BEES 



BEE-MOTH. 



produced through the moth. Some of the most 

 intelligent apiarians put their chief trust in the 

 strength of the swarms, and when these become 

 reduced and weak, unite them so as to enable 

 the bees to defend their hive against intruders. 

 Placing boxes for wrens near the apiary is 

 also strongly recommended, and with good 

 reason, since these little birds are very active 

 in catching all kinds of moths. To enable the 

 wren to get under the hive, it has been recom- 

 mended to raise these an inch or an inch and 

 a half above the stand, by means of small 

 blocks. 



Another plan frequently adopted, and, it is 

 said, with much success, consists in placing, 

 early in the evening, a burning lamp in a pail, 

 near the hive-stand. Some fresh honey or 

 molasses and water may be spread upon the 

 bottom as a bait. A keg with only one head 

 is thought preferable to a pail for this purpose, 

 owing to the curvature of the staves, which 

 serves to prevent the insect from flying out so 

 readily, and before it has met its destruction 

 from the flame of the lamp. A small fire kept 

 up early in the evening near the apiary is also 

 frequently resorted to for attracting and de- 

 stroying the night-flying miller. Placing shal- 

 low vessels containing sweetened water, with 

 cne gill of vinegar added for each pint, is said 

 to attract and drown the moths in great num- 

 bers. Shutting up the apertures for the exit 

 and entrance of the bees, early in the evening, 

 is also advised, as the moth intrudes itself in 

 the evening and night. But when this is done 

 the apertures must be opened again very early 

 in the morning. When millers are numerous, 

 each hive should be raised at least twice a 

 week, upon one side, and the worms sought 

 for and destroyed. In this operation a puff of 

 smoke under the hive keeps the bees quiet 

 during the search, which should be performed 

 with as little jarring or disturbance to the 

 swarm as possible. 



A correspondent of the Farmer's Register 

 recommends, that as soon as the bees com- 

 mence working in the spring, the hives are to 

 be examined, and with a piece of hoop- 

 iron or other suitable implement, the stand 

 well scraped immediately under the hive, 

 especially around the inner edge of the box. 

 The whole secret of keeping off the moth con- 

 sists, he thinks, in keeping the hives free from 

 the web formed by the moth. After this ope- 

 ration, four small blocks of wood are to be 

 placed under each corner of the hive so as to 

 raise it not quite half an inch from the stand. 

 This will permit the hive and stand to be 

 cleaned without raising the box. This scraping 

 operation must be repeated every three or four 

 days, especially if there be any appearance of 

 web. In winter the blocks must be removed, 

 and the hive let down upon the stand as a se- 

 curity against mice, and other depredators 

 upon the honey. The person who recommends 

 this plan as a certain security against the 

 ravages of the worm, advises that an entrance 

 be made for the bees, by cutting a perpendi- 

 cular slit, one-eighth of an inch wide and two 

 and a half inches long, situated about halfway 

 from the bottom. Just under this a small 

 sndf i c to be placed as a resting-place for the 

 168 



bees in going out and returning to the nive 

 The bees soon gel accustomed to this new 

 place of entrance. The plan has, it is said, 

 often proved an eflectual security against the 

 worm, after every other remedy has failed. 



Some persons have contrived drawers under 

 the hives into which the millers enter by night. 

 The drawers are slipped out every morning, 

 and the moths found in them destroyed. 



In the western country and in the new set- 

 tlements of the Atlantic states, the bee-moth is 

 rarely met with. 



Bees, Italian. For an account of Italian 

 honey-bees, and their first introduction into 

 the United States, and fir^t announcement in 

 this Encyclopaedia of the Movable-Comb-IIive, 

 see article HONEY, (page 631.) 



BEE-MOTH. The following interesting 

 details relative to the natural history of the bee- 

 moth or wax-moth, are from Dr. Harris's Trea- 

 tise on Destructive Insects. This pernicious 

 insect belongs to a group called Cambrians, 

 and was w r ell known to the ancients, as it is 

 mentioned under the name of Tineu, in the 

 works of Virgil and Columella. " In the winged 

 state, the male and female differ so much in 

 size, colour, and in the form of their fore- wings, 

 that they were supposed, by Linnaeus and by 

 some other naturalists, to be different species, 

 and accordingly received two different names. 

 (Turtrix cereana, the male ; Tinea mellonella, the 

 female.) To avoid confusion, it will be best to 

 adopt the scientific name given to the bee-moth 

 by Fabricius, who called it Galkria cereana, 

 that is, the wax Galleria, because in its cater- 

 pillar state it eats beeswax. Doubtless it was 

 first brought to this country, with the common 

 hive-bee, from Europe, where it is very abun- 

 dant, and does much mischief in hives. Very 

 few of the Tineas exceed or even equal it in 

 size. In its perfect or adult state it is a winged 

 moth or miller, measuring, from the head to 

 the tip of the closed wings, from five-eighths 

 to three quarters of an inch in length, and its 

 wings expand from one inch and one-tenth to 

 one inch and four-tenths. The male is of a 

 dusty gray colour. The female is much larger 

 than the male, and much darker coloured. 

 There are two broods of these insects in the 

 course of a year. Some winged moths of the 

 first brood begin to appear towards the end of 

 April, or early in May; those of the second 

 brood are most abundant in August; but be- 

 tween these periods, and even later, others 

 come to perfection, and consequently some of 

 them may be found during the greater part of 

 the summer. By day they remain quiet on the 

 sides or in the crevices of the bee-house ; but, 

 if disturbed at this time, they open their wings 

 a little, and spring or glide swiftly away, so 

 that it is very difficult to seize or to hold them. 

 In the evening they take wing, when the bees 

 are at rest, and hover around the hive, till, 

 having found the door, they go in and lay their 

 eggs. Those that are prevented by the crowd, 

 or by any other cause, from getting within the 

 hive, lay their eggs on the outside, or on the 

 stand, and the little worm-like caterpillars 

 hatched therefrom easily creep into the hive 

 through the cracks, or gnaw a passage for 

 themselves under the edges of it. These cater- 



