274 Dr. A. Gerstacker on the Geographical Distribution 



honey "at Trebizond, where the people also had many bee- 

 hives/^ seems to show that the Greek general was astonished at 

 finding Bees kept by the barbarians. The antiquity of the 

 culture of the Bee amongst the Greeks is shown not only by the 

 laws of Solon, but also by an indirect reference in Hesiod, who, 

 in verses 594, 595 of his Theogony, speaks of the "evil-doers," 

 the drones, which tbe bees nourish in their "well-covered 

 baskets," thus showing most clearly his acquaintance with the 

 culture of the Bee. 



Passing to Egypt, it is very remarkable that the Bee was 

 either altogether omitted from the animal-worship of that coun- 

 try, or, at least, played a subordinate part in it. The Bee is not 

 mentioned in Prichard^s ' Analysis of the Egyptian Mythology.' 

 Nevertheless some antiquaries, amongst others, Keferstein*, are 

 of opinion that in the name Ajns, given to the sacred Bull of the 

 Egyptians^ the sacredness of the Bee is indirectly indicated. 

 However this may be, we know from the Old Testament that 

 honey was used in the heathen sacrifices of Egypt — a custom 

 which probably arose from the notion that it was necessary to 

 ofi'er to the sacred Bull what came from the Bull, it being a 

 wide-spread superstition amongst the ancients that Bees were 

 produced from the decomposing carcases of oxen. The domes- 

 tication of the Honey-Bee in Egypt appears, at any rate, to be 

 as old as this sacrifice of honey; so that its introduction into 

 that country appears less probable than into Greece. The em- 

 ployment of the Nile by the Egyptians for obtaining an abun- 

 dant harvest, which extends, as regards corn, to the most ancient 

 periods, must have led to a similar proceeding in connexion with 

 the cultivation of Bees. De Mailletf states, with regard to the 

 latter, that Bees are very numerous in Egypt, and that a custom 

 introduced by the ancients of sowing saintfoin as soon as the 

 waters of the Nile leave the land uncovered, and sending the 

 Bees from all parts of Egypt into Upper Egypt at the commence- 

 ment of the season of flowering of the saintfoin, is still prac- 

 tised. The hives are packed in a pyramidal form upon boats 

 specially adapted for their reception ; in these they are conveyed 

 up the river to the part where the flowers are earliest, and then 

 gradually brought down the sti*eam, stopping every two or three 

 miles. As Greek civilization is generally supposed to have been 

 influenced by the older civilization of Egypt, we may suppose 

 that the custom prevalent in Attica in the time of Solon, of 

 sending the Bees into favourable localities, was derived from 

 Egypt ; and upon this we may even found a second assumption, 

 namely, that the Bees themselves may have been transported 



* Oken's Isis, 1837, pp. 866 et seq. 



t Descr, de I'Egypte, ed. Le Mascrier : La Haye, 1740, p. 117. 



