“ As when a shepherd hath traced out a swarm of bees
enclosed in some harboring cleft, and filled their cells with
bitter smoke; they within, alarmed for their affairs, in
trepidation run hither and thither through the waxen camp,
and with loud buzzing whet their rage: through their cells
the black stench is rolled; then with faint murmur the


312 The Honey-Makers


caverns within resound; to the empty regions of air the
smoke ascends.”

We recall also the simile of the bees killed by smoke in
Lycophron’s “ Cassandra.” *

The ancient Greeks knew all that could be known con-
cerning the management of bees so far as this can be car-
ried on without the revelations of modern science. They
observed carefully and carefully recorded the results of
their observations, and the amount of information they
acquired is remarkable considering the crude methods of
scientific study then followed.
Many mistakes of course crept into these observations,
and many absurdities were gravely recorded and handed
on by Aristotle, who wrote, however, with a sincerity and
straightforwardness as well as with a guarded manner of
expression that resembles the style of modern scientists.
His followers were often prone to embellish the facts, but
this Aristotle never does.
