It was one of those unplanned spur of the moment things that led me into another world or as Alice did, down the rabbit hole.
It was a quiet day in late September 2026 as I manned the market stall at Framlingham and my attention was drawn to the second hand bookshop only a few meters away. No sign of any customers heading towards the stall so a quick visit was possible. I entered the shop which was one of the many wonderful old, independently owned, period shops that make Framlingham such a wonderful step back in time (and don’t forget the castle). Well worth a visit if you can. https://visitframlingham.co.uk/
No time to browse but a quick and direct question to the shop owner- have you got any old beekeeping books?
It was a bit of a long shot. Non in store but a quick check on the laptop hit the jackpot! Yes, they had one on their inventory a pre-publication proof copy of Reverend John Thorley’s book Melissēlogia from 1744. It was kept in a safe place and it was arranged to bring it the following week for me to check the condition. Needless to say I bought it and added to my collection.
Thorley is regrettably not a household name in beekeeping circles mainly due to the passage of time and I guess little being written about him. Let us see if we can change that. The British beekeeping world is more familiar with the name of Brother Adam and the people who have given their name to the modern hives and beekeeping methods throughout the 20th century. We must not overlook the importance of the very early pioneers including people like: Thomas Hill (1568), Charles Butler (1609), John Levett (1634) Moses Rusden (1679), Joseph Warder (1716) and John Keys (1780). Maybe all stories for another day and more book hunting!
Reverend John Thorley (1671–1759) was an English clergyman, author and keen observer of honey bees whose work undoubtedly deserves a place among the important early writings on British beekeeping. At a time when much about the life of the honey bee was still poorly understood, Thorley based his writing on practical observation and often relating it to the hand of God. His best known book was Melissēlogia, or the Female Monarchy, published in London in 1744 and described as being based on some forty years of observation and experience. At a time when a keeper of bees was an isolated individual: no YouTube and not even a beekeeper’s association to refer to. The British Beekeepers Association was not founded until 1874.
Thorley was particularly fascinated by the organisation of the bee colony. The title The Female Monarchy reflected the growing understanding that the ruler of the colony was female rather than the “king bee” assumed by many earlier writers. Thorley recorded watching a queen lay eggs while walking across his hand, an excellent example of the close observation that characterised his approach.
His book did more than describe the natural history of bees. Thorley wanted to improve the way they were kept. Its full title promised an investigation into the “nature, order, and government” of bees together with a method of preserving colonies in both specialised colony hives and ordinary hives. This was significant in an age when traditional beekeeping used straw skeps which usually involve killing colonies at the end of the season in order to obtain their honey.
Thorley also appears to have been ahead of his time in some of his observations. Later nineteenth-century writing credited him as perhaps the first to suspect the true origin of beeswax, challenging the older belief that bees simply collected wax directly from flowers.
Like many writers of his period, Thorley mixed practical beekeeping and natural history with religious and moral lessons. Much of which has moved on in present times. He admired the bees for their industry, order, cleanliness, cooperation and loyalty, and encouraged people to learn from the behaviour of the colony. He played a crucial role in shifting thoughts away from a royal to domestic model in the hive.
Although beekeeping science has advanced enormously since Thorley’s day, Melissēlogia represents an important stage in the development of British apiculture. Its emphasis on watching bees closely, understanding the colony and finding better ways of preserving it feels remarkably familiar to the modern beekeeper. Nearly three centuries later, Thorley’s work reminds us that good beekeeping has always begun with careful observation of the bees themselves.
