THE BEE-MOTH. 491 



evening they take wing, when the bees are at rest, and 

 hover around the hive, till, having found the door, they 

 go in and lay their eggs. Those that are prevented by 

 the crowd, or by any other cause, from getting within the 

 hive, lay their eggs on the outside, or on the stand, and 

 the little worm-like caterpillars hatched therefrom easily 

 creep into the hive through the cracks, or gnaw a passage 

 for themselves under the edges of it. 



These caterpillars, at first, are not thicker than a thread. 

 They have sixteen legs. Their bodies are soft and tender, 

 and of a yellowish-white color, sprinkled with a few little 

 brownish dots, from each of which proceeds a short hair ; 

 their heads are brown and shelly, and there are two brown 

 spots on the top of the first ring. Weak as they are, and 

 unprovided with any natural means of defence, destined, too, 

 to dwell in the midst of the populous hive, surrounded by 

 watchful and well-armed enemies, at whose expense they live, 

 they are taught how to shield themselves against the ven- 

 geance of the bees, and pass safely and unseen in every di- 

 rection through the waxen cells, which they break down and 

 destroy. Beeswax is their only food, and they prefer the 

 old to the new comb, and are always found most numerous 

 in the upper part of the hive, where the oldest honeycomb 

 is lodged. It is not a little wonderful, that these insects 

 should be able to get any nourishment from wax, a sub- 

 stance which other animals cannot digest at all ; but they 

 are created with an appetite for it, and with such extraor- 

 dinary powers of digestion, that they thrive well upon this 

 kind of food. 



As soon as they are hatched they begin to spin ; and 

 each one makes for itself a tough silken tube, wherein it 

 can easily turn around, and move backwards or forwards 

 at pleasure. During the day they remain concealed in their 

 silken tubes ; but at night, when the bees cannot see them, 

 they come partly out, and devour the wax within their 

 reach. As they increase in size, they lengthen and enlarge 



