The Fable of The Bees, by Bernard de Mandeville, 1714.

The Fable of the Bees: or, Private Vices, Publick Benefits consisted of a poem, The Grumbling Hive, or Knaves Turn'd Honest, along with an extensive prose commentary. The poem had appeared in 1705 and was intended as a commentary on England as Mandeville saw it

A Spacious Hive well stock'd with Bees,

That lived in Luxury and Ease;

And yet as fam'd for Laws and Arms,

As yielding large and early Swarms;

Was counted the great Nursery

Of Sciences and Industry.

No Bees had better Government,

More Fickleness, or less Content.

They were not Slaves to Tyranny,

Nor ruled by wild Democracy;

But Kings, that could not wrong, because

Their Power was circumscrib'd by Laws.

The 'hive' is corrupt but prosperous, yet it grumbles about lack of virtue. A higher power decides to give them what they ask for:

But Jove, with Indignation moved,

At last in Anger swore, he'd rid

The bawling Hive of Fraud, and did.

The very Moment it departs,

And Honesty fills all their Hearts;

This results in a rapid loss of prosperity, though the newly-virtuous hive does not mind:

For many Thousand Bees were lost.

Hard'ned with Toils, and Exercise

They counted Ease it self a Vice;

Which so improved their Temperance;

That, to avoid Extravagance,

They flew into a hollow Tree,

Blest with Content and Honesty.

The poem attracted little attention. The 1714 work soon became famous /notorious, being understood as an attack on Christian virtues. What it actually means remains controversial down to the present day.

He produced a second volume of The Fable of the Bees in 1732, with an extensive set of dialogues which set out his economic views. He gave a clear account of the Division of Labour, among other things.

• Text of several editions The Fable of the Bees