B. IX.] THE HISTOBT OF ANIMALS. 2G5 



They eat honey both in summer and in winter. They also 

 lay up another kind of food, which is as hard as wax, which 

 some persons call sandarache. 



16. Wasps are very injurious to them, and so is the bird 

 called titmouse, and the swallow, and merops. The frogs 

 also in marshes destroy them when they come for water, for 

 which reason bee-fanciers destroy the frogs in those marshes 

 where the bees come for water. They also destroy wasps 

 nests, and the nest of the swallow and merops, if near the 

 swarms of bees. They avoid no animal, except those of 

 their own kind. They fight among themselves, and with 

 the wasps. When at a distance from their hives they will 

 neither injure each other, nor any other creature; but when 

 near at home they will destroy everything that they can 

 conquer. 



17. When they have stung anything they perish, for they 

 cannot withdraw their sting from the wound without tear 

 ing their own entrails ; but they are frequently saved, if the 

 person stung will take care to press the sting from the 

 wound : but when its sting is lost, the bee must perish. 

 Tbc-y will kill even large animals with their stings, and a 

 horse has been known to perish, if attacked by bees. The 

 rulers are the least cruel and stinging. 



18. If any bees die in the hive, they carry them out ; and 

 in other respects the bee is a very clean creature. For this 

 reason they also eject their excrement when in flight, for 

 the smell is bad. It has been already observed that they 

 dislike bad smells and the scent of unguents, and that they 

 sting persons who use such things. They also die from 

 other causes, as when the rulers in the hive are in great 

 numbers, and each leads out a portion of the swarm. The 

 toad also destroys bees, for it blows into the entrance of 

 the hive, and watches for and destroys them as they fly out. 

 The bees cannot inflict any injury upon it, but their keepers 

 destroy it. 



19. Some bee-keepers say that the kind of bee which 

 makes an inferior and rough comb is the young of the others, 

 and that it is the result of imperfect skill. They are young 

 when a year old ; young bees do not sting so severely as old 

 bees ; for this reason the swarms are carried to the apiaries, 

 for they are those of young beea. Wheii honey is short 



