300 Eerste eevwe der Societeyt iesu.

Title

300 Eerste eevwe der Societeyt iesu.

Description

Illustration of a beehive and a bat. From the book: "Af-beeldinghe van d'eerste eeuwe der Societeyt Iesu: voor ooghen ghestelt door de Duyts-Nederlantsche provincie der seluer societeyt" (1640)

ca. 1640

Artist

Poirters (1605-1674)

Adriaan Poirters (1605- 1674, Mechelen) was a Brabantian Jesuit poet and prose writer who was active in the Counter Reformation. As a poet he imitated Cats, and acquired a great facility in rhyme and verse construction, a comprehensible, eloquent style of expression. His intention is either to expose human weaknesses or to playfully and exuberantly depict the religious ideas of the child Jesus and so on. His main work is “Het masker van de Wereldt afgetrocken”, Antwerp 1646 and often published since then; with pictures. He also wrote “Den allerheyligsten naem I. H. S. voor een nieuwjaargift” 1647, ‘Het Duyfken in de Steenroetse’, ”Het leven van de h. Rosalia”, ‘Het heyligh herte’, ‘De Ydelkeit der wereldt’, ‘De Spiegel van Philagia’, all published in Antwerp.

Historical Description

Bees (Anthophila) are a group of insects that includes several families of Hymenoptera. Bees are quite a large group with very different species. Many of them, especially the solitary ones, are grouped together under the term wild bees. Bees have a purely vegetarian diet. Their most important food source is sweet plant juices - especially nectar. They are dependent on pollen for their protein supply. Species of the colony-forming genera and families, such as bumblebees, Meliponini and above all honeybees, build up food stores. This serves to survive as a whole colony in food-free periods. Highly social community forms, especially colonies as in honey bees, are the exception among bee species. The overwhelming majority of all bee species are solitary bees, which do not form insect colonies but live alone and only care for their own offspring. As bees make a significant contribution to the preservation of wild and cultivated plants and their yields, their ecological importance is considerable. Bees are among the world's most important pollinators. Bees live on all continents except Antarctica.