But when they came out of the green tunnel of hedgerows into the open fields beyond, chance wayfarers6 always stopped and looked about them wonderingly, at length fixing a puzzled glance intently on the blue sky itself. At this corner, and nowhere else, seemingly, the air was full of a deep, reverberant7 music. A steady torrent8 of rich sound streamed by overhead; and yet, to the untutored observer, the most diligent9 scrutiny10 failed to reveal its origin. A few gnats11 harped12 in the sunbeams. Now and again a bumble-bee struck a deep chord or two in the wayside herbage underfoot. But this clear, strong voice from the skies was altogether unexplainable. To human sight, at least, the blue air and sunshine held nothing to account for it; and the stranger unversed in honey-bee lore13, after taking his fill of this melodious14 mystery, generally ended by giving up the problem as insoluble, and passing on to his business or pleasure in the little green-garlanded hamlet under the hill.
That the bees of a fairly large apiary15 should produce a considerable volume of sound in their passage to and fro between the hives and the honey-pastures is in no way remarkable16. In the heyday17 of the year—the brief six weeks’ honey-flow of the English summer—probably each normal colony of bees would send out an army of foragers at least twenty thousand strong. What really seems matter for wonder is the way in which bees appear to concentrate their movements to certain well-defined tracks in the atmosphere. They do not distribute themselves broadcast over the intervening space, as they might be expected to do, but wonderfully keep to certain definite restricted thoroughfares, no matter how near or how remote their foraging18 grounds may be.
And this particular gap in the chain of hedgerows really marked the great main highway for the bees between the hives and the clover-fields silvering the whole wide stretch of hill and dale beyond. Every moment had its winged thousands going and returning. At any time, if a fine net could have been cast suddenly a few fathoms19 upward, it would have fallen to earth black and heavy with bees; but the singing multitude went by at so fast and furious a pace that, to the keenest sight, not one of the eager crew was visible. Only the sound of their going was plain to all; a mighty20 tenor21 note abroad in the sunshine, a thronging22 sustained melody that never ceased all through the heat and burthen of the glittering summer’s day.
When Shelley heard the “yellow bees in the ivy-bloom,” and he of Avonside wrote of “singing masons building roofs of gold,” probably neither thought of the humming of the hive-bee as anything more than an ingredient in the general delightful23 country chorus, as distinct from the less-inspiring labour-note of busy humanity in a town. With the single exception, perhaps, of Wordsworth, poets, thinking most of their line, commonly miss the subtler phases of wild life, such as the continually changing emphasis and capricious variation in bird song, the real sound made by growth, or the unceasing movement of things conventionally held to be inert24. And in the same way the endlessly varied25 song of the bees has been epitomised by imaginative writers generally into a sound, pleasantly arcadian enough, but little more suggestive of life and meaning than the hum of telegraph wires in a breeze.
Yet there are few sounds in nature more bewilderingly complex than this. For every season in the year the song of the hives has its own distinct appropriate quality, and this, again, is constantly influenced by the time of day, and even by the momentary26 aspect of the weather. A bee-keeper of the old school—and he is sure to be the “character,” the quaint27 original of a village—manages his hives as much by ear as by sight. The general note of each hive reveals to him intuitively its progress and condition. He seems to know what to expect on almost any day in the year, so that if Rip van Winkle had been an apiarist28 the nearest bee-garden would have been as sure a guide to him, in respect of the time of year at least, as the sun’s declining arc in the heaven is to the tired reapers29 in respect of the hour of day.
Most people—and with these must be included even lifelong country-dwellers—are wont30 to regard the humming of the hive-bee as a simple monotone, produced entirely31 by the rapid movement of the wings. But this conception halts very far short of the actual truth. In reality, the sound made by a honey-bee is threefold. It can consist either of a single tone, a combination of two notes, or even a grand triple chord, heard principally in moments of excitement, such as when a swarming-party is on the wing, or in late autumn and early spring, when civil war will often break out in an ill-managed apiary. The actual buzzing sound is produced by the wings; the deeper musical tones by the air alternately sucked in and driven out through the spiracles, which are breathing-tubes ranged along each side of a bee’s body; while the shrill32, clarinet-like note comes from the true voice-apparatus itself. In ordinary flight it is the wings and the respiration-tubes conjointly which produce the steady volume of sound heard as the honey-makers stream over the hedgetop towards the distant clover-fields; and this is the note also that pervades33 the bee-garden through every sunny hour of the working-day. The rich, soft murmur coming from the spiracles is probably never heard except when the bee is flying, but both the true voice and the whirring wing-melody are familiar as separate sounds to every bee-keeper who studies his hives.
