LEPIDOPTERA. 359 



the upper part of the hive, where the oldest honeycomb is lodg- 

 ed. It is not a little wonderful, that these insects should be 

 able to get any nourishment from wax, a substance which other 

 animals cannot digest at all ; but they are created with an appe- 

 tite for it, and with such extraordinary powers of digestion, that 

 they thrive well upon this kind of food. As soon as they are 

 hatched they begin to spin ; and each one makes for itself a 

 tough silken tube, wherein it can easily turn around and move 

 backwards or forwards at pleasure. During the day they remain 

 concealed in their silken tubes ; but at night, when the bees can- 

 not see them, they come partly out, and devour the wax within 

 their reach. As they increase in size, they lengthen and enlarge 

 their dwellings, and cover them on the outside with a coating of 

 grains of wax mixed with their own castings, which resemble 

 gunpowder. Protected by this coating from the stings of the 

 bees, they work their way through the combs, gnaw them to 

 pieces, and fill the hive with their filthy webs ; till at last the dis- 

 couraged bees, whose diligence and skill are of no more use to 

 them in contending with their unseen foes, than their superior 

 size and powerful weapons, are compelled to abandon their per- 

 ishing brood and their wasted stores, and leave the desolated hive 

 to the sole possession of the miserable spoilers. These cater- 

 pillars grow to the length of an inch or a little more, and come 

 to their full size in about three weeks. They then spin their 

 cocoons, which are strong silken pods, of an oblong oval shape, 

 and about one inch in length, and are often clustered together in 

 great numbers in the top of the hive. Some time afterwards, 

 the insects in these cocoons change to chrysalids of a light brown 

 color, rough on the back, and with an elevated dark brown line 

 upon it from one end to the other. When this transformation 

 happens in the autumn, the insects remain without further change 

 till the spring, and then burst open their cocoons, and come forth 

 with wings. Those which become chrysalids in the early part 

 of summer are transformed to winged moths fourteen days after- 

 wards, and immediately pair, lay their eggs, and die. 



Bees suffer most from the depredations of these insects in hot 

 and dry summers. Strong and healthy swarms, provided with a 

 constant supply of food near home, more often escape than small 



