THE SCENE: Pliny the Elder, the great Roman naturalist, can’t help but see echoes of human society when he looks at the behavior of bees. However, it is possible that he lets his imagination run a little too wild once he gets going on the theme.
THE TEXT: The work of bees is wonderfully organized on the following plan: they post a guard at their gates, in the manner of a military camp; they sleep until dawn, when one bee wakes them with a double or triple buzz, like a sort of reveille blown by a bugle.
More queens are produced so that they may not be in short supply. But afterwards, when the offspring of these have begun to mature, by a unanimous vote they kill the inferior ones to avoid dividing the columns. There are two kinds of queen; the better, red; the inferior, black, or mottled. All are always recognizable by their shape and twice as big as the other bees; their wings are shorter, their legs straight and their bearing more lofty; they have a spot on their forehead which shines white in a sort of fillet. The queens also differ greatly from the ordinary bees by their bright appearance.
One may as well ask whether Hercules was one person and how many Bacchuses there were and about all the other matters buried under the dust of antiquity. There is no agreement among pundits about whether the queen bee alone does not have a sting and is armed only with the dignity of her office, or whether Nature has given her a sting but merely denied her its use. This much is certain: the queen does not sting.
The general bee population shows a remarkable obedience to her. When she sets out, the whole swarm goes too, and the groups round her, encircling and protecting her, and not allowing anyone to see her. At other times, when the bees are at work, she goes round all the works inside, like someone offering encouragement, while she alone is free from any duties. Certain followers and ‘officials’ surround her, as constant guardians of her authority.
She only goes abroad when the swarm is about to migrate. This is known about long in advance because a buzzing sound goes on for some days in the hive, a sign of their preparations while they are choosing a suitable day. If anyone were to cut off one of the queen’s wings the swarm would not go away. When they have set out, each bee wants to be near the queen and delights to be seen on duty. When the queen is tired they support her on their shoulders, and when she is completely exhausted, they carry her bodily. Any bee that is parted from the swarm through weariness, or is accidentally left behind, follows on by picking up the scent. Wherever the queen alights, this becomes camp for all.
– Natural History, Pliny the Elder, 1st Century AD
[Image Credit: Byzantine Queen Bee with Drone Earing by Lea Bradovich]
