BOOK IX. in. 1-4 



of swarms of bees, some of them having bees huge and 

 globular in shape and at the same time black and 

 hairy ; others smaller but equally round and of a 2 

 dusky colour and with bristling hairs; others still 

 smaller but not so round, but nevertheless fat and 

 broad and of rather a better colour ; some very small 

 and slender with bellies which end in a point, striped 

 of a golden colour and quite smooth. Vergil, 

 following Aristotle as his authority, approves most of 

 bees which are very small, oblong, smooth and shining, 



Burning with gold, their bodies stained with spots 

 of equal size," 



calm, too, in disposition ; for the larger and rounder a 

 bee is, the worse it is, and if it is unusually fierce, it is 3 

 by far the worst kind of all. However, the irascibility 

 of the better kind of bees is easily soothed by the 

 frequent intervention of those who look after them ; 

 for when they are often handled, they quickly become 

 tame. If they are carefully looked after, they live 

 for ten years ; but no swarm can exceed this age, 

 even if young stock is substituted yearly in place of 

 those which have died ; for usually in the tenth year 

 all the population of the whole hive is destroyed and 

 exterminated. In order, therefore, that this may 4 

 not be the fate of the whole apiary, fresh stock must 

 be continually propagated and care must be taken in 

 the spring, when the fresh s-v^'^rms issue forth, that 

 they are intercepted and the number of dwelling- 

 places increased; for bees are often overtaken by 

 diseases. The methods by which these ought to be 

 cured will be dealt with in their proper places. 



- Georg. IV. 99. 



433 



