Georg. 4.251Sī vērō, quoniam cāsus apibus quoque nostrōs
vīta tulit, trīstī languēbunt corpora morbō—
quod iam nōn dubiīs poteris cognōscere signīs:
continuō est aegrīs alius color, horrida vultum
255dēfōrmat maciēs, tum corpora lūce carentum
exportant tēctīs et trīstia fūnera dūcunt;But if, since life has brought our misfortunes to bees too, their bodies languish with grievous disease (which you will be able to recognise by no doubtful signs: at once the sick have a different colour, rough leanness disfigures their looks, then they carry the bodies of the lifeless out of the dwellings and lead sad funerals; Georg. 4.257aut illae pedibus cōnexae ad līmina pendent,
aut intus clausīs cūnctantur in aedibus, omnēs
ignāvaeque fame et contrāctō frīgore pigrae.or they hang from the threshold with feet linked, or linger inside behind closed doors, all listless with hunger and sluggish with the cold that numbs them. Georg. 4.260Tum sonus audītur gravior, tractimque susurrant,
frīgidus ut quondam silvīs immurmurat Auster,
ut mare sollicitum strīdit refluentibus undīs,
aestuat ut clausīs rapidus fornācibus ignis:
hīc iam galbaneōs suādēbō incendere odōrēs
265mellaque harundineīs īnferre canālibus, ultrō
hortantem et fessās ad pābula nota vocantem.Then a deeper sound is heard, and they hum in a long drawn-out drone, as at times the cold South Wind murmurs in the woods, as the troubled sea hisses with ebbing waves, as raging fire seethes in a closed furnace): then I shall advise you to burn scents of galbanum and to bring in honey through reed pipes, actively encouraging them and calling the weary to their familiar food.
Georg. 4.267Prōderit et tūnsum gallae admiscēre sapōrem
Ārentēsque rosās aut ignī pinguia multō
dēfruta vel psithiā passōs dē vīte racēmōs
270Cecropiumque thymum et grave olentia centaurēa.It will help too to mix in the pounded flavour of oak-gall and dried rose petals, or must boiled down thick over a strong fire, or raisins from the Psithian vine, and Cecropian thyme and strong-smelling centaury. Georg. 4.271Est etiam flōs in prātīs, cui nōmen amellō
fēcēre agricolae, facilis quaerentibus herba;There is also a flower in the meadows to which farmers have given the name of amellus, a plant easy for seekers to find; Georg. 4.273namque ūnō ingentem tollit dē caespite silvam,
aureus ipse, sed in foliīs, quae plūrima circum
275funduntur, violae sublūcet purpura nigrae;for from a single clump it raises a huge forest of stems; itself golden, but in the petals, which are spread thickly around it, the purple of the dark violet glimmers; Georg. 4.277asper in ōre sapor;harsh is its taste in the mouth; Georg. 4.277tōnsīs in vallibus illum
pāstōrēs et curva legunt prope flūmina Mellae.shepherds gather it in the cropped valleys and by the winding streams of Mella.
Georg. 4.279Huius odōrātō rādīcēs incoque Bacchō
280pābulaque in foribus plēnīs adpōne canistrīs.Boil its roots in fragrant wine and set them as food at the doors in full baskets.