Georg. 4.149Nunc age, nātūrās apibus quās Iuppiter ipse
150addidit, expediam, prō quā mercēde canōrōs
Cūrētum sonitūs crepitantiaque aera secūtae
Dictaeō caelī rēgem pāvēre sub antrō.Come now, I will set out the natures that Jupiter himself gave to the bees, the reward for which they followed the tuneful sounds of the Curetes and their clashing bronze, and fed the king of heaven in the Dictaean cave. Georg. 4.153Sōlae commūnēs nātōs, cōnsortia tēcta
urbis habent magnīsque agitant sub lēgibus aevum,
155et patriam sōlae et certōs nōvēre penātēs,
ventūraeque hiemis memorēs aestāte labōrem
experiuntur et in medium quaesīta repōnunt.They alone have children in common, and hold the dwellings of their city jointly, and pass their lives under mighty laws, and they alone know a fatherland and fixed household gods, and, mindful of the winter to come, they labour in summer and store up their gains for the common good. Georg. 4.158Namque aliae vīctū invigilant et foedere pactō
exercentur agrīs;For some watch over the food supply and, by a settled compact, are busied in the fields; Georg. 4.159pars intrā saepta domōrum
160Narcissī lacrimam et lentum dē cortice glūten
prīma favīs pōnunt fundāmina, deinde tenācēs
suspendunt cērās: aliae spem gentis adultōs
ēdūcunt fētūs, aliae pūrissima mella
stīpant et liquidō distendunt nectare cellās.some, within the walls of their homes, lay down the tears of the narcissus and sticky gum from bark as the first foundations for the combs, then hang the clinging wax: others bring up the grown young, the hope of the race, others pack the purest honey and swell the cells with clear nectar.
Georg. 4.165Sunt quibus ad portās cecidit custōdia sortī,
inque vicem speculantur aquās et nūbila caelī
aut onera accipiunt venientum aut agmine factō
ignāvum fūcōs pecus ā praesēpibus arcent.There are those to whom guard duty at the gates has fallen by lot, and in turn they watch for rain and clouds in the sky, or take the loads of those coming in, or, forming a column, drive the drones, a lazy herd, from the hives. Georg. 4.169Fervet opus, redolentque thymō frāgrantia mella.The work seethes, and the fragrant honey smells of thyme. Georg. 4.170ac velutī lentīs Cyclōpes fulmina massīs
cum properant, aliī taurīnīs follibus aurās
accipiunt redduntque, aliī strīdentia tingunt
aera lacū;And as when the Cyclopes hasten to forge thunderbolts from pliant lumps of metal, some take in and give out the winds with bull's-hide bellows, others dip the hissing bronze in the trough; Georg. 4.173gemit impositīs incūdibus Aetna;Etna groans with the anvils laid upon it; Georg. 4.174illī inter sēsē magnā vī bracchia tollunt
175in numerum versantque tenācī forcipe ferrum:
nōn aliter, sī parva licet compōnere magnīs,
Cecropiās innātus apēs amor urget habendī,
mūnere quamque suō.they raise their arms among themselves with great force in rhythm and turn the iron with gripping tongs: just so, if small things may be compared with great, an inborn love of gain drives the Cecropian bees, each in its own office.
Georg. 4.178Grandaevīs oppida cūrae
et mūnīre favōs et daedala fingere tēcta.The old have the care of the towns, and the fortifying of the combs and the moulding of the cunningly built houses. Georg. 4.180At fessae multā referunt sē nocte minōrēs,
crūra thymō plēnae;But the younger ones, weary, come home late at night, their legs laden with thyme; Georg. 4.181pāscuntur et arbuta passim
et glaucās salicēs casiamque crocumque rubentem
et pinguem tiliam et ferrūgineōs hyacinthōs.they feed far and wide on arbutus and grey-green willows and cassia and reddening saffron and the rich lime and the dusky hyacinth. Georg. 4.184Omnibus ūna quiēs operum, labor omnibus ūnus:
185māne ruunt portīs;All have one rest from work, all have one labour: in the morning they rush from the gates; Georg. 4.185nūsquam mora;nowhere is there delay; Georg. 4.185rūrsus eāsdem
vesper ubi ē pāstū tandem dēcēdere campīs
admonuit, tum tēcta petunt, tum corpora cūrant;again, when evening has at last warned them to leave their pasture in the fields, then they seek their homes, then they refresh their bodies; Georg. 4.188fit sonitus, mussantque ōrās et līmina circum.a sound arises, and they hum around the edges and the doorways.
Georg. 4.189Post, ubi iam thalamīs sē composuēre, silētur
190in noctem fessōsque sopor suus occupat artūs.Afterwards, when they have now settled in their chambers, there is silence for the night, and their own sleep takes hold of their weary limbs.