If thou wilt have the favour of thy bees that they sting thee not, thou

must avoid such things as offend them: for impurity and sluttishnesse

(themselves being most chaste and neat) they utterly abhore: thou must

not come among them smelling of sweat, or having a stinking breath,

caused either through eating of Leekes, Onions, Garleeke, and the like;

or by any other meanes: the noisomenesse whereof is corrected with a cup

of Beere: and therefore it is not good to come before them before you

have drunke: thou must not be given to surfeiting and drunkenesse: thou

must not come puffing and blowing unto them, neither hastily stir among

them, nor violently defend thy selfe when they seem to threaten thee;

but softly moving thy hand before thy face, gently putting them by: and

lastly, thou must be no Stranger unto them. In a word, thou must be

chaste, cleanly, sweet, sober, quiet, and familiar: so will they love

thee and know thee from all other.

From Butler's Feminine Monarchie quoted by Tickner Edwardes in The Lore

of the Honey Bee, 1908.