Chap. 20.] THE DISEASES OF BEES. 21 



and make no honey, being thus castrated, so to say, and 

 equally incapable of inflicting injury, and of making themselves 

 useful by their labours. "We have instances stated of horses 

 being killed by bees. 



They have a great aversion to had smells, and fly away 

 from them ; a dislike which extends to artificial perfumes 

 even. Hence it is that they will attack persons who smell 

 of unguents. They themselves, also, are exposed to the 

 attacks of wasps and hornets, which belong to the same class, 

 but are of a degenerate 65 nature ; these wage continual warfare 

 against them, as also does a species of gnat, which is known 

 by the name of " mulio;" 66 swallows, too, and various other 

 birds prey upon them. Frogs lie in wait for them when in 

 quest of water, which, in fact, is their principal occupation 

 at the time they are rearing their young. And it is not only 

 the frog that frequents ponds and streams that is thus injuri- 

 ous to them, but the bramble-frog as well, which will come 

 to the hives even in search of them, and, crawling up to the 

 entrance, breathe through the apertures ; upon hearing which, a 

 bee flies to the spot, and is snapped up in an instant. It is 

 generally stated that frogs are proof against the sting of the 

 bee. Sheep, too, are peculiarly dangerous to them, as they 

 have the greatest difficulty in extricating themselves from 

 the fleece. The smell of crabs, 67 if they happen to be cooked in 

 their vicinity, is fatal to them. 



CHAP. 20. — THE DISEASES OF BEES. 



Bees are also by nature liable to certain diseases of their 

 own. The sign that they are diseased, is a kind of torpid, 

 moping sadness : on such occasions, they are to be seen bring- 

 ing out those that are sick before the hives, and placing them 

 in the warm sun, while others, again, are providing them with 

 food. Those that are dead they carry away from the hive, 

 and attend the bodies, paying their last duties, as it were, in 

 funeral procession. If the king should happen to be carried 

 off by the pestilence, the swarm remains plunged in grief and 

 listless inactivity ; it collects no more food, and ceases to issue 



65 Though helonging to the same class, they are not of degenerate kinds. 



66 The " mule-gnat." 



67 See Virgil, Georg. B. iv. 1. 27. 



