BOOK IX. V. 2-5 



is fraudulent abhorrent to the business but also one 

 whose laziness causes filthy conditions ; for bee- 

 keeping revolts alike against a lack of cleanliness 

 and against fraudulent management. 



Wherever the hives are placed, they should not be 3 

 enclosed within very high walls. If, through fear of 

 robbers, a rather lofty w^all is thought desirable, 

 passages through it should be made for the bees in 

 the form of a row of little windows three feet above 

 the ground, and there should be an adjoining cottage 

 in which the keepers may live and the apparatus 

 may be stored. The store-house should be chiefly 

 occupied by hives ready for the use of new swarms 

 and also by health-giving herbs and any other 

 remedies which may be applied to bees when they 

 are sick. 



And let a palm or vast wild-olive tree 4 



O'ershade the porch, that when new kings lead 



forth 

 The infant swarms and the young bees m^ake 



sport 

 In their own spring, from honey-combs set free ; 

 Then let the neighbouring bank invite retreat 

 From mid-day heat, and let the sheltering tree 

 Hold them in leafy hospitality." 



Next let ever-flowing water, if it is available, be 5 

 introduced or drawn by hand and provided, without 

 which neither combs nor honey nor even young 

 bees can be formed. Whether, therefore, as I 

 have said, it be running water which has been 

 conveyed in channels or well-water, it should con- 



<• Vergil, Georg. IV. 20 ff. 



441 



