ABSTRACT
We owe much of our knowledge about three early tiered wooden hives to Samuel Hartlib in England (c. 1600-1662). He was an important pioneer in establishing a network for exchanging knowledge about agriculture, including bees and beekeeping, and Raylor (1992) described his method of working. Hartlib fostered contacts between scientific agriculturalists in England and continental European countries, and these were reinforced when Royalists returned from the continent after the accession of Charles II in 1660.
