the manner in which bees carry on their work is as follows. in the day time a guard is stationed at the entrance of the hive, like the sentries in a camp. at night they take their rest until one of them awakes the others in the morning with a humming noise, repeated twice or thrice, just as though it were sounding a trumpet. they then take their flight in a body, if the day is likely to turn out fine; for they have the gift of foreknowing wind and rain, and in such case will keep close within their dwellings. on the other hand, in fine weather the swarm issues forth, and at once applies itself to its work, some loading their legs from the flowers, while others fill their mouths with water, and charge the downy surface of their bodies with drops of liquid. those among them that are young go forth to their labors, and collect the materials already mentioned, while those that are more aged stay within the hives and work. the bees whose business 239 it is to carry the flowers use their fore feet to load their thighs, which nature has made rough for the purpose, and with their trunks load their fore feet: bending beneath their load, they then return to the hive, where there are three or four bees ready to receive them and aid in discharging their burdens. for, within the hive as well, they have their allotted duties to perform: some are engaged in building, others in smoothing the combs, while others again are occupied in passing on the materials, and others in preparing food from the provision which has been brought; that there may be no unequal division, either in their labor, their food, or the distribution of their time, they do not even feed separately.
commencing at the vaulted roof of the hive, they begin the construction of their cells, and, just as we do in the manufacture of a web, they construct their cells from top to bottom, taking care to leave two passages around each compartment, for the entrance of some and the exit of others. the combs, which are fastened to the hive in the upper part, and in a slight degree also at the sides, adhere to each other, and are thus suspended altogether. they do not touch the floor of the hive, and are either angular or round, according to its shape; sometimes, in fact, they are both angular and round at once, when two swarms are living in unison, but have dissimilar modes of operation. they prop up the combs that are likely to fall, by means of arched pillars, at intervals springing from the floor, so as to leave them a passage for the purpose of effecting repairs. the first three ranks of their cells are generally left empty when constructed; and the last ones, especially, are filled with honey: hence the combs are always taken out at the back of the hive.
the bees that are employed in carrying look out for a favorable breeze, and if a gale should happen to spring up, they poise themselves in the air with little stones, by way of ballast; some writers say that they place them upon their shoulders. when the wind is contrary, they fly close to the 240 ground, taking care, however, to keep clear of the brambles. it is wonderful what strict watch is kept upon their work: all instances of idleness are carefully remarked, the offenders are chastised, and on a repetition of the fault, punished with death. their sense of cleanliness, too, is quite extraordinary; everything is removed that might be in the way, and the rubbish and waste bits made by those that are at work within, is all collected into one spot, and on stormy days, when they are obliged to cease their ordinary labors, they employ themselves in carrying it out. towards evening, the buzzing in the hive becomes gradually less and less, until at last one of their number is to be seen flying about the hive with the same loud humming noise with which they were aroused in the morning, thereby giving the signal, as it were, to retire to rest: in this, too, they imitate the usage of the camp. the moment the signal is heard, all is silent.
they first construct the dwellings of the commonalty, then those of the king-bee. if they have reason to expect an abundant[192] season, they add abodes also for the drones: these are cells of a smaller size, though the drones themselves are larger than the bees.
the drones have no sting, and would seem to be a kind of imperfect bee, formed the very last of all; a late and tardy offspring, and doomed, in a measure, to be the slaves of the genuine bees. the others exercise over them a rigorous authority, compel them to take the foremost rank in their labors, and if they show any sluggishness, punish them[193] without mercy. when the honey is beginning to come to maturity, the bees drive away the drones, and setting upon each in great numbers, put them all to death. it is only in the spring that the drones are ever to be seen. if you 241 deprive a drone of its wings, and then replace it in the hive, it will pull off the wings of the other drones.
in the lower part of the hive they construct for their future sovereign a palatial abode, spacious and grand, separated from the rest, and surmounted by a sort of dome: if this prominence should happen to be flattened, all hopes of progeny are lost. all the cells are hexagonal. no part of this work is done at any stated time, as the bees seize every opportunity for the performance of their task when the days are fine; in one or two days, at most, they fill their cells with honey.
the honey is always best in those countries where it is to be found deposited in the calix of the most exquisite flowers, such, for instance, as the districts of hymettus in attica, and hybla in sicily, and after them the island of calydna. at first, honey is thin, like water, after which it effervesces for some days, and purifies itself like must. on the twentieth day it begins to thicken, and soon after becomes covered with a thin membrane, which gradually increases through the scum which is thrown up by the heat. the honey of the very finest flavor, and the least tainted by the leaves of trees, is that gathered from the foliage of the oak and the linden, and from reeds.
in some countries we find the honey-comb remarkable for the goodness of the wax, as in sicily and the country of the peligni; in other places the honey itself is found in greater abundance, as in crete, cyprus, and africa; and in others, again, the comb is remarkable for its size; in germany a comb has been known to be as much as eight feet in length.
in taking the combs the greatest care is always requisite, for the bees become desperate when stinted for food, and either pine to death, or wing their flight to other places: on the other hand, over-abundance will entail idleness, and they will feed upon the honey, and not the bee bread. the most careful breeders take care to leave the bees a fifteenth part of this gathering.
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the crop of honey is most abundant if gathered at full moon, and is richest when the weather is fine. the summer honey is the most esteemed of all, from the fact of its being made when the weather is dryest: it is best when made from thyme; it is then of a golden color, and of a most delicious flavor. thyme honey does not coagulate, and on being touched will draw out into thin viscous threads, the proof of its heaviness. when honey shows no tenacity, and the drops immediately part from one another, it is looked upon as a sign of its worthlessness.
