4.158–175

Vergil explains how labor is divided among the members of the hive. 

The bees perform various functions: field workers, construction workers within the hive, nurses to the young, and those making and storing away honey. Guards both stand at the entrance and exercise many other functions: they pay attention to the weather, usher in the workers returning from the fields, and keep the drones from the storehouse. There is constant—fragrant—activity there.

158-164  aliae…pars…aliae…aliae: “some <bees>…a part <of the bees>…others…others.” Indeed, worker bees do divide the labor of the hive. Younger bees act as nurse bees, then gradually assume other functions in the hive until they are strong enough to leave the hive to forage.

158  victū: “the collecting of food,” dative masculine singular; an old form, instead of victui. invigilāre takes the dative. 

158  foedere pactō: “with a contract having been agreed upon” for the division of labor; an ablative absolute (AG 420).

159  agrīs: ablative of place where without a preposition, as is common in poetry (AG 429.4). exercentur is middle: “they put themselves to work in the fields.” 

159  pars: although singular in form, pars takes a plural verb (pōnunt, suspendunt) since it indicates a collective of bees. 

159  saepta: “walls,” accusative neuter plural. 

160  narcissī lacrimam: the Romans called any substance exuded by a plant “a tear” (lacrima), but the narcissus exudes a particularly viscous substance, which is mentioned by naturalists like Theophrastus and Pliny as gummy (De Caus. Pl. 2.2; NH 21.24). The most famous account of Narcissus crying into a pool is found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 3.402-510.

160  glūten: bees forage for propolis (glūten) as well as nectar and pollen. See line 40.

161  favīs: “for the honeycombs,” dative masculine plural (AG 376).

161  fundāmina: “foundations,” in apposition to the tears and glue. 

161  deinde: scans as two-syllable word, long/short; an example of synizesis.

161  tenācēs: accusative feminine plural, modifying cērās.

162  suspendunt: when building honeycomb, bees always start at the top and work their way down. 

162  spem gentis: in apposition to adultōs fētūs (AG 282).

164  liquidō…nectare: ablative neuter singular, ablative of means (AG 409).

165  sunt…sortī = sunt <aliae> quibus custōdia ad portās cecidit sortī. 

165  ad portās: “at the gates,” that is, at the entrance to the hive. This section concerns bees that guard the hive. 

165  sortī: either dative or ablative feminine singular, “to their lot” or “by lot,” though based on Vergil’s usage, it is most likely the dative.

166  inque vicem = et invicem. 

166  caelī: take this both with aquās and with nubila.

167  onera accipiunt: while actual guard bees do not relieve forager bees of their burdens, they do ensure that only bees who are laden or otherwise belong to the hive are admitted. 

167  agmine factō: ablative absolute (AG 420). While the bees do not truly form a battle line (this is yet further personification of the bees), workers do evict drones by force from the hive before winter comes.

168  ignāvum…pecus: in apposition to fūcōs. The fūcī, drones, have only one purpose, to fly out and mate with queens on their mating flights. 

169  fervet: “continues actively.” 

169  thymō: Thymus vulgaris, a favorite of bees, which produces a fragrant honey. 

169  frāglantia: a variation on the more common frāgrantia.

170-171  ac velutī…properant = ac velutī cum Cyclōpes properant fulmina lentīs massīs; the beginning of a simile. While Vergil uses similes quite frequently in the Aeneid, he is more sparing in the Georgics. Yet, when he likens the bees to a Roman community or a Roman army, we see these kinds of comparisons used more frequently. 

170  lentīs…massīs: “out of pliant lumps (of ore),” ablative of material (AG 403).

170  Cyclōpes: the Cyclopes are supernatural creatures, who work in a forge within the depths of Mount Etna, fashioning the thunderbolts of Jupiter. 

171  cum properant: a cum temporal clause (AG 545).

171–172  aliī…aliī: “some…others” (AG 315a).

171  taurīnīs follibus: ablative of means (AG 409); these are bellows made of oxhide.

172-173: aliī strīdentia tingunt aera lacū: “others wet the shrieking bronze in the trough.” 

172  aera: “bronze” < aes, aeris (n). lacū is not only where the bronze is placed after it has been worked, but also functions as an ablative of cause, as the reason why the bronze shrieks (AG 429.4, 404).

172  impositīs incūdibus: “with the anvils having been set in place,” ablative absolute (AG 420).

173  Aetna:Mount Etna, an active volcano in the eastern part of Sicily, where the forge of Vulcan was thought to be located. 

174  illī…tollunt: a heavily spondaic line, where the beat of the line and the word stress are in conflict, which mimics the thudding of the Cyclopes’ hammers (and this resolves in line 175, suggesting that the blacksmithing work is getting easier, as Williams observes).  Notice the quantity of the final syllable of magnā. inter sēsē perhaps indicates that they are working the same piece of iron in turns and in steady rhythm.

175  in numerum: “in a regular rhythm.” numerus can also be used to refer to poetic meter.