THE FARMER'S MANUAL. 



be ruined before you are aware, and thus your hopes 

 of the season be blasted in autumn. 



The toad is the natural enemy of Bees, as of the 

 wasp, and common fly, and will catch them indis- 

 criminately, particularly in warm weather. He should 

 be driven from the vicinity of the Apiary. A little 

 garlic rubbed about your hives, will guard them 

 against the ravages of the ant. 



The moth is an enemy of the Bee. It is the ca- 

 terpillar, which, in a certain state, gnaws our trees, 

 books, paper, &c. Strong hives can protect them- 

 selves against the moth ; but weak hives are some- 

 times injured and ruined. The moth, in the butterfly 

 state, infests the hives in April and October, and by 

 her dexterity deposits her eggs amongst the comb, 

 and dies. From every egg a smooth caterpillar 

 bursts forth of a pale white, its head brown and sca- 

 ly. It encloses itself in a little web of white silk, 

 which it attaches to the combs, and in which it finds 

 its food by projecting its head beyond its case. 

 When the food around it begins to fail, it prolongs its 

 silken web, which, though a mere thread at the be- 

 ginning, becomes almost insensibly as large as a quilL 

 This insect, having attained its growth, submits to the 

 metamorphosis common to all caterpillars; it quits 

 its residence, retires to one corner of the hive, or de- 

 parts from it ; spins a white covering, emerges as a 

 butterfly, copulates and re-enters the hive to deposit 

 its eggs as before. I have been the more particular 

 in describing this insect, because, next to man, he is 

 the most destructive enemy of Bees. Mr. Huish 

 states with confidence, that in sixteen years, the moth 

 has destroyed more than a fifth part of his hives an- 

 nually. Mr. Huish continues the subject of the moth 

 much more extensively, both as to its manner ot 

 laying its eggs, in and out of the hive, and the 

 manner by which they are introduced carelessly by 

 the Bees into the hive, where they are hatched with 

 the other eggs; the substance upon which the moth 



