editions are now rare.