INSECTS INFHSTING THE APIARY. 



The Bee Moth (Galkria cereann) Chap. 250 



CHAPTER CCL. 



The Bee Moth. (Cal.) 



(Galleria cerennn. — Fabricius.) 



Order, Lepidoptera ; Family, Pyralid.e. 



[Living in silken tubes in bee-hives, and feeding upon the 

 wax and young bees ; a small grayish worm.] 



Fig. 368. 



Fig. 368. — Bee Moth ; r/, the worm or caterpillar — color, ash 

 gray ; c, the pupa — color, brown ; d, the moth, with its wings 

 expanded ; e, the same, with its wings closed — colors, gray and 

 brown ; b, the cocoon — color, whitish. 



This is by far the worst enemy with which the bee-keeper 

 has to contend. The female moth, if prevented from entering 

 the hive, will deposit her eggs in cracks or any opening in the 

 hives. As soon as hatched, the young worm (Fig. 368a) enters 

 the hive, and at once protects itself by spinning around its 

 body a silken tube ; as it increases in size it enlarges the tube, 

 feeding the meanwhile upon the wax and young bees. When 

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