4.18–32

Place your hive near water, with shade, perches on the water, and fragrant foliage. 

Make sure that there is standing water or a stream nearby, as well as a palm tree or wild olive to shade the hive. When the bees are led out of the hive, the youth will use the space to frolic and escape the heat. You can also support the hive both by placing twigs or rocks near the water (this gives bees a place to perch while they drink and dry their wings, if they should get wet), and by planting sweet-smelling plants all around.

18 virentia muscō: “green with moss” (ablative of respect or specification, AG 418).

19 adsint: jussive subjunctive; fontēs, stāgna and rīvus are all subjects of adsint (AG 439). Good beekeepers always seek an adequate source of water near their hives.

20 palma…oleaster: the palm tree (probably Chamaerops humilis, though possibly Phoenix theophrasti) and the wild olive (Olea oleaster).

20 vestibulum: the entrance to the hive.

20 inumbret: jussive subjunctive (AG 439).

21–24 ut: introduces a purpose clause, with verbs invītet and teneat (lines 23–24), but it is followed immediately by a cum clause (temporal), cum…iuventūs (AG 531, 545).

21 novī…rēgēs: the ancients incorrectly believed that a hive was ruled by a king, rather than a queen. Though each hive has only one queen, colonies that grow too big for their hive will raise a new queen and then swarm: the old queen leaves with some of the bees to search for a new home. Swarming often takes place in the spring and early summer, when bees still have time to store up honey for the winter, as reflected in the nursery rhyme: A swarm of bees in May / is worth a load of hay. / A swarm of bees in June / is worth a silver spoon. / A swarm of bees in July / is not worth a fly.

22 vēre: < vēr, vēris (n). The final syllable is short (ablative singular). vēre suō “in their own spring,” that is, spring is when bees begin to forage, and as the hive runs out of space with stored honey and new offspring, it may have the need to swarm.

22 favīs ēmissa iuventūs: ēmissa modifies iuventūs (f); favīs is an ablative of place from which with ēmissa (AG 428g). Vergil personifies the youthful bees as frolicking and relaxing outside of the hive (something that bees do not do).

23 invītet: supply eās (subject accusative of dēcēdere).

23 dēcēdere calōrī: “to rest from the heat.”

24 hospitiīs…frondentibus: ablative of means (AG 409).

24 teneat: supply eās as direct object. Cold-blooded insects have no need for relaxation in the shade; Vergil here personifies them.

25 in medium: supply ūmorem, looking forward to the verb conice. Vergil touches on a significant need of honeybees: namely, a water source. Honeybees use water to dilute honey and to cool the hive, among other uses. They do, however, need places (e.g., twigs, stones, etc.) to alight in order to collect water.

25 iners: “still” or “stagnant.”

26 trānsversās: “crosswise” or “across.”

26 salicēs: willows (Salix sp.); there are several species found in Italy, especially the white willow (Salix alba).

26 conice: present imperative singular active < coniciō, –icere –iēcī –iectus. Vergil intends the beekeeper to lay willow branches across the water as a perch for the bees to collect water.

27 pontibus: ablative of place where without a preposition, or an ablative of means (AG 429.4, 409).

27 ut: introduces a purpose clause (AG 531).

27 cōnsistere: “take a rest.”

27–28 et ālās…sōlem: bees avoid rain, which can weigh them down and impede flight. When wet, they do sun themselves to dry out before flying again.

28–29 sī forte…Eurus = sī forte Eurus sparserit morantēs aut praeceps immersit <eās> Neptūnō.

28 morantēs: “the stragglers,” supply a pronoun (e.g., eās or illās).

29 Neptūnō = aquā. The god Neptune is often a metaphor for water more generally. The elevated language here is ironic.

29 Eurus: the east wind.

30 haec circum: “around these (water features).”

30 casiae: clearly some kind of fragrant shrub. Mynors suggests either Daphne gnidium (flax-leaved daphne) or Daphne cneorum (rose daphne). Stuart suggests mezereon, Daphne mezereum.

31 serpylla: wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum).

31 thymbrae: probably winter savory (Satureia montana), though many species of Satureia are native to the Mediterranean.

31 graviter spīrantis: “strongly scented.”

32 flōreat…bibant: jussive subjunctives; flōreat is singular agreeing with the closest subject (cōpia) (AG 439).

32 inriguum: “watering” (active, not passive “watered”).

32 violāria: the violet, Viola odorata, which includes varieties of pansy. Violets prefer moist conditions.