bisi bees

"The bees been so bisi,” cothe he, “aboute comune profit,
And tendeth al to travail while the tyme dureth
Of the somer saison and of the swete floures;
Thayr wittes been in wirching and in no wile elles
Forto waite any waste til winter approche,
That licour thaym lacke thair lyfe to susteyne.”

From the 15th century poem, “Mum and the Sothsegger.” Discovered thanks to The Paris Review.

(We had two hives of bees delivered last week, and the bees have been busy getting established.)

Top: An illustration of apiaries from the Tacuinum Sanitatis, 14th century.
Bottom: Art Nouveau Horn carved hornet pin, ca. 1910.