274 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



August 



so valuable for the apiarist, [or by 

 this time there are mam other flow- 

 ers yielding nectar and pollen. 



I have noticed that poultry, espe- 

 cially chickens, are partial to the 

 seeds of the last-mentioned variety; 

 they hunt the seeds among the dead 

 and' fallen leaves and Inter under the 

 trees. I should judge that the trees 

 yield large quantities of seed, as they 

 are loaded with seed pods. 



Besides these two acacias, there are 



several other varieties planted in this 

 State, some th and some 



fairly tall. The varieties lure de- 

 scribed and illustrated are the tallest 

 we have — some specimens have al- 

 ready attained 60 or more feet in 

 height. 



Oakland, Calif. 



Virgil, the Poet of Beedom 



By D. M. McDonald. 



THIS "silver tongued" poet de- 

 voted his "Georgics" to affairs 

 of husbandry and his fourth 

 was devoted wholly to bees and bee- 

 keeping. He pictures an old man, 

 possessed of a few acres of land and 

 devoting himself to its culture and 

 that of his bees equalling in his con- 

 tentment of mind the wealth of kings. 

 There, surrounded by his beehives, 

 he attained perfect happiness, and 

 led an ideal life. Placed, as his api- 

 ary was, on a gentle slope overlook- 

 ing the Bay of Naples, he had on 

 every side all that the heart of a bee- 

 keeper could desire. The site, the 

 poet says, must be a well sheltered 

 one where strong winds cannot gain 

 access. A ledge was planted at the 

 adjoining boundary, where willow 

 blossoms were fed on by the busy 

 bees; and, under the welcome shade 

 the beeman often dreamed the mid- 

 day hours away, lulled by murmur- 

 ing music of the honey-gathering 

 throng. It was considered important 

 that the bee garden should not be 

 open to the disturbing incursions of 



sheep or frisky kids, or heifers rude- 

 ly brushing the "dew" away, or 

 bruising the springing flowers. 

 "Aerial honey." it must be remem- 

 bered, was believed to be gathered 

 mainly from the dews of heaven. The 

 flowers were not forgotten — "Let gar- 

 dens fragrant with saffron flowers 

 invite the bees. Bring thyme, and 

 let fruit-bearing trees and bushes be 

 abundant. Plant lime trees and ap- 

 ple trees to yield their luxurious 

 bloom in spring; also elms, black- 

 thorns and planes. The soft osier, 

 the hoary willow and the tough 

 broom all counts, as well as arbutes. 

 grey willow, cassia, the golden-hucd 

 crocus, and the deep-colored hya- 

 cinth." For coolness near the hives 

 he advises that a palm or stately- 

 wild olive should be planted to over- 

 shade the entrance. 



Good beekeeper that he was. he 

 had an eye to the comfort of his in- 

 dustrious workers. "Have clear 

 springs and green, damp moss or 

 shallow rivulets coursing through 

 the adjoining meadow. If the water 

 is deep throw willow branches cross- 

 wise into the stream that the bees 

 may drink in safety on the frequent 

 bridges." When in spring the bees 

 roam through the lawns and woods 

 to reap the harvest of the bright- 

 hued flowers, and to feast on green 

 cassia, fragrant wild thyme and 

 strong-scented savory, as well as 

 countless other flowers, it was no 

 less necessary that they should 

 lightly sip the surface of the 

 streams, hence these carefully pre- 

 pared drinking fountains. The hives 

 in this model apiary were of the sim- 

 plest kind, he tells us, made of hol- 

 low bark or woven with pliant osier. 

 "They should have narrow inlets to 

 prevent the heat of summer to cause 

 the honey to run and hinder the 

 colds of winter to cause it to congeal. 

 To keep out the cold the bees smear 

 with wax (propolis) the small crev- 

 ices in their 'caps.' This glue is more 



tenacious than birdlime or the pitch 

 of Phrygian Ida." Bees often made 

 a comfortable home underground in 

 hollow pumice stones, and in the 

 cavity of some hollow tree. Bees still, 

 in the nearer east, inhabit such hives 

 as the clefts of the rocks, some warm 

 cave or the heart of some rotting 

 tree. 



He calls the colony inhabiting each 

 of these hives a marvelous miniature 

 republic. Each unit has a large mind 

 in a little body. "They have high- 

 spirited chiefs, and, of course, a king. 

 Their allegiance to this sovereign is 

 matched by no human race of men in 

 the fealty they display toward their 

 chief. The king gone, the bond of 

 union is severed. He safeguards their 

 labors and they look on him with re- 

 spect and awe. while all attend him 

 in crowds." 



"Bees at the same time have home 

 rights. They pass their lives under 

 inviolable laws, they know the true 

 meaning of native country and set- 

 tled household goods. They toil in 

 summer that they may have stores in 

 winter. All work in summer, all 

 feast alike in winter. So powerful is 

 their love of flowers and so strong 

 their ambition to collect honey that 

 they voluntarily yield up their lives 

 for the good of the community as a 

 whole. When battling against 

 adverse winds they pick little 

 stones to act as ballast, and with 

 these they steady themselves 

 through the unsubstantial vapor." 



Their internal government is a 

 marvel of perfection. All is arranged 

 for the greater good of the greater 

 number. Some have charge of the 

 food, some busy themselves in the 

 fields, some store the honey, some 

 collect "gum" from the bark of the 

 trees, some build downwards the vis- 

 cid wax, others lead out swarms, "the 

 hope of the race." Others pack up 

 and seal the honey-cells, some guard 

 the outer entrance, taking it by 

 turns, some receive the loads of 

 those who return, others in mar- 

 shalled bauds drive away the drones, 

 "an inactive horde." All have one 

 rest from wrrk, all have one common 

 labor. N 



Wise bees, they are genuine weath- 

 er prophets, and do not go far from 

 their hives when rain is impending 

 or trust the sky when east winds 

 approach. They are models in pre- 

 science, in morality and in conduct. 

 They neither indulge in conjugal in- 

 tercourse nor relax and effeminate 

 their bodies in love, nor bring forth 

 their young with throes id' travail. 

 But they themselves gather their 

 progeny with their mouths from 

 leaves and fragrant herbs. They 

 themselves provide a sovereign and 

 tiny subjects, and repair and replen- 

 ish their palaces and waxen realms. 



Virgil went so far as to say that 

 manj thought that bees possessed 

 Divine intelligence; that they had 

 portions of "etherial thought," and 

 moreover, that at the end each bee 

 Mid. -.till alive and conscious, each 

 to count a star, and mount to lofty 

 heaven. Several of the gods of an- 

 cient limes were supposed t" have 

 been bees in some former state of 

 being. At that early period the life 

 a believed by some to last 



