Sī vērō, quoniam cāsūs apibus quoque nostrōs
vīta tulit, tristī languēbunt corpora morbō—
quod iam nōn dubiīs poteris cognoscere signīs:
continuō est aegrīs alius color; horrida vultum
dēfōrmat maciēs; tum corpora lūce carentum255
exportant tectīs et tristia fūnera dūcunt;
aut illae pedibus cōnexae ad līmina pendent
aut intus clausīs cūnctantur in aedibus omnēs
ignāvaeque famē et contractō frīgore pigrae.
Tum sonus audītur gravior, tractimque susurrant,260
frīgidus ut quondam silvīs immurmurat Auster,
ut mare sollicitum strīdit refluentibus undīs,
aestuat ut clausīs rapidus fornācibus ignis.
notes
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).
vocabulary
apis apis f.: bee
langueō languēre languī —: be faint, be weak
continuō: immediately
horridus –a –um: rough, bristling, frightful
dēfōrmō dēfōrmāre dēfōrmāvī dēfōrmātus: disfigure255
maciēs –ēī f.: emaciation, thinness
exportō exportāre exportāvi exportātus: carry out, export
cōnectō –nectere –nexuī –nexus: connect, join
pendeō pendēre pependī: hang, hang down
intus: within, inside
cūnctor –ārī –ātus sum: delay, linger
ignāvus –a –um: lazy, idle
contrahō contrahere contrāxī contractus: contract, draw together
frīgus frīgoris n.: cold
piger pigra pigrum: lazy, slow
sonus sonī m.: sound, noise260
tractim: little by little, by degrees
susurrō susurrāre susurrāvī susurrātus: whisper
frīgidus –a –um: cool, cold
immurmurō immurmurāre: murmur
Auster –trī m.: Auster, the south wind
sollicitus –a –um: agitated, disturbed
strīdō –ere, strīdi: make a shrill noise, hiss, gurgle
refluō –fluere -fluxī -fluxus: flow back
aestuō aestuāre aestuāvī aestuātus: burn, seethe
rapidus –a –um: swift
fornāx –ācis f.: furnace, oven