The Works of Virgil

THE GEORGICS

BOOK IV

When the other kind of king original: "regibus"; Virgil, like most ancient writers, believed the leader of the hive was male. We now know these are queen bees. appears, just as a thirsty traveler comes and spits earth from his dry mouth, the better bees shine and glitter with brightness, their bodies glowing with gold and marked with uniform spots. This is the superior offspring; from these, at the fixed seasons of the sky, you will squeeze sweet honey—though not only sweet, but also clear and fit to tame the harsh flavor of wine original: "Bacchi"; the name of the god of wine, used here as a metonym for the drink itself..

But when the swarms fly aimlessly and play in the sky, despising their honeycombs and leaving their hives cold, you must restrain their unstable minds from this empty play. Nor is it a great task to stop them: simply tear the wings from the kings. While the leaders hesitate, no one will dare to set out on the high journey or pull up the standards original: "vellere signa"; a military metaphor comparing the bees to a Roman army departing for war. from the camp.

Let gardens breathing with the scent of saffron flowers invite them, and let the protection of Hellespontine Priapus original: "Hellespontiaci... Priapi"; Priapus was a god of fertility and gardens, often depicted with a wooden sickle to ward off thieves and birds. His cult was famously centered at Lampsacus on the Hellespont., the guardian against thieves and birds with his willow sickle, keep watch over them.

Let the man who has such things at heart bring thyme and pines from the high mountains and plant them widely around the hives; let him wear down his own hand with the hard work of the soil, set fruitful plants in the ground, and pour friendly showers of water over them.

And indeed, were I not already drawing in my sails at the very end of my labors and hastening to turn my prow toward the land... Virgil uses a nautical metaphor to signal that he is approaching the conclusion of his poem, though he will briefly digress into the subject of gardening before finishing.