FAMILY TQ{£tD^. 253 



Tinea ceeella ( Fabricius). Honeycomb Moth. 



This moth is notorious for its depredations in the beehive : its larva feeds upon the 

 honeycomb, or beeswax. 



KoLLAB, in his treatise on injurious insects, describes this moth in detail ; and from the 

 matter he has furnished, I have derived the following facts : 



The color of the male is yellowish ; the antennae, head and baclc clay-yellow ; the 

 abdomen yellowish brown, and feet yellowish gray with lighter spots. Upon the back and 

 behind the scutellura there is a biaclcish brown tuft of hair, the point of which is white. 

 The upper wings are broad, short and obtuse, of a dusty ash-gray, banded from the base 

 to the middle, and dotted with brown : the fringes are brownish white and jagged. The 

 hind wings are light ash-gray, marked by a yellowish spot on their inner boundary. 



The female is larger tlian the male : her color is of a dark rusty brown on the head 

 and back ; the forewings are darker, obtuse and straight, while the hindwings are much 

 lighter. Length of the male, six lines : expanse of wing, one inch. 



The caterpillar is cylindrical and spindle-shaped, and, when fully grown, is nearly an 

 inch long : it is of a dirty white color, and has sixteen feet of a cream-color. 



Following its singular instincts, the larva, immediately after it is hatched, forms its web 

 of silk, which becomes for it a covered way and protecting screen, wherewith it boldly 

 enters the hive if hatched without, and establishes its home in the midst of enemies. 

 "When the bees are at work, however, it does not appear abroad ; but when they are at 

 rest during the night, it feeds voraciously upon the wax. It increases rapidly, and comes 

 to its full size in about three weeks : it then makes its web stronger, and is transformed 

 to a pupa. If it is late in the season, it remains till spring before it changes to an imago. 



The effect of these intruders is first to diminish the wax of the bee-cells, which occasions 

 the loss of the honey ; and when this takes place extensively from the presence of nu- 

 merous larvse, the bees cease working. 



There are two generations of moths in a season, according to Kollar ; the first appearing 

 early in the spring, and the second in July. The female lays her eggs in the cracks of the 

 lower part of the hive, in the night, and the larvje feed at first upon the young comb ; but 

 they afterwards ascend to the upper part of the hive, where the older kind is deposited. 



Many inventions have been proposed and resorted to, to secure the bees from these 

 intruders : none, it is said, succeed perfectly ; and so far from requiring no attention, it 

 is maintained by Kollar that the only sure method of cleansing beehives from this moth 

 is to look after and destroy them, both larvse and pupae. The moth is fond of sweets, and 

 may therefore be attracted to dishes of sweetened water and vinegar in the night, and by 

 that means may be drowned : some other kinds of obnoxious moths may be destroyed in 

 the same manner. 



