THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



115 



[From the Bienenzeituug.] 



Enemies of Bees. 



Erery bee-book you open contains a chapter 

 on the enemies of bees, carefully enumerating 

 them, and describing their modes of attacli so 

 minutely, that the j^oung apiarian is horrified 

 continually with apprehensions for the fate of 

 his little favorites, surrounded perpetually, as 

 thej^ would seem to be, with scores of alert and 

 active foes. In a recent treatise on bees, I have 

 found a list of thirty-seven of these, and yet the 

 Avriter omitted to mention the chief of them all 

 — the very corypheus of destrucrtveness— the 

 ignorance of man, Avhich probably does more 

 harm, ruining more colonies, and annihilating 

 more bees, than all the other hostile powers 

 combined. That, in defiance of all these adverse 

 surroundings, bees are still found in the land of 

 the living; that the entire race has not long 

 since been consigned to the realms of paleon- 

 tology, is indeed a perfect marvel, and forces 

 on us the conviction that for the preservation 

 of this interesting and invaluable insect special 

 arrangements are made in the economy of 

 nature, and that its survival is then the neces- 

 sary result of assigned causes. Were it otlier- 

 wise, the whole tribe must, even in the years 

 before the flood, have been exterminated, and 

 occasional specimens only would now be found 

 by archcEologists among the fossiliferous strata 

 of the earth. Yet with all the research and 

 care of entomological ccusus-takers,and the most 

 strenuous efforts, to complete their catalogues of 

 bee-devouring and hive-devastating miscreants, 

 I still miss one from tlio list, and, in my judg- 

 ment, the greatest of all. Bee-keepers, con- 

 cerned for the Avelfare of their favorites, will be 

 alarmed Avhen they hear another foe announced 

 as in waiting to pray on tJieir apiaries. But the 

 truth musi. be told, and I am resolved not to be 

 mealy-mouthed about it. The innocent need 

 not talfe offence; but let lier, whom the cap fits, 

 wear it. The very special and most dangerous 

 enemy of the bee — faint no*, ladies ! — is the 

 good wife herself of the confiding bee-keeper. I 

 state the fact deprecatingly, lest some half 

 dozen fair hands pull my wig in displeasure, or 

 my own better half put ipecac in my coffee. 

 Tile hundreds of colonies which perished last 

 spring, within a circuit of five miles radius in 

 my own neigliborhood alone, could they be 

 placed or replaced on the stand, would doubt- 

 less name this foe as among the chief causes of 

 their melancholy demise. But that I be not 

 misapprehended, let me give specifications. 



There are now in the land a very respectable 

 number of intelligent bee-keepers, whose anxious 

 desire is to give a still more extensive diffusion 

 to their favorite pursuit by enlisting others to 

 engage in it con amore. New converts are thus 

 frequently made, and these start fair with afcAV 

 good stocks and encouraging prospects of 

 ultimate success. Still more elated, and buoyant 

 with hope, (bee-keepers are rarely bachelors,) 

 is the wife of the incipient apiarian. Stocks 

 have been purchased, a bee-house — perhaps a 

 bee-palace — lias been built, the bees have 

 been busy, and consequently there should 



be a store of honey on hand ; if not in 

 the first year, still in the second. If not. 

 why has the money been so fruitlessly spent V 

 "We have now six hives, and among them 

 several heavy ones. Brimstone the two 

 heaviest, dear husband, and let us enjoy the 

 investment.'" In vain does the good man pro- 

 test that the apiary could not be kept in a 

 thriving condition if the best stocks be thus 

 sacrificed; and that these precisely must be 

 retained if permanent success in the business is 

 to be assured. Remonstrance is useless. Im- 

 portunity becomes more urgent, and begins to 

 be somewhat declamatory. The compliant 

 husband yields, and with a heavy heart and a 

 rueful countenance, the two best and heaviest 

 stocks in the little apiary are set over the brim- 

 stone pit, and the brief career of the busj'' 

 workers terminates amid suffocating fumes. 

 " Ah ! how delicious is your honey, luisband ! 

 Really, 'tis worth while keeping bees; they 

 take up so little room, and more than pay their 

 way as they go !" 



A short time passes. The honey-jar is not 

 found to be as inexhaustible as the oil cruse of 

 the widow of Sareptum, and the children, like 

 Oliver Twist, cry for "more." "Mamma, 

 can't you give us some more honey-bread this 

 morning V" " No, child ! don't you know that 

 tlie honey is all eaten ? There's not a drop 

 left !" 



Autumn comes apace, "in russet mantle 

 clad," and the bees must be prepared for the 

 winter. A visit from an old bee-keeping friend 

 is invited for consultation. " Your stocks are 

 too light, my good friend ; they must be fed 

 plentifully if you v/ould hope to winter them 

 safely." But the wife objects to buying sugar 

 at present high prices, and suggests it had better 

 be delayed till spring. The husband yields, 

 and when spring arrives, he is told " Oh, its 

 impossible to buy honey now; besides, there 

 will be pasturage in plenty in a few weeks, and 

 then the bees can sliift for themselves." The' 

 good-natured easy soul knows well enough the 

 impoverished and starving condition of his 

 bees, but his exigent impccuniosity at the time, 

 together with his desire to preserve domestic 

 peace and tranquillity, easily persuade liim to 

 omit the feeding. Honey -taking was an easy 

 operation, but money-spending is a very different 

 matter. And what is the state of the apiary 

 now ? The four exhausted colonies vainly ex- 

 plore every cell and cranny in their hives ; 

 spring is still backward, and the Aveather too 

 cold; the needed supplies are not furnished; 

 and finally the struggling, suffering insects 

 succumb and die of sheer starvation. No 

 sugar need now be bought ! The populous and 

 heavy stocks Avould certainly have survived the 

 winter, and their surplus stores wouUl have 

 adequately provided for the wants of the 

 weaker. They, however, had to be sacrificed 

 at the pressing importimity of the wife, and the 

 childi-eu luxuriated for a brief season on a dear- 

 bought delicacy. Bee-culture has been brought 

 to a close in that family, and it is lucky ii 

 reproachful epithets are not sometimes inter- 

 changed between " the lord and lady there." 

 The (.Committee of Wavs and Means refuses tc 



