£. 



1:^1:1^:11:8 OF BEES. King-birds 

 and l)fe-iiiart ins, and a few other insectiv- 

 orous birds, prey on bees. We once saw a 

 single king-bird cajtlnre six or eight bees in 

 as many trips, on the wing. It would alight 

 on the peak of the barn near the apiary, and 

 then make a dive through the air, grab one 

 bee on the wing, return to its perch to dis- 

 l)ose of its morsel, and then catch another. 



There have been a number of conflicting 

 reports as to whether king-birds do or do 

 not swallow their victims. Some have as- 

 serted that they do, and afterward expelled 

 the ball of bees. At one experiment station 

 a numlier of king-birds were shot, and the 

 conclusion, after examining their crops, was 

 that they did not eat bees ; but from observa- 

 tions that have been made since it appears 

 that the king-bird does not generally swallow 

 worker-bees. It grabs the bee, flies away, 

 and. after it alights on some perch with its 

 victim in its beak, bites away until it ab- 

 sorbs the honey or juices, when it drops the 

 car(;a.ss, and flies away for another, whicli it 

 treats in the same way. Observers have re- 

 ported seeing these carcasses of bees below 

 the birds' favorite perches. 



The loss of a few bees which the birds 

 might kill would amount to nothing ; but in 

 large queen-rearing yards, if the birds are 

 allowed to go unmolested there is quite 

 likely to be a loss of young queens: for no 

 doubt the birds select the largest and slow- 

 est-flying l)ees, and these, of course, will be 

 querns and drones. If such be the case, the 

 <»wner of a queen-rearing yard would do well 

 to use his shotgun until every thing in the 

 way of bee-killing biids is destroyed. 



MICE. 



Mice do liarm only wlien they get into the 

 hives, and this part of the subject will be 

 sufficiently noticed under the head of En- 

 trances. It may be well to remark, that 

 mice sometimes make sad havoc among sur- 

 plus combs, when stored away with small 

 patches of honey in them. The combs will 

 be completely riddled during the winter 

 time, if they are left where mice can get at 

 them. On this account, the honey-house 

 should be mouse-proof ; and for fear that a 

 stray one may by accident get in, it is well 



to keep a trap ready, baited w^th toasted 

 cheese. If you have not a tight room, make 

 a tight box, large enough to hold all the sur- 

 plus combs which have honey in them. See 

 Entrances. 



parasites. 

 The only parasite we have ever seen is the 

 Biaula, or Italian bee-louse, and we have 

 never seen them except on bees just imi)ort- 

 ed from Italy. We feel safe in saying no 

 fear need be anticipated from them if the 

 bees are kept in strong colonies, and in clean 

 tight hives, with no old refuse and rubbish 

 accumulating about them. One or two re- 

 ports have been received of bee-lice in our 

 own country, but they were exceiitions. 



SKUNKS.* 



Skunks have been known to approach the 

 hive at night time, and by scratching on or 

 near the alighting-board, entice the bees out 

 where they could "gobble them up." It 

 w^ould seem a little strange that these ani- 

 mals have no fear of stings, but they, doul)t- 

 less, are guided by a sort of instinct that 

 enables them to divine how to get hold ot 

 the bee with its sweet morsel of honey in its 

 honey-sac, without receiving harm from the 

 sting. 



SPIDERS. 



Spiders as well as toads seem to have a 

 rare appreciation of a heavily laden bee as it 

 returns to the hive ; we should therefore be 

 careful that all spider-webs be faithfully 

 kept brushed away from the hives, and that 

 they have no corners or crevices about them 

 to harbor such insects, lie sure there is no 

 place which the broom will not clear out at 

 one sweep ; for where we have a hundred 

 hives we can not well spend a great amount 

 of time on each single one. 



We are inclined to think that many ol 

 these so-called enemies take up the destruc- 

 tion of bees only as a chance habit, and that 

 it is not always to be looked for nor ex])ect- 

 ed. Common fowls sometimes get a habit 

 of eating their own eggs; but it is so unusual 



* A lady correspondent in Oleanings in Ber Cnllurr, 

 page 866, Vol. XV., writes tliat she effectually gox 

 rid of skunlis by the use of Rough on Hats stirred 

 in an egg. This mixture was placed at the entrance 

 of hives previously visited by skunks. After the 

 doses had been repeated two evenings in succession 

 the skunks never again paid their visitations. 



