Book ix. x. 2-xi. t 



That is why this one is especially approved, being super- 

 ior ; for the inferior kind, like dirty spittle, is as foul as 



The wayfarer who comes from depth of dust 

 And from his parched mouth the dirt spits forth : <* 



And as the same writer says, 



With sloth inglorious his wide paunch he drags.* 



Therefore all the leaders of the baser kind 



Give them to death, and let the better prince 

 Rule in the empty hall." 



Nevertheless he too must be despoiled of his wings, 3 

 when he oft-times attempts to break out with his 

 swarm and fly away ; for, if we strip him of his wings, 

 we shall keep the vagrant chieftain as though in 

 fetters chained, who, deprived of the resource of 

 flight, ventures not to leave the confines of his realm 

 and, for this reason, does not allow even the people 

 under his sway to wander further than he is able. 



XI. But sometimes the king-bee has to be put to How to 

 death when an old hive falls short of its proper com- proper Mm 

 plement of bees, and its want of numbers must be pi'-m^nt of 

 made up from another swarm. Therefore, when in 

 the early spring a young brood is born in the hive, 

 the new king-bee is squeezed to death, so that the 

 multitude of bees may live with their parents without 

 discord. But if the combs have produced no offspring, 

 it will be open to you to bring together the population 

 of two or three hives into one, but only after they 

 have been sprinkled with sweet liquid ; then you can 

 shut them up and, after placing food for them, keep 



• Parts of Vergil, Oeorg. IV. 96 f. 

 * lb. 94. « lb. 90. 



467 



