[2118] These asserted remedies would be of no use whatever, Fée says.
[2119] See B. vii. c. 2.
[2120] Fée seems to take it for granted that Pliny is speaking here of honey made by other insects than bees; but such does not appear to be the case.
[2121] Fée remarks here that Pliny is right, and that Columella and Palladius are wrong, who would have the hives to look due north.
[2122] Lapis specularis: a sort of talc, probably. See B. iii. c. 4. B. ix. c. 56. B. xv. c. 1. B. xix. c. 23, and B. xxxvi. c. 45.
[2123] In B. ix. c. 16, he mentions hives made of horn for this purpose. Glass hives are now made for the purpose, but the moisture which adheres to the interior of the glass prevents the operations of the bees from being watched with any degree of nicety.
[2124] “Cognatum hoc.” He probably alludes to the notion entertained by the ancients that bees might be reproduced from the putrefied entrails of an ox, as wasps from those of a horse. See the story of Aristæus in B. iv. of Virgil’s Georgics.
[2125] Or butterflies—“papiliones.”
[2126] “Teredines.”
[2127] Honeycombs and rough wax are placed in the hive, when the bees are in want of aliment; also honey and sugar-sirop.