a. bee “ἀμεμφεῖ ἰῷ μελισσᾶν” honey O. 6.47 “μελισσᾶν ἀμείβεται τρητὸν πόνον” honeycomb P. 6.54 “ἐγκωμίων γὰρ ἄωτος ὕμνων ἐπ᾽ ἄλλοτ̓ ἄλλον ὥτε μέλισσα θύνει λόγον” (cf. b. below) P. 10.54 “ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ τᾶς” (sc. “Ἀφροδίτας”) “κηρὸς ὢς δαχθεὶς ἕλᾳ ἱερᾶν μελισσᾶν τάκομαι” fr. 123. 11. test., v. fr. 252.
b. priestess esp. of Demeter (“διὰ τὸ τοῦ ζωοῦ καθαρόν Σ”, P. 4.106c. But from fr. 252 it is clear that bees sometimes had power to give indications of the future: cf. also “ἱεραί”, fr. 123. 11.) “ταῖς ἱεραῖσι μελίσσαις τέρπεται” fr. 158. “μελίσσας Δελφίδος αὐτομάτῳ κελάδῳ” the priestess of Apollo at Delphi P. 4.60
