f the combs are
seen to be sealed, as it were with a skin, then the hive is full
of honey: but the bees themselves give notice of this condition by
keeping up a loud buzzing within, by their agitation when they go in
and out and by driving out the drones.

"In taking off honey some say that you should be content with nine
parts, leaving the tenth, because if you take it all the bees will
desert the hive: others leave a still larger proportion than I have
mentioned.

"As those who crop their corn land every year obtain good yields only
at intervals, so it is with bee hives: you will have more industrious
and more profitable bees if you do not exact of them the same tribute
every year.

"It is considered that honey should be taken off for the first time at
the rising of the Pleiades, for the second time at the end of summer
before Arcturus has reached the zenith, and for the third time after
the setting of the Pleiades, but this last time beware not to take
more than one-third of the store even if the hive is full, leaving
the other two-thirds for the winter supply, but if the hive is only
partially filled nothing should be taken off. In any event, when a
large amount of honey is to be taken off a hive it should not be done
all at once or ostentatiously less the bees be discouraged. Those
combs which, on being taken off, are found to be partly unfilled with
honey or to be soiled, should be pared with a knife.

"Care must be taken that the weaker bees in a hive are not oppressed by
the stronger, for this diminishes the profit: to this end the minority
party[218] may be colonized under another king. When bees are given to
fighting with one another, you should sprinkle them with honey water,
upon which they will not only cease fighting but will crowd together
and kiss one another: and this will prove the case even more if they
are sprinkled with mead, for the savour of the wine in it will cause
them to apply themselves so greedily that they will fuddle themselves
in sucking it. If the bees seem lazy about coming out to work and any
part of them get the habit of remaining in the hive, they should be
fumigated and odoriferous herbs, like bees' balm and thyme, should be
placed near the hive. Watchful care is necessary to protect them from
ruin by heat or cold. If the bees are overtaken by a sudden rain or
cold while at pasture (which rarely happens for they usually foresee
such things) and are stricken down by the heavy ra