510 THE BEE-KEEPER'S GUIDE; 



especially those with pollen or old combs that have been long 

 used for breeding-, irritate, perhaps destroy, the bees, and 

 create a very offensive stench. They often greatly injure 

 comb which is outside the hive, destroy smokers, by eating the 

 leather off the bellows, and, if they get at the seeds of honey- 

 plants, they never retreat till they make complete the work of 

 destruction. 



In the house and cellar, unless they are made as they 

 should always be— mouse-proof— these plagues should be, by 

 use of cat or trap, completely exterminated. If we winter bees 

 on the summer stands, the hive-entrance should be so con- 

 tracted that mice can not enter the hive. In case of packing, 

 as I have recommended, I should prefer a more ample opening, 

 which may be safely secured by taking a piece of wire-cloth or 

 perforated tin or zinc, and, tacking it over the entrance, letting 

 it come within one-fourth of an inch of the bottom-board. This 

 will give more air, and still preclude the entrance of these 

 miserable vermin. 



SHREWS. 



These are mole-like animals (Fig. 295), and look not unlike 

 a mouse. They have a long, pointed nose like the moles, to 

 which they are closely related. They are insectivorous, and 



Fig. 295. 



Shrew,— Origina I. 



have needle-shaped teeth, quite unlike those of the Rodentia, 

 which includes the true mice. I have received from Illinois 

 and Missouri species of the short-tailed shrews — Blarina— 

 which enter the hives in winter and eat the bees, only refusing 

 the head and wings. They injure the combs but little. As 

 they will pass through a space three-eigh'ths of an inch wide, 

 it is not easy to keep them out of hives where the bees are 

 wintering on their summer stands. I have received a short- 



