The second part of this Chapter sheweth the trying of hony and wax with the making of meth.
The combs being taken forth break the presentlie, while they are warme, into three parts: the first cleane hony & wax: the second hony and wax with stopping: the third wax without hony. But what they maie breake right where you would have them, first market them out with the edge of your knife.
The first part breake into a hair-sieve set over a pan, bowle, or other fast vessell that maie hold it (Cooper-ware wil leake though it bee wel iointed, and so let the live hony run of it owne accord, so long as it wil: when it ceaseth running, breake the pieces and let them run againe and lastly with a warme sharpe knife cut those pieces at hurt the cels, & so let them run the third time. If the weather bee not warme, set the hony by a fire to helpe the running.
This first shoot put up apart for fine hony. Which you shall finde to have these properties: cleere, odoriferous, yelow like gold (unlesse it be virgin honey, for that is more chrystalline) sharpe, sweet, & pleasant to the tast, of a meane co'sistence betweene thicke & thin, so clammy that beeing taken up upon your fingers ende, in falling it wil not part but hang downe togither like a long string, as that useth to do which is clarified. And such doth Iacobus Sylvius desribe the best hony to be. Meloptimu sit purum adeo vetotum perluceat, odorum, flavum, acerrimu, dulcissimumq, qustati & iucundissimum, consistentia nec crassa nee liquida, sed tamsibe coharens ut continuitatem suam, quasi lineo longissima, non intercisuservet, si digito at tollitur idem coquendo pauca spumam emitus. But alwaies the best part of this best hony is that which is lowest in the vessell. [As among liqours oile excelleth in lightnes & hony in heavines; so in both, that part is best which excelleth in his excelling qualitie: & wine being of a midling weight is best in the middle. The weight of these three one to another hath this proportion. Oile is not so heavy as wine by one thenth part: for if you fil a measure with wine and divide it into ten parts, the same measure of oil is no heavier the' nice of them, and Hony is heavier the' wine by the halfe: for if you fill a measure with wine, the same measure of hony will weight that & half so much more.] For as the best oile is in the top, and the best wine in the middle; so the best hony is in the bottome. Mellis exilior pars fluitat, que eximenda est: pura vero & valida subsidet.
This hony when it hath wrought & settled, specially that which is in the bottome, will in time grow like unto the corne hony in the uppermost parts of the combes, hard and white: which indeed is the very best, & if it could be got forth in his kinde: such as is the honie of Spaine and Narbona, in France, which is cou'red the chiesest, and compared with that of Hymettus & Hybla.
The rest of the first part pound with a pestle, or crush often with your hands al to pieces, & let it run as before. When it hath done, put this second shoot being but course hony, in a pot by itselfe, and that whith remaineth in the sieve unto the seconde part of your combs for methe.
If there be any store of stone-hony, and you be loth to wash it into the meth-liquour, set it in some vessel over a soft fire, and stil keep your hand in the vessel stirring about the honie and the wax, and opening the wax piece-meale until the hony and not the wax shal be molten: and then powre out all into a strainer, & wring out the hony. But thus this good hony wil become but course: and therefore put it to the second shoot, and that least in the strainer to the seco'd part. Otherwise you may clarfie it wel enough. v.part.3.n.8. [previous blog post]
But the most part, partly for that they are loath to stand long about it, and partly that the live-hony might be a meanes to get out some of the hard or stonehony, doe use al alike. For when they have pounded it altogether, they hand it up in a thin hearen bagge, and thence let it run into a vessel, & some (which is worse) doe violently presse it out. But by these means they shal have no fine & pure raw hony, howsoever afterward they handle it.
The hony being put up into pots, wil in two of three daies worke up a skum, of wax, hony, & drosse together which, being taken of with a spoone, put to the sceond part now dissolved in water. In cold weather the hony wil not worke wel without the heate of the fire. The best way is to put it into an oven after the batch is forth, but not before you can abide to hold your hand upon the bottome, for feare of overheating the hony.
The second part of the combes you must first rid of the stopping as neere as you can, cutting of that which is by it selfe, & picking out that which is among the hony: al which resuse, because of the wax that is with it, cast to the third part. The other, with the remainder of the first part, lay a soake al night in warme faire water (that which commeth from the clowdes is best) the next day al-to-wash it and crush it betweene your hands, and then let it runne through the clen-sieve: that which is leaft, whe' you have crusht out the liquor wash it once againe in fresh water: which water adde to the other liquor, and then put the residue unto the third part. And thus shall you loose none of your hony.
