126 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 



they live, they are taught how to shield themselves against the 

 vengeance of the bees, and pass safely and unseen in every direc- 

 tion through the waxen cells, which they break down and clestro- . 

 Beeswax is their only food, and they prefer the old to the new 

 comb, and are always found nost 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 substance 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 their dwellings, and cover them on the outside with a 

 coating of grains of wax mixed with their own castings, which re- 

 semble gunpowder. Protected by this coating from the stings of 

 the bees, they work their way through the combs, gnaw them to 

 pieces, and fill the hive with their filthy webs ; till at last the dis- 

 couraged bees, whose diligence and skill are of no more use to them 

 in contending with their unseen foes, than their superior size and 

 powerful weapons, are compelled to abandon their perishing brood 

 and their wasted stores, and leave the desolated hive to the sole 

 possession of the miserable spoilers. These caterpillars grow to the 

 length of an inch or a little more, and come to their full size in 

 about three weeks. They then spin their cocoons, which are strong 

 silken pods, of an oblong oval shape, and about one inch in length, 

 and are often clustered together in great numbers in the top of the 

 hive. Some time afterwards, the insects in these cocoons change 

 to chrysalids of a light brown color, rough on the back, and with 

 an elevated dark brown line upon it from one end to the other. 

 When this transformation happens in the autumn, the insects re- 

 main without further change till the spring, and then burst open 

 their cocoons, and come forth with wings. Those which become 

 chrysalids in the early part of summer are transformed to winged 

 moths fourteen days afterwards, and immediately pair, lay theii 

 eggs, and die. 



Bees suffer most from the depredations of these insects in hot and 

 dry summers. Strong and healthy swarms, provided with a COD- 



