When bees inside the hive hang clustered together it signifies an intention to swarm, leading beekeepers to sprinkle the hive with sweet wine to prevent or manage this; it is also advisable to plant certain flowering plants and trees around hives and some beekeepers mark their bees by sprinkling them with flour.

By Aristotle, from History of Animals

Key Arguments

  • He gives a behavioural indicator of impending swarming: "When the bees inside the hive hang clustering to one another, it is a sign that the swarm is intending to quit;"
  • He reports a human response: "consequently, occasion, when a bee-keepers, on seeing this, besprinkle the hive with sweet wine."
  • He recommends specific vegetation near hives: "It is advisable to plant about the hives pear-trees, beans, Median-grass, Syrian-grass, yellow pulse, myrtle, poppies, creeping-thyme, and almond-trees."
  • He notes a marking practice for distinguishing bees: "Some bee-keepers sprinkle their bees with flour, and can distinguish them from others when they are at work out of doors."

Source Quotes

Bees can tell the approach of rough weather or of rain; and the proof is that they will not fly away, but even while it is as yet fine they go fluttering about within a restricted space, and the bee-keeper knows from this that they are expecting bad weather. When the bees inside the hive hang clustering to one another, it is a sign that the swarm is intending to quit; consequently, occasion, when a bee-keepers, on seeing this, besprinkle the hive with sweet wine. It is advisable to plant about the hives pear-trees, beans, Median-grass, Syrian-grass, yellow pulse, myrtle, poppies, creeping-thyme, and almond-trees.
When the bees inside the hive hang clustering to one another, it is a sign that the swarm is intending to quit; consequently, occasion, when a bee-keepers, on seeing this, besprinkle the hive with sweet wine. It is advisable to plant about the hives pear-trees, beans, Median-grass, Syrian-grass, yellow pulse, myrtle, poppies, creeping-thyme, and almond-trees. Some bee-keepers sprinkle their bees with flour, and can distinguish them from others when they are at work out of doors.
It is advisable to plant about the hives pear-trees, beans, Median-grass, Syrian-grass, yellow pulse, myrtle, poppies, creeping-thyme, and almond-trees. Some bee-keepers sprinkle their bees with flour, and can distinguish them from others when they are at work out of doors. If the spring be late, or if there be drought

Key Concepts

  • When the bees inside the hive hang clustering to one another, it is a sign that the swarm is intending to quit;
  • besprinkle the hive with sweet wine.
  • It is advisable to plant about the hives pear-trees, beans, Median-grass, Syrian-grass, yellow pulse, myrtle, poppies, creeping-thyme, and almond-trees.
  • Some bee-keepers sprinkle their bees with flour, and can distinguish them from others when they are at work out of doors.

Context

Book IX, chapter 40; Aristotle links a diagnostic sign of swarming with practical interventions and broader environmental management around hives.