26 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



have made their lodgment in the hive, and 

 tlierefore, with the ignorance of the existing 

 evil, the gradual decline and ultimate loss of the 

 hive become a problem, which he cannot solve; 

 and after divining a number of causes, the real 

 one is the A'cry last that he will be disposed to 

 fix upon or acknowledge. As long as the com- 

 mon straw hive continues to be in general use, 

 it is in vain to prescribe the necessary remedies 

 for many of the evils which attend the manage- 

 ment of bees, as they cannot possibly be re- 

 duced to practice on account of the insuperable 

 ol)stacles with which the peculiar construction 

 of the hive is attended. 



The wasp may be considered as one of the 

 most redoubtable of all the enemies of the bees. 

 According to several writers, and especially 

 Eeaumur, it is asserted, that the wasps not only 

 devour the honey, but the bees themselves. 

 From our own experience, however, we cannot 

 verify that statement; on the contrary, we nev- 

 er witnessed a wasp attempt to enter a hive, 

 and the bees attacked him, that he did not ex- 

 hibit the arrant coward, and hasten to save his 

 life by a precipitate retreat. Reaumur says, "I 

 have often seen the hornets, and even the com- 

 mon wasps, that are not larger than the bees, 

 liover about a hive, and run about on the pedestal 

 for the purpose of espying the favorable moment 

 to pounce upon a laborious bee, returning from 

 the fields, fatigued and laden with pollen, and 

 wiio makes the most useless efforts to defend 

 itself, for in a moment it is killed. Sometimes 

 the wasp flies away with its prey, but at others 

 it consumes it on the spot. I have frecpieutly 

 seen the bees occupied on the flowers, gathering 

 their honey or farina, which have been seized 

 upon by the wasps and carried away." 



The destruction of a Avasps' nest is a task of 

 no little difficulty, and, therefore, wc prefer in 

 the months of February and March to keep a 

 strict look-out for the mother or rpieen wasps, 

 who about that time are aroused from their hi- 

 bernating state, and sally forth to found their 

 (Colony in ruined walls or banks. The destruc- 

 tion of one queen wasp is tantamoimt to the de- 

 struction of hundreds, and, we may add, of 

 thousands of wasps; and as in that early part 

 of the season there is not a common wasp in 

 existence, the bee-master ought to congratulate 

 himself tipon the death of every large wasp that 

 lie can accomplish, for he may be certain that 

 it is a mother wasp. In some parts of Scotland, 

 the wasps are so numerous, that the existence 

 of every hive is endangered; and as few of the 

 cottagers are aware of the injury which the 

 wasps commit upon their hives, tliey are suffer- 

 ed to carry on their depredations with impunity, 

 until the hives are wholly destroyed. In Perth- 

 shire, we killed one morning twenty-nine moth- 

 er wasps; calculating, therefore, that a wasps' 

 nest contains, on an average, six hundred wasps, 

 we that morning prevented the birth of 23,400 

 robbers, to be let loose upon^tlic world, to live 

 upon the labors of the industrious bee. If the 

 bee-master cannot spare the time, nor is pos- 

 sessed of patience' sufficient to continue the 

 chase after a mother wasp, let him offer a pre- 

 mium to the cottage boys for every mother wasp 



that they will bring him. We offered a penny 

 to the urchins living in the immediate vicinity 

 of our apiary for every wasp that they would 

 bring us, and not an evening elapsed without a 

 call being made upon us for f'rom fifteen to twen- 

 ty murdered mother wasps. 



Some persons are apt to suppose that the stop- 

 ping up of a wasps' nest is equal to its destruc- 

 tion. There is, however, no truth in the sup- 

 position, for it is wonderful in what manner 

 these insects will work their Avay through a 

 barrier, supposed to be impenetrable. Wc have 

 frequently plastered up the aperture of a wasps' 

 nest at the close of the evening, by Avhlch we 

 supposed that we had accomplished the death 

 of the inmates of it by gradual starvation; but 

 on visiting the nest on the following morning, 

 we have found, to our surprise, that the Avasps 

 had obtained an outlet, and were joyfully amus- 

 ing themselves, as if in ridicule of our puny ef- 

 forts. The only certain method of destroying a 

 wasps' nest, is by sulphur; but the difficulty of 

 arriving at it is sometimes great, on accovint of 

 the depth at Avhich it is built in the ground, 

 which baffles the patience of the most invete- 

 rate Avasp hater, a character which generally be- 

 longs to all keepers of bees. 



The provident plan of plastering the hive to 

 the bench or pedestal on which it is placed, is 

 an excellent guarantee against the depredations 

 of the wasp; for they, who have paid a strict 

 attention to the motions of that insect, must 

 have frequently perceived, that Avhen the wasp 

 has been repulsed from the entrance of the hive, 

 by the boldness and vigilance of the bees, he 

 takes a survey of all the other parts of the hive, 

 particularly the back part, and so keen is his 

 eyesight, that he will immediately discern the 

 slightest crevice, through Avliich he can obtrude 

 his body into the hive, and if one has discover- 

 ed it, there will soon be a hundred to follow his 

 example. 



We are far from recommending the practice 

 adhered to by many keepers of bees, of hang- 

 ing bottles filled Avith some saccharine liquid in 

 the immediate vicinity of the hives; for although 

 a few wasps may be destroyed by it, yet they 

 act rather as objects of invitation to the robbers, 

 and undoubtedly entice a greater number into 

 the neighborhood of the apiary than would 

 perhaps otherwise have approached it. Inde- 

 pendently of this disadvantage, the bees them- 

 selves are most greedily disposed to partake of any 

 saccharine fluid Avithin their reach; and hostile as 

 the Avasp and the bee may be towards each other, 

 Avhen the former invades the territory of the 

 latter, yet Ave have often seen them partaking 

 in social felloAVship of any sweets Avhich chance 

 may have throAvn in their way. A bee Avill 

 visit a bottle of sugar and Avater as greedily as 

 a wasp, and that Avhicli Avill droAvn a wasp will 

 droAvn a bee; it therefore scarcely amounts to a 

 cpiestion Avhether the life of one bee be not 

 dearly purchased by that of a dozen wasps. 



The ant claims no secondary rank in the num- 

 ber of the enemies of the bees; but in regard 

 to the bees themselves, no fear whatever need 

 be entertained for their safety. The ants are 

 very capable of gratifying their appetite for the 



