No. 4.] BEE KEEPING. 415 



usually beyond recovery before the owner knew what was 

 going on. Even later in the century, when bees came to 

 be genei-ally ke^)! in uniform box hives, there was no way 

 of gaining access to the comlis, and hence the wax worm 

 could be controlled no better than in the hollow log. The 

 moth increased unchecked, and, until the movable frame hive 

 was invented, nothing could be done to save the industry. 



At bottom, the difficulty was that bee keepers did not 

 study their enemy, and, from a knowledge of the life history 

 of the bee moth, discover some means of checking its 

 attacks. Even at present, Avith all the devices which make 

 the control of the pest so eas}-, no bee keeper is safe who 

 cannot recognize the insect at a glance in any of its ditier- 

 ent stages. The moth is about three-fourths of an inch in 

 length, dull, ashy gray, streaked in imitation of a weathered 

 chip, and may be seen flitting rapidly about the entrance of 

 the hive at dusk. The life history of the bee moth may be 

 briefly sketched as follows. The moth deposits her spher- 

 ical white eggs singly a])Out the entrance or in the crevices 

 of the hive, — inside, if she can gain admittance. As soon 

 as the caterpillar hatches, it begins feeding on the combs, 

 where it tunnels along the midrib, the tunnel or gallery in- 

 creasing in size as the larva grows. It thus burrows through 

 the bases of the cells, possibly destroying great numbers of 

 eggs and j^oung bees, and as it goes it lines its passageway 

 with a tough, silken web. In three or four weeks the cater- 

 pillar attains its gTowth, and is about one inch in length. 

 It then withdraws to some secure crevice, often gnaAving a 

 cavity in a frame or in the sides of the hive, and there spins 

 a strong cocoon. In this it changes into a pupa, and after 

 from ten to fourteen da^s emerges as the adult moth, ready, 

 after mating, to repeat the life cycle. 



If the caterpillars gain entrance to a hive early in th(^ 

 season, and produce four broods before winter, as is usual 

 in this State, it is to be ex[)ected that a colony will be nmch 

 weakened from loss of yoimg bees, and Avill not be able 

 to survive the wiutei-. This was the condition in the old- 

 fashioned hi\'es, ill which so many colonies were dcsti'oyed. 

 These were k'ft about the farm, a mass of webs and cocoons. 



