i6o The Bee People. 



the underground world, or the realms of 

 the dead. 



A great many people think that when 

 bees are about to swarm, a loud noise 

 will prevent them from leaving, and they 

 clash on tin pans, or ring bells, or blow 

 whistles, or do anything they can think 

 of to make a hullabaloo. No doubt they 

 sometimes equal the uproar made by the 

 Curetes about the infant Jupiter. 



Honey was very highly valued in ancient 

 Greece and Italy, and that which came 

 from Mount Hymettus was specially prized. 

 Hymettus is a mountain in Greece, near 

 Athens, and used to contain famous bee- 

 pastures. 



A bee -pasture, you know, is a place 

 grown over with flowers ; and Mount Hy- 

 mettus was said to be rosy-purple, it was 

 so covered with heather blossoms. 



Hybla, an ancient city on the sea-coast 

 in Sicily, was also very celebrated for its 

 honey. 



