abstract:A minor god in Greek mythology, which we read largely through Athenian writers, Aristaeus or Aristaios (), "ever close follower of the flocks", was the culture hero credited with the discovery of many useful arts, including bee-keeping;His inventions of apicultural apparatus, such as the linen gauze bee-keeper's mask and the technique of smoking the hive, were elaborated by Nonnus in his Dionysiaca, V.214ff.