For a Swarm of Bees is an Anglo-Saxon metrical charm

Anglo-Saxon literature

Old English literature encompasses literature written in Old English in Anglo-Saxon England, in the period from the 7th century to the Norman Conquest of 1066. These works include genres such as epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible translations, legal works, chronicles, riddles, and others...

 intended to keep honey bee

Honey bee

Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis...

s from swarming. Towards the end of For a Swarm of Bees, the swarming bees are referred to as "victory-women" (Old English sigewif):

Settle down, victory-women,

never be wild and fly to the woods.

Be as mindful of my welfare,

as is each man of eating and of home.

The term "victory women" has been sometimes referred to as pointing to an association with valkyries. The notion has alternately been theorized as a simple metaphor for the "victorious sword" (the stinging) of the bees.