When the summer night has shut down warm and still over the red dusk of evening, and the last airy loiterer is safely home from the fields, a curious change comes to the bee-garden. The old analogy between a concourse of hives and a human city is, at this season, utterly34 at fault. Silence and rest after the day’s work may be the portion of the larger community, but in the time of the great honey-flow there is neither rest nor slumber35 for the bees. A fury of labour possesses them, one and all; and darkness does not remit36, but merely transposes the scene of their activity. Coming out into the garden at this hour for a quiet pipe among the hives—an old and favourite habit with most bee-keeping veterans—the new spirit abroad is at once manifest. The sulky, fragrant37 darkness is silent, quiet with the influence of the starshine overhead; but the very earth of the footway seems to vibrate with the imprisoned38 energy of the hives. This is the time when the low, rustling39 roar of wing-music can best be heard, and one of the most wonderful phases of bee-life studied. The problem of the ventilation of human hives is attacked commonly on one main principle—unstinted ingress for fresh air and a like abundant means of outward passage for the bad. But, if the bees are to be credited, modern sanitary41 scientists are trimming altogether on the wrong tack40. A colony of bees will allow one aperture42, and one alone, in the hive, to serve all and every purpose. If the enterprising novice43 in beemanship gimlets a row of ventilation-holes in the back of his hive—an idea that occurs to most tyros44 in apiculture—the bees will infallibly seal them all up again before morning. They work on entirely different principles, impelled45 by their especial needs. The economy of the hive requires the temperature to be absolutely and immediately within the control of the bees, and this is only possible when the ventilatory system is entirely mechanical. The evaporation46 of moisture from the new-gathered nectar, and the hatching of the young brood, necessitate47 an amount of heat much less than that required for wax-generating; as soon as the wax-makers begin to cluster the temperature of the hive is at once increased. But if a current of air were continually passing through the hive these necessary heat variations would be difficult to manage, even supposing them possible at all; so the bees have invented their unique system of a single passageway, combined with an ingenious and complicated process of fanning, by which the fresh air is sucked in at one side of the entrance and the foul48 air drawn49 out at the other, the atmosphere of the hive being thus maintained in a constant state of circulation, fast or slow, according to the temperature needed.
In the hot summer weather these fanning-parties are at work continuously, being relieved by others at intervals50 of a few minutes throughout the day. But at night, when the whole population of the hive is at home, the need for ventilation is greatly augmented51, and then the open lines of fanners often stretch out over the alighting-board six or seven ranks deep, making an harmonious52 uproar53 that, on a still night, will travel incredible distances.
This tense, forceful labour-song of the bee-garden, heard unremittingly throughout the hours of darkness, is always pleasant, often indescribably soothing54 in its effect. But it is essentially55 a communal56 note, expressive57 only of the well or ill being of the hive at large. The individuality, even personal idiosyncrasy, which undoubtedly58 exists among bees, finds its utterance59 mainly through the true voice-organ. You cannot stand for long, here, in the quiet of the summer night, listening to one particular hive, without sooner or later becoming aware of other sounds, in addition to the general musical hubbub60 of the fanning army. It is evident that a nervous, high-strung spirit pervades the colony, especially during the season of the great honey-flow. Their common agreement on all main issues does not prevent these “virgin daughters of toil” from engaging in sundry61 sharp altercations62 and mutual63 hustlings in the course of their business; and, at times of threatening weather, a tendency towards snappishness, and a whimsical perversity64 characteristically feminine, seem to make up the prevailing65 tone. It is during these chance forays that the true voice of the honey-bee, apart from the sounds made by wing and spiracle, can best be differentiated66.
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1
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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barricade
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| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
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3
hawthorn
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| 山楂 | |
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lichened
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| adj.长满地衣的，长青苔的 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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7
reverberant
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| a.起回声的 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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gnats
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| n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 ) | |
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12
harped
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| vi.弹竖琴（harp的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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13
lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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14
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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15
apiary
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| n.养蜂场，蜂房 | |
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16
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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17
heyday
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| n.全盛时期，青春期 | |
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18
foraging
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| v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西） | |
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19
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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20
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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21
tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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22
thronging
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的现在分词 ) | |
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23
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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24
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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25
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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26
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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apiarist
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| n. 养蜂家 | |
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reapers
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| n.收割者，收获者( reaper的名词复数 )；收割机 | |
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30
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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31
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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32
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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33
pervades
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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35
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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36
remit
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| v.汇款，汇寄；豁免（债务），免除（处罚等） | |
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37
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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38
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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40
tack
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| n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝 | |
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41
sanitary
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| adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的 | |
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42
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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43
novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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44
tyros
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| n.初学者，新手，生手( tyro的名词复数 ) | |
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45
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
evaporation
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| n.蒸发，消失 | |
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47
necessitate
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| v.使成为必要，需要 | |
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48
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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49
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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50
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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51
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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52
harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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53
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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54
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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55
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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56
communal
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| adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的 | |
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57
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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58
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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59
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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60
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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61
sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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62
altercations
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| n.争辩，争吵( altercation的名词复数 ) | |
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63
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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64
perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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65
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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66
differentiated
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| 区分，区别，辨别( differentiate的过去式和过去分词 )； 区别对待； 表明…间的差别，构成…间差别的特征 | |
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