“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 rain drops and laid low and stunned, you should gather them in a dish and place them under cover in a warm place until the weather has cleared, when they should be sprinkled with ashes of fig wood (making sure that the ashes are rather hot than warm) the dish should then be shaken gently without touching the bees with your hand, and placed in the sun.  When the bees feel this warmth they revive and get on their feet again, just as flies do after they have been apparently drowned.  This should be done near the hive so that when the bees have come to themselves they may return home and to work.”

Of fish ponds

XVII.  Here Pavo returned and said:  “You may weigh anchor now if you wish.  The drawing of the lots of the tribes to determine a tie vote is over and the herald is announcing the result of the election.”

Appius arose without delay and went to congratulate his candidate, and escort him home.

Merula said:  “I will leave the third act of our drama of the husbandry of the steading to you, Axius,” and went out with the others, leaving Axius with me to wait for our candidate whom we knew would come to join us.  Axius said to me:  “I do not regret Merula’s departure at this point, for I am quite well up on the subject of fish ponds, which still remains to complete our programme.

“There are two kinds of fish ponds, of fresh water and salt water.  The former are commonly maintained by farmers and without much expense, for the Lymphae, the homely goddesses of the Fountains, supply the water for them, while the latter, the sea ponds, are the play things of our nobles and are furnished with both water and fishes, as it were by Neptune himself:  serving more the purposes of pleasure than of utility, their accomplishment being rather to empty than to fill the exchequers of their lords.  For in the first place they are built at great expense, then they are stocked at great expense, and finally they are maintained at great expense.