BOOK IX. XIII. 7-10 



happens food is offered them poured into troughs 

 made of reeds, especially boiled honey pounded up 

 with an oak-apple or a dried rose. It is also a good 8 

 plan to burn galbanum,°' that they may be cured by 

 its odour, and to keep up their strength, when they 

 are exhausted, with raisin-wine and boiled-down 

 must. The root of the starwort, the bushy part of 

 which is yellow and its flower purple, has the best 

 effect of all ; it is boiled with old Aminean wine and 

 pressed and then the juice is strained and given as a 

 remedy. Hyginus indeed, in the book which he 

 wrote about bees, says : " Aristomachus ^ is of opinion 

 that help ought to be brought to bees which are sick 

 in the following manner : first, all the diseased combs 

 should be removed and entirely fresh food placed for 

 the bees, and then they should be fumigated." He 9 

 thinks also that it is beneficial to add a new swarm 

 to the bees who are wasted by old age, although 

 there is a danger that they may be destroyed by 

 sedition, nevertheless they are likely to rejoice be- 

 cause their number is increased. But that they may 

 remain in a state of concord, the kings of those bees 

 which are being transferred from another hive 

 ought to be put out of the way as rulers of an alien 

 people. There is, however, no doubt that the 

 honey-combs of the most populous swarms, which 

 have young bees already matured in them, ought to 

 be transferred and made subject to the less populous 

 swarms that their families may be strengthened by 

 the adoption, as it were, of fresh progeny. But, 10 

 when this is going to be done, we must remember to 

 put in the care of the old swarm those honey-combs 

 in which the young ones are already opening their 

 cells and putting out their heads and eating away 



477 



