''The Feminine Monarchie, or the History of Bees'' is a 1609 science treatise by the English naturalist and

apiarist A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...

Charles Butler. It is considered the first work on the science of beekeeping in the English language. The text brought into the public consciousness that a bee colony is presided over by a

queen bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female (gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are developed ...

(noticed by Luis Mendez de Torres in 1586, and later conclusively proven by

Jan Swammerdam Jan Swammerdam (February 12, 1637 – February 17, 1680) was a Dutch biologist and microscopist. His work on insects demonstrated that the various phases during the life of an insect—egg, larva, pupa, and adult—are different forms of the ...

). Butler also provided information on the keeping and forming of

skep A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

s, as well as his own personal enjoinders on the most effective beekeeping techniques. The book was the authoritative text on the topic for over two centuries, before the invention of the moveable comb made it somewhat obsolete. The book is organized into ten chapters. It also contains a

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number o ...

of Butler's: "The Queen bee's song". The book sustained at least one further edition edited by Butler released in 1629. Another musical excursus of Butler's was an attempt to musically notate the "piping" noises of the queen bee.https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6218563 Christies

References

1609 books Treatises Beekeeping in the United Kingdom {{zoology-book-stub