4.251–263

Signs that your hive is sick. 

A sick hive will show symptoms of its illness: bees will change color, grow thin, and remove their dead from the hive. Sick bees are sluggish, and become lazy due to hunger and cold. They will make a low sound like the south wind blowing in the woods, the sea washing upon the shore, or a fire crackling in a furnace.

251-253  sī vērō…signīs: an unfinished condition. It is interrupted with a causal clause almost immediately (quoniam…tulit), before we read languēbunt, which suggests a future more vivid condition (AG 514B). The sentence is interrupted again by the relative quod, which refers back to morbō: you will be able to recognize the disease that causes the bees to languish because of the indicators that Vergil will now recount for you. The sense is quite clear, but the syntax is not, and feels colloquial, as though in the middle of a conversation Vergil chooses to give you the scoop on this topic. 

251  vērō: “in fact,” adverb. 

251–252  quoniam…tulit: again, Vergil links the lives of humans and bees. 

251  cāsūs: “misfortunes,” accusative plural. 

252  tristī…morbō: ablative of cause (AG 404).

252  corpora: either a nominative subject or, more likely, an accusative of respect (AG 397b).

253  quod iam…signīs: “which you now will be able to recognize by unmistakable indicators.” Take nōn closely with dubiīs. signīs is either ablative of means or of cause (AG 409, 404). nōn dubiīs is an example of litotes (AG 326c).

254  aegrīs: dative of possession (AG 373). The diseases here cannot, of course, be pinpointed with certainty, but several diseases of honeybees share these symptoms. Nosema apis, a fungal infection, is hard to diagnose, but one frequently observes many dead bees outside the hive (having been removed), dysentery (which might require a treatment with an astringent like gallnuts), their inability to fly (perhaps a tangle of legs), listlessness, disorientation, and weakness and shivering in front of the hive. Other diseases such as mites can make bees look unkempt; chalkbrood will leave little mummified larvae about the hives; and many diseases will change the color of the larvae from shiny white to brown or black. While modern-day beekeepers often treat Nosema with an antibiotic mixed with heavy syrup, some treat more naturally in a way that is not dissimilar from Vergil’s advice, using oak bark extract and essential oils.

255  corpora lūce carentum: “the bodies of those lacking light,” that is, the bodies of dead bees. careō, carēre, caruī takes an ablative of separation (AG 401). The –um ending in the genitive plural of present active participles is rare.

256  exportant…dūcunt: supply apēs as the subject. 

256  tectīs: ablative of place from which, without a preposition, as is common in poetry (AG 428g). While bees do not conduct funerals, they are scrupulous about cleaning and will remove the dead from the hive.

257  illae: the pronoun draws special attention to the subject, as though Vergil is taking pains to point out specific problems of a particularly diseased hive. 

257  pedibus cōnexae: “joined by/at their feet.” It is not entirely clear what Vergil means: are the bees hanging by their feet? or perhaps are dead or dying, and so have their feet curled up under them? or hanging about at the feet of healthy bees? It is clear that the bees are not behaving normally. 

257  ad līmina: that is, at the opening of the hive.

258  cūnctantur: this is the opposite of the normal behavior of worker bees, who are rightly famed for their constant activity. omnēs indicates the whole hive is infected.

259  famē…contractō frīgore: ablatives of cause (AG 404). contractō frīgore can be read two ways. Either they have caught a chill or there is a conflation of two ideas: they have become so cold that their bodies have cramped up. This line offers an example of chiasmus (AG 598f).

260  gravior: certainly, this could be “more serious” because of the condition of the bees, but gravior likely refers to a hum lower in tone. While bees do make higher pitched noises when swarming, under stress, or missing their queen, this low hum of the sick hive seems to be Vergil’s invention.

261-63  frīgidus ut…fornācibus ignis: the three ut clauses followed by the indicative are similes and allude to a similar set in Homer’s Iliad 14.394-399. 

261  quondam: “sometimes.” 

261  silvīs: ablative of place where without a preposition, as is common in poetry (AG 429.4). 

261  Auster:the south wind, a sirocco, that brings cold, wet weather to Europe. 

262  strīdit < strīdo, strīdere, strīdi, an alternate form of strīdeō; present indicative active. 

262  refluentibus undīs: ablative absolute (AG 419).

263  clausīs…fornācibus: ablative of place where without a preposition, as is common in poetry (AG 429.4). Closing the doors of an oven or fireplace causes an updraft, where the air will move more quickly, causing a “roar” (known as Bernoulli’s Principle).