182 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS. 



clothing for their naked bodies, food for their sustenance, 

 and a safe dwelling at the same time. 



The excavated passage which this caterpillar makes in 

 the wax is generally as large round as a man's finger, and 

 often a foot long ; the inside of it is thoroughly tapestried 

 with a strong, but soft and smooth, white silky substance, 

 and the outside is covered over with pieces of wax mixed 

 with excrements, so that nothing is seen of the silken pas- 

 sage, and the bees have no idea of its existence. Even if 

 they had cognizance of it, they would be unable to sting 

 through such thick walls and penetrate the firm silky lining 

 of the passage. 



In order to learn the habits, and watch closely the opera- 

 tions of these injurious insects, we may select a hive which 

 has been abandoned by bees, or where the bees have died 

 during the winter. By taking out some of these larvae and 

 putting them upon the comb, we shall see that, after running 

 about a while, they will begin to dig a new mine, or, if it is 

 their time, to spin a cocoon one inch long, which they will 

 immediately surround with dirt and small pieces of wax. 

 They generally make their cocoons in the beginning of the 

 month of June, and the moths then issue from them at the 

 end of the same month. 



The male of this moth has gray fore wings, and yellowish- 

 gray hind wings. He is smaller than the female, whose 

 wings are darker, particularly the hind ones, and expand 

 about one and a quarter inches. Unfortunately, both are 

 seen in abundance early in May, as well as in August, and 

 hence we may conclude that there are two successive gen- 

 erations of them in one year. The female deposits her eggs 

 at that time of night when the bees are at rest, and near 

 the opening of the hive, or in some adjacent cracks, and as 

 soon as the diminutive caterpillars are hatched they imme- 

 diately gnaw a passage under its edges. 



There is still another way of observing minutely their 



