April, 1915. 



American Hee Journal 



)>=^^^^ \ 



certain kinds of blossoms. This can- 

 not be the case, since it exists in all 

 sorts of countries with entirely differ- 

 ent flora. 



The homes of well-to-do country 

 people are scattered on the hill tops 

 and make beautiful sights, as most of 

 them are real castles, (^n our return 

 from the Colantoni home we stopped 

 at the country place of Dr. Marchetti, 

 one of the leading beekeepers. I have 

 never seen a more delightful country 

 place; hidden among the trees, well 

 shaded and surrounded with blooming 

 gardens. 



Later we visited the apiary of Mr. 

 Cotini, at his summer home. This is 

 on the bluff overlooking the Adriatic, 

 and in full view of the city. They had 

 extracted the honey a few days before, 

 but the crop was on again, and consid- 

 able fresh honey showed in the supers. 

 Here I saw an insect I had never yet 

 seen, the death's-head moth (.Icheron- 

 tia atrotos or Sphinx alropus), which 

 many European writers mention as 

 making great depredations in hives of 

 bees. This one was dead, inside of the 

 entrance of a colony. I noticed it as I 

 walked in front of the hives and be- 

 came so eager to get it that I forgot 

 my usual prudence. I picked up a lit- 

 tle stick and poked into the entrance 

 to secure the moth. I did secure it, 

 but angered the bees and got several 

 stings for the first time since my arri- 

 val in Italy. Unluckily it had been so 

 badly damaged by the bees in their 

 efforts to get rid of its carcass that it 

 was of little value for a picture. So I 

 offer our readers the copy of a wood- 

 cut borrowed from the ancient work 

 of Hamet, giving the moth at its nat- 

 ural size. 



Until then, I could hardly believe 

 that death's-head moths would be brave 

 enough to enter a hive of bees to feed 

 on its honey. But this was evidence 

 ■which I could not gainsay. It appears 

 that this moth fears the stings but lit- 

 tle, and enters weak colonies to gorge 

 upon their stores. Hamet says they 

 can take as much as 60 gramnis (2 

 ounces); rather an overdose! This 

 one had entered at some point where 

 the entrance was high and had evi- 

 dently been unable to find the same 

 spot to escape in time to avoid the 

 angry bees. Some writers claim that 

 the bees reduce the entrances of their 

 hives with propolis, when they are too 

 large, in fear of this moth. We did not 

 notice any such work. But I do be- 



LOCATION OF THK COTINI APIARY NEAR ANCONA 



COTINI API.\RY WHERE I FOUND THE DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH 



Uk. Cf.sare Colantoni, 

 Editor of L'Apicoltura Italiana 



lieve that the bees reduce an entrance 

 whenever it is located where it gives 

 too much ventilation, above the brood- 

 chamber for instance. 



They do this in all countries, moth 

 or no moth. The death's-head moth is 

 one of the largest moths known. The 

 Dictionnaire Larousse describes its 

 largest specimens as measuring 13 cen- 

 timeters (.5 inches), across the wings, 

 from tip to tip. So the cut we repro- 

 duce is not too large. Its larva feeds 

 on potato vines, cow peas, lettuce, etc. 

 The moth itself was credited, even by 

 educated people and priests, in the 

 middle ages, with 'leadly power. This 

 was due to the death's-head picture so 

 conspicuous on its corslet. It exists 

 mainly in southern liurope and Africa. 

 It is unknown in the United States. 



To complete the information which 

 I have secured concerning this extra- 

 ordinary insect let me quote a passage 

 from L'Apicoltore of March last. Dis- 



cussing a statement made in Gleanings 

 in Bee Culture regarding cats which 

 were accused of eating bees, the editor 

 wrote: 



" In our apiary the cats give an active 

 chase to the death's-head moths who 

 are in the habit of entering the hives 

 to steal honey from them at night, 

 These are stupid and slow moving in- 

 sects which allow themselves to be 

 readily caught." 



From the Cotini country home, we 

 had a very fine view of Ancona and 

 the bay. We also visited the home of 

 his tenant, an Italian " contadino." It 

 was comfortable but exceedingly rustic. 



On the second day, we had dinner at 

 the home of Mr. Cotini, in company 

 with himself, his beautiful young wife, 

 her younger sister, and Mrs. Bazzano, 

 already mentioned. We were so kindly 

 received that we will never forget the 

 hospitality displayed. 



Later we began a search for the 



