MALADIES OF BEES. 255 



ed. the attention of the keeper in fixing his apiary, may guard 

 the bee generally agafnst these common enemies. The king 

 bird also, and the woodpecker, sometimes hover about the api- 

 ary to feed on the bees ; they may be carefully watched and 

 destroyed. The spider will also entrap the bee in his web, and 

 feed on him. The spider enters the hive when the weather is 

 cold, and the bees have lost their energies, spin their web and 

 thus obtain their prey. The wasp is also an enemy to the'bee ; 

 he surveys the hive m summer, and whenever he finds a crevice 

 enters and robs the hive, aad feeds on the honey. The wasps 

 collectively, sometimes attack weak hives, the same as robbin* 

 bee^, and rob the swarm. ® 



Mr. Huish observes, that he does not know a more efficacious 

 inethod of destroying wasp's nests, than sulphur. The wasp, 

 the bumble bee, aiid the honey bee, all feed on the same food 

 for this reason,the two first should be driven as much as possi- 

 ble from the neighborhood of the apiary, particularly in Sep- 

 tember and October, when the herbage of the field fails, they 

 are driven by hunger to rob the hives. Unless you watch vour 

 bees carefully at this season, they may be ruined beforeVou 

 are aware. The toad is also the enemy of bees, and will catch 

 them, particularly in warm weather. He should be driven 

 from the vicinity of the apiary. A little garlic rubbed about 

 your lave, will guard them against the ravages of the ant. 



The moth is an pnemy to the bee. It is the caterpillar, which 

 m a certam state, gnaws our trees, books, paper, &c. Stroncr' 

 hives can protect themselves against the moth ; but weak hivel 



ZlZ^T.u'T' '"' '"^^"'' '^'^ "^^^^' '- '^^ butterfly 

 ter tv. ! . ^'"'' '" ^'''^ '"^ ^^'°^^^' ^"d ^y her dex- 



terity deposits her eggs amongst the comb, and dies. ' From ev- 

 ery egg a smooth caterpillar bursts forth, of a pale white, its 

 head bro^^^ and scaly. It encloses itself in a little web of wliite 

 a^lkwhichit attaches to the combs, and in which it finds its 

 ^ood, by projecting its head beyond its case. When the food 

 ground It begins to faU, it prolongs its silken webj which. 



