Pics 1-4 are by Perkin Warbeck
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
“A SPACE of HONEY
Malta has long been a b-word for honey. Indeed, the name itself is redolent of the sweet, sticky, yellowish fluid of the bees.
Not unlike Clonmel / Cluain Meala in Tipperary ( not so far away due to Ryanair) the name itself of Malta is derived from the Latin word for honey: mil.
PICS 1 and 2: The Roman Road at Xemxija on the northern shore of St. Paul’s Bay. (Xemx is the Malti for sun ). In Hibernia, this road might be reclassified as a boreen.
PICS 3 and 4: The Apiary.( ‘appen that apis is the Latin word for bee). This apiary dates from Roman times and faces south, for maximum light and warmth. There is a theory that this apiary might have been originally a Columbarium. Not in the sense of a dovecote but rather as a building to house funerary urns.
After the urns it was the turn of the bees.
One can almost sense there the presence of a prototype Proteus Paddykoolus.
(Céad Míle Malta by Perkin Warbeck).
Ha ha Mighty Perk. I was watching a video a while back where the beekeeper had the novel idea of keeping a series of hives inside a “bee-shed” with the entrances poking out through a sneat row of apertures in the walls to the outside world.Keeping the ladies warm and so on…. I was thinking it might get a little crazy inside that shed during inspection times, mind.
You make it sound like a venue for apres-apiary, Protean Paddykool, a chara !
Speaking of sound, the apiary in question has great s. effects.
(Speaking of apes, what is the habitation of apes called? Simi-detached or something similarly simian?).
Speaking once more of sounds, one wonders if the ambiance of bees can have an effect on local singers’ voices ? Think Clonmel, think Malta, think a pair of tenors with honeyed voices from these two places: Frank Patterson and Joseph Calleja, respectively.
As it was, as one was testing out the sound effects of the apiary one was content to think of burly B. Ives evern as one warbled:
-Oh, the buzzing of the bees in the cigarette trees
The soda water fountain where the lemonade springs
And the bluebired sings on The Blue Rock Candy Mountain.
Actually, this apiary could well be called Tbe B.R. Candy Mountain Apiary as the hilltop town which is perched high above it is Melieha where Joseph Calleja resides. The Mel in Melieha is the same Mel in Clonmel.
The sweet scented Mel certainly does get around.
very interesting.