Pastorius’s Alphabetical Hive contains entries organized by concept. These concepts can be a single word but sometimes also encompass larger ideas. The Numerical Section is the second part of a large collection of commonplaced material, referred to by Pastorius as the Alvearium. Pastorius himself refers to the Numerical Section as “Additions” to the Alphabetical Hive. Pastorius’s Alvearium takes up the end of Volume 1 and the vast majority of Volume 2. Each entry in the Alvearium collects commonplaced material related to the topic. The Digital Beehive presents annotated versions of these entries which highlight the links to other entries. The Numerical Section itself is contained entirely in Volume 2.
The Numerical Section shares the same organization as the Alphabetical Section. Pastorius draws explicit connections between the entries in the Alphabetical and Numerical Section. These are indicated by Pastorius through the word “Add.” or less often “Adde.” These cross references intend to link specific sections of the Numerical Section. The Digital Beehive presents these cross references not only as metadata but also as hyperlinks. Clicking on the cross reference will direct the user to the linked entry. If Pastorius writes a number after “Add.”, we assume he intends to link to the Numerical Section. If he writes just a word, we assume for now that he intends to link to the Alphabetical Section, or that he is marking a synonym or association.
At present, we have annotated the first 396 entries in the Numerical Section. If Pastorius cross-references an entry within this range, the cross-reference is presented as metadata and a link to the entry. Otherwise, the link will direct the user to the corresponding page in the Beehive.
Pastorius also created a separate Octavo Index which helped him find concepts in his manuscript. Where applicable, the corresponding index entry is presented as metadata with a hyperlink to the entry.
Occasionally, metadata will not link. Unlinked metadata is due to uncertainty in Pastorius’s system of cross-referencing. Either the cross reference does not unambiguously match the entry, or the entry is not in the Beehive. In this event, the search function can be used to find relevant information.
Certain cross references are problematic. The following tags are used to indicate problematic entries: