BEES 



599 



queen being selected to continue egg lay- 

 ing. Eventually the diseased apiary be- 

 comes, by the removal of the developing 

 brood and the death of the old bees, re- 

 duced to nothing. None of the queens 

 should be saved nor should any of the 

 adult workers be returned to the healthy 

 apiary. 



A combination of the sulphur cure with 

 the last plan mentioned — that of getting 

 rid of the disease through the removal of 

 brood combs from affected colonies — is 

 really, all in all. the best procedure. When 

 a fairly strong colony has been made up 

 by shaking the adult bees of two or more 

 together and this removed to an isolated 

 locality, the application of sulphur may 

 be made before any brood has been start- 

 ed. It is well, also, to replace the queen 

 with a vigorous one from slock entirely 

 unrelated to the diseased bees. Should 

 any signs of the disease reappear, con- 

 stant removal of the brood should be fol- 

 lowed, as mentioned in the preceding 

 paragraph. 



Other bacterial diseases, though exist- 

 ing, have developed only very locally or 

 have been too limited in the amount of 

 injury inflicted to require special mention 

 here. 



Insect and Other Enemies 



The bee or wax moth (Galleria tnellon- 

 eUa Linn.) is regarded by those unfamil- 

 iar with modern methods in bse keeping 

 as a very serious enemy to success in 

 this work. It was frequently such when 

 only the common black bee was kept and 

 the old way of managing, or rather of 

 trusting to luck, was followed. But w'ith 

 the better races now introduced and with 

 improved hives and methods, and espe- 

 cially with the care that is now given to 

 have no colonies queenless long at a time, 

 the wax-moth larvae are no longer re- 

 garded with great concern. 



Spiders, toads, and lizards destroy, in 

 addition to many injurious insects, also 

 some bees, and should be tolerated in the 

 vegetable garden rather than in the 

 apiary. 



Swallows, kingbirds or bee martins, 

 mice, skunks, and bears only occasionally 

 commit depredations in the apiary. 



Properly constructed hives enable the 

 bees to limit in a great measure the in- 

 jury which these various enemies might 

 inflict, and the avoidance of overswarm- 

 ing, with care to insure the constant pres- 

 ence of a prolific queen and a supply of 

 food suited to the needs of the colony at 

 the time, will keep it populous and there- 

 fore in shape to repel attacks or to make 

 good most of the unavoidable losses. 



Eohber Bees 



Robbing is sometimes a more serious 

 matter, although a little careful attention 

 just at the right time on the part of the 

 bee keeper would avoid all serious trouble 

 on this score. When bees find nothing to 

 gather during weather when they can still 

 fly out they are easily tempted to appro- 

 priate the stores of weaker colonies. Ex- 

 posure of combs of honey at such times 

 may even occasion a combined attack 

 upon a good colony otherwise quite able 

 to take care of itself. It is then that the 

 greatest destruction ensues, for such a 

 colony will defend itself vigorously, and 

 a pitched battle, with perhaps 50,000 or 

 60,000 Amazons on either side, leaves the 

 ground literally strewn with dead and 

 dying. 



If the invaders conquer, every drop 

 of honey is taken from the few vanquish- 

 ed that are likely to be still alive; and 

 in turn the despoilers invariably fight 

 among themselves as to the possession of 

 the booty. When the robbing takes place 

 during the absence of the owner, the con- 

 dition of the robbed colony may not at- 

 tract immediate attention, and during 

 warm weather moth larvae gain full pos- 

 session of the combs within a few days. 

 When this condition is observed, the 

 whole damage is very likely to be at- 

 tributed to the moth larvae. Colonies 

 that have been left queenless for some 

 time, and those weakened by disease or 

 by overswarming, are especial marks for 

 such attacks. Of course these defects 

 should be remedied whenever observed, 

 but meanwhile, if legitimate field work 

 is likely to be interrupted, every colony 

 should be assisted in protecting itself 



