u/RamoneCorona

I’m the president and founder of the Oxford University Beekeeping Society, and around World Bee Day last month I opened the university’s first student teaching apiary in 185 years. 200 years ago we had a predecessor in the Oxford Apiarist Society, but they went defunct in 1841 when their founder left Oxford to introduce beekeeping to New Zealand (and later went insane, look Rev. William Cotton up).

To celebrate the occasion I handsewed this early modern beesuit. It's a simple linen tunic along with the wicker woven face cover, and a flower crown we broke out for the ceremony. This wicker style is attested in a few medieval and early modern wood blocks and illuminated manuscripts, notably including Pieter Bruegel’s ‘The Beekeepers and the Birdnester’ (1568) and Sebastian Münster’s Cosmography (1544). When I’m not beekeeping I’m working on a history PhD, so had the fortune of visiting some of the sources in the Bodleian Library archives.

Much of the research and sewing patterns are thanks to u/redbonito who wrote up a guide on the design here:
blamensir.neocities.org/monastery/workshop/sewing/beekeeper

There are a few errors or inaccuracies I’d like to correct in future– the sleeves should be wrapped at the wrist, the wicker face is a little small compared with historical examples, there’s a mistaken gap between the neckline and hood, and I haven’t yet tried my hand at early modern hose or footwear.

On the day we also invited the college choir out to serenade the bees with a 1623 beekeeping melody, Melissomelos, composed by the Oxford alum Charles Butler. Butler was the first beekeeper within Britain to argue that the beehive was ruled by a queen rather than a king in his book the Feminine Monarchie, which concluded with Melissomelos. The melody mimics the real 'piping', or singing behaviour of newborn queen bees, but lyrically is also an allusion to the reign and colonial expansion of Queen Elizabeth I. Oriel College wrote an article on the event which you can find here, and there are some recordings of the choir performance you can find on their social media back on May 6 🐝:
oriel.ox.ac.uk/news/oriel-singers-inaugurate-apiary-at-bartlemas-sports-ground/

I’m the president and founder of the Oxford University Beekeeping Society, and around World Bee Day last month I opened the university’s first student teaching apiary in 185 years. 200 years ago we had a predecessor called the Oxford Apiarist Society, but they went defunct in 1841 when their founder left Oxford to introduce beekeeping to New Zealand (and later went insane, look Rev. William Cotton up).

To celebrate the occasion I handsewed this early modern beesuit. It's a simple linen tunic along with the wicker woven face cover, and a flower crown we broke out for the ceremony. This wicker style is attested in a few medieval and early modern wood blocks and illuminated manuscripts, notably including Pieter Bruegel’s ‘The Beekeepers and the Birdnester’ (1568) and Sebastian Münster’s Cosmography (1544). When I’m not beekeeping I’m working on a history PhD, so had the fortune of visiting some of the sources in the Bodleian Library archives.

Much of the research and sewing patterns are thanks to u/redbonito who wrote up a guide on the design here: blamensir.neocities.org/monastery/workshop/sewing/beekeeper

There are a few errors or inaccuracies I’d like to correct in future– the sleeves should be wrapped at the wrist, the wicker face is a little small compared with historical examples, there’s a mistaken gap between the neckline and hood, and I haven’t yet tried my hand at early modern hose or footwear.

On the day we also invited the college choir out to serenade the bees with a 1623 beekeeping melody, Melissomelos, composed by the Oxford alum Charles Butler. Butler was the first beekeeper within Britain to argue that the beehive was ruled by a queen rather than a king in his book the Feminine Monarchie, which concluded with Melissomelos. The melody mimics the real 'piping', or singing behaviour of newborn queen bees, but lyrically is also an allusion to the reign and colonial expansion of Queen Elizabeth I. Oriel College wrote an article on the event which you can find here, and there are some recordings of the choir performance you can find on their social media back on May 6 🐝:
oriel.ox.ac.uk/news/oriel-singers-inaugurate-apiary-at-bartlemas-sports-ground/

I’m the founder and president of my university’s beekeeping society (Oxford, or the irl Oxenfurt) and a longtime fan of the Witcher games and books. Last month I opened a new university teaching apiary, and created this medieval beekeeping suit to celebrate the occasion.

It draws from a lot of the same source material behind the Brewess’s design, notably including Pieter Bruegel’s 1568 engraving ‘The Beekeepers and the Birdnester’, which I was very aware of while sewing it together. When I’m not beekeeping or working on my pre-Songs of the Past replay I’m studying for my history PhD, which helps bring the medieval and folklore elements of the Witcher alive.

Next Halloween I may have to modify the beesuit with a little human soup, and make it into a corrupted devotee of the Brewess.

I’m the president and founder of the Oxford University Beekeeping Society, and around World Bee Day last month I opened the university’s first student teaching apiary in 185 years.

To celebrate the occasion I handsewed this early modern beesuit. It's a simple linen tunic along with the wicker woven face cover, and a flower crown we broke out for the ceremony. This wicker style is attested in a few medieval and early modern woodblocks and illuminated manuscripts, notably including Pieter Bruegel’s ‘The Beekeepers and the Birdnester’ (1568) and Sebastian Münster’s Cosmography (1544). When I’m not beekeeping I’m working on a history PhD, so had the fortune of visiting some of the sources in the Bodleian Library archives.

Much of the research and sewing patterns are thanks to u/redbonito who wrote up a guide on the design here: blamensir.neocities.org/monastery/workshop/sewing/beekeeper

There are a few errors or inaccuracies I’d like to correct in future– the sleeves should be wrapped at the wrist, the wicker face is a little small compared with historical examples, there’s a mistaken gap between the neckline and hood, and I haven’t yet tried my hand at early modern hose or footwear.

On the day we also invited the college choir out to serenade the bees with a 1623 beekeeping melody, Melissomelos, composed by the Oxford alum Charles Butler. Butler was the first beekeeper within Britain to argue that the beehive was ruled by a queen rather than a king in his book the Feminine Monarchie, which concluded with Melissomelos. The melody mimics the real 'piping', or singing behaviour of newborn queen bees, but lyrically is also an allusion to the reign and colonial expansion of Queen Elizabeth I. There are some recordings of the performance on Oriel College’s social media 🐝

I’m the president and founder of the Oxford University Beekeeping Society, and earlier this month around World Bee Day I opened the university’s first student teaching apiary in 185 years. We had a predecessor back in the 1830s with the Oxford Apiarist Society, but they went defunct in 1841 when their founder left Oxford to introduce beekeeping to New Zealand (he later went insane and was committed to an asylum, unrelated to the bees[?]).

To celebrate the occasion we invited the college choir out to serenade the bees with a 1623 beekeeping melody, Melissomelos, composed by the Oxford alum Charles Butler. Butler was the first beekeeper within the British Isles to argue that the beehive was ruled by a queen rather than a king in his book the Feminine Monarchie, which included Melissomelos. The melody mimics the real 'piping', or singing behaviour of newborn queen bees, but lyrically is also an allusion to the reign and colonial expansion of Queen Elizabeth I.

To accompany the melody I hand sewed this medieval beesuit. It's a simple linen tunic along with the wicker woven face cover, and a flower crown and censer we broke out for the day. This wicker style is attested in a few medieval and early modern illuminated manuscripts in the university's Bodleian Library, which was wonderful to check out while I was sewing. Around 80 people came out for the picnic, speech, choir performance and to see the hives. Thanks to u/redbonito for the sewing pattern!