46 SOUTHERN BEE CULTURE 



capacity with fertile eggs which are being deposited in the cells over the 

 comb in great numbers, and young bees are soon seen in all stages of 

 development, the colony in a prosperous condition again, and the moth (the 

 bees' ever present enemy) is kept off, and destruction is delayed. The more 

 prolific varieties of bees will keep their comb rid of moth better and longer 

 than the less prolific varieties. 



The best way to keep rid of the moth is to keep the colonies all 

 strong, and not leave any comb out of the care of the bees, for the moth 

 will take to very small pieces of comb left out, and, of course, if they raise 

 in it the number of moths will be increased that much. If a frame of 

 comb should be carelessly left exposed to the moths, or allowed in any way 

 to get mothy, it is given to a strong colony, when the bees will rid it of moth 

 in a short time; but to do this they have to tear the comb out from around 

 them, and therefore they will leave the comb looking ragged ; and if it is 

 very mothy it will be very ragged after the bees clean it up, and unfit to be 

 used as a comb; but it can be rendered into wax. The moth, as it eats its 

 way through the comb, builds webbed passages to protect itself from the 

 bees, and they have to tear the comb down from around the webbed 

 passages before the moth can be removed. 



The bee-moth is a very small or insignificant enemy of the honey-bee 

 in well-cared-for apiaries. The honey-bee has another great enemy which 

 it seems to recognizer at once but man does not. This enemy is in the shape 

 of a human which calls himself a bee-keeper, but who is a bitter enemy 

 of the blessed little honey-bee. Many and many a dishpan and bread-tray 

 full of honey have been removed from their hives, and eaten by people 

 who were not worthy of it. Many strong colonies have starved to death 

 because an unworthy hand removed all the honey they had stored to 

 subsist on. Sulphur in the hands of brutish keepers has killed thousands 

 of colonies. In many other ways man has proved himself a very active 

 enemy of the little bees which were sent among us for us to cultivate 

 and make our land more fruitful, and to save honey. Heaven's sent food, 

 for us. 



DISEASES OF BEES. 



Very, fortunately the bee family is not diseased to any great extent ; 

 but it is subject to disease if proper precautions are not used to prevent it. 

 In most /Sections of the South, cane-growing is a great industry among the 

 farmers, and each settlement has from one to six syrup-mills in it, and 

 along late in the fall they are all put in operation ; and if the weather is 

 warm the bees will take to them in great numbers and carry to their hives 

 some amount of the inferior sweet which they can gather up around such 

 places. This is stored in tfie comb, and not sealed; and by spring it will 



