Napoleon I. and II. are said to have had their imperial robes embroidered with golden Bees, as claiming official descent from Carolus Magnus, who is said to have worn them on his coat of arms.[678]
On a Continental forty-five dollar bill, issued on the 14th of January, 1779, is represented an Apiary in which two Beehives are visible, and Bees are seen swarming about. The motto is “Sic floret Respublica—Thus flourishes the Republic.” It conveys the simple lesson that by industry and frugality the Republic would prosper.[679]
Bees in the heroic ages it appears were not confined in hives; for, whenever Homer describes them, it is either where they are streaming forth from a rock,[680] or settling in bands and clusters on the spring flowers. Hesiod, however, soon after makes mention of a hive where he is uncourteously comparing women to drones:
As when within their well-roof’d hives the Bees
Maintain the mischief-working drones at ease,
Their task pursuing till the golden sun
Down to the western wave his course hath run,
Filling their shining combs, while snug within
Their fragrant cells, the drones, with idle din
As princes revel o’er their unpaid bowls,