If the liquor be not strong enough to beare an egge the breath of a two-pe'ce above it, the' put so much of your course hony into it, as wil give it that strength: or rather, when it is so strong powre in more water (stirring it with the liquor) until the egge sinke. If any man thinke this to be too small, it may be amended in the boiling: which (as anon is shewed) wil give it what strength you wil, and cleerenesse withal. After this, stirre it wel together twice a day until the skum of the hony be ready to put to it, which when you have added, and have likwise stirred it about the vessel, as soone as it is setled, straine it againe thought the clensieve. If you mean to have your meth very strong, you may make it to bear an egge the breath of a groat. But the ordinarie meth is not so strong as the first.
If you would make a greater quantitie, then must you adde a proportionable measure of water and hony: namely fowr of that, for one of this.
The liquor being thus prepared let seeth an houre or better, even to the washing of one fourth part, or as long as it wil yeeld any skum: which you must continually take from it, as fast as it riseth. For if it once sink down againe, the liquor wil not be cleere without putting in some cold liquour to raise it. And therefore it is good to keepe backe some eight part of the liquour, and, when the rest hath boiled about half an howre and is wel skimmed, to powre in that cold liquour, & to skim it cleane againe. When it wil call no more skum, take it ho' the fire, and set it a cooling. When it is but milke-warme, straine it through a thicke linnen cloth into a tubbe to worke: & put into it a little bag of spice, viz: to 8. or 10 gawnes of meth, ginger and cloves of each halfe an ounce, cynamom and mace of each 2. drachmes al grosly beate': and when it is wel soaked, rub the bag in your hand and wring out the liquour, & then leave the bag in the tubbe, until the meth be tunned. At which time do the like.
If after the meth is well skimmed, you would yet have it stronger, boile it longer, to the wasting of a third part, or of the halfe: for the longer you boile it the stronger it wil be.
To set it a working you may put into it a little barme. And when it hath done working, put it up into a barrel: where the Meth in time wilbe covered with a mother, which it by logging the barrel, or by other means it be broken, the meth will sower; but so will it make excellent vertioice, and the sooner, if it be set in the sun with the bung open.
The learned Physitian Mathais de Lobel requireth this proportion: unto one measure of hony take sixe of water, and let them boile to fowre. His receipt of spice is this, cynamom, ginger, peper, graines, cloves, ana drachm 2.
Metheglen is meth compou'ded with herbs: so called quasi Meth e glen, meth of the vallie, because it is made in the vallies, where is abundance and variety of holsome herbes. He that lifteth to knowethe many and sundrie makings of this holsome drinke, must learne it of the ancient Britaines: who therein do passe all other people. One excellent receipte I will heere set downe: and it is of that, which our renowmed Queene of happie memory did so wel like, that shee would every yeere have a vessel of it.
First gather a bushell of sweete-bryar-leaves, and a bushel of tyme, half a bushell of rosemarie, and a pecke of bay-leaves. Seeth al these being well washed in a furnace of faire water: let them boile the space of halfe an howre, or better: and then powre out al the water and herbes into a vate, and let it stand til it be cold. Then straine the water sro' the herbs, & take to every [If you marvaile that so great a quantitie of water is required, it is partly because of the goodnesse of the hony, which is being pure and fine goeth further then ordinary: but chiefly that it may have the longer time to be clarified in boiling, before it comes to his strength. And therefore some wil have eight parts of water to one of hony: but then they boile it so much the longer] six gallons of water one gallon of the finest hony, and put it into the water cold, and labour it together halfe an houre, and let it stand two daies, stirring it well twise or trise each day. Then take the liquor and boile it anew, and when it doth seeth, skim it as long as there remaineth any drosse. When it is clear [the third part at least being wasted], put it into the vate as before, & there let it be cooled. You must then have in a readiness a kiue of new ale or beere: which as soone as you have emptied, soddainly whelme it upside downe, and set it up againe, and presently put in the metheglen, & let it stand three daies a working: and then tun it up in barrels, tying at every tap-hole, by a packthread, a little bag of cloves and mace, to the valew of an ounce. It must stand halfe a yeer before it be drunk of.
From The Feminine Monarchie, or a treatise concerning bees and the due ordering of them. by Char. Butler Maga, 1609, Oxford: Iohn Haviland. Transcribed by Susan Verberg, 2016.
Free download of the 1623 version at (newer versions also available):
https://books.google.com/books?id=f5tbAAAAMAAJ&dq=the+feminine+monarchie&source=gbs_navlinks_s
In transcription the 'vv' is typed as 'w', the 'u' is typed as 'v' and the 'f' is typed as 's' where applicable, all other middle English spelling is kept as original (as much as I was able to; any typo's are entirely my spell checkers fault.)
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