Il. β. 87. μ. 67. Odyss. ν. 106. ----- In that Bœotian old savage, Hesiod,[1193] however, we undoubtedly find mention of the hive where he is uncourteously comparing women to drones— As when within their well-roofed 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, On others’ labours cheer their worthless souls. ----- Footnote 1193: Theogon. 594, seq.—Pro σίμβλοισι, quod præbet R. S., cæteri Mss. σμήνεσσι. Schæferus tamen malebat σίμβλοισιν ἐπηρεφέεσι. Gœttling. But Goguet, who has considered this passage, does not think that “hives” are meant; because, if their use had been known in the times of Hesiod, he would not have failed to leave us some directions on the subject. Origine des Loix, t. iii. p. 399. Wolff, following in the footsteps of Heyne, gets easily over the difficulty by pronouncing the whole passage, v. 590–612, spurious. Gœttling, p. 55. Cf. Schol. Aristoph. Nub. 937. Phile, de Animal. Proprietat. c. 28. p. 87, seq. ----- As the honey of Attica constantly, in antiquity, enjoyed the reputation of being the finest in the world,[1194] the management of bees naturally formed in that country an important branch of rural economy. The natural history, moreover, of the bee was studied with singlar enthusiam by the Greeks in general. Aristomachos of Soli, devoted to it fifty-eight years, and Philiscos, the Thasian, who passed his life among bees in a desert, obtained on that account the name of the Wild Man. Both wrote on the subject.[1195] ----- Footnote 1194: The pasturage of Hymettos, however, was, by Pausanias, regarded as second to that of the Alazones on the river Halys, where the bees were tame, and worked in common in the fields. i. 32. 1. Footnote 1195: Plin. Hist. Nat. xi. 9. -----