142 THE HONEY-BEE. 



these their lepidopterous enemies, as will be wholly 

 ruinous. Combs in store are yet more liable to their 

 attacks, but the moths may be dislodged, and their 

 eggs or larvae destroyed, by exposing such combs to 

 the fumes of burning brimstone. An examination of 

 hive-coverings and floor-boards in the spring and 

 autumn, and the destruction of all grubs found about 

 them, will often save much trouble from the moths. 

 The presence of these intruders among the combs 

 may be detected by the occurrence of their excre- 

 ment, resembling grains of very fine gunpowder, on 

 the floor-boards. 



The death's-head moth, Acherontia Atropos, is also 

 said, by some writers, to be troublesome to apiarians ; 

 but it is too rare an insect to be seriously destruc- 

 tive. A parasitic louse, called Braula cceca, is occa- 

 sionally found in considerable numbers in hives on 

 the Continent. Happily, the English climate does 

 not appear to suit its constitution well, so that its 

 occurrence is not very frequent, and is generally the 

 result of the introduction of Ligurians and other 

 foreign varieties into an apiary. 



Pre-eminent among the enemies of bees stand 

 hornets and wasps, particularly the latter in the 

 autumn of the year. They are active, courageous, 

 and persistent robbers ; and, unless the hive-entrance 

 be well guarded, they will slip in, and, escaping 

 notice, will pilfer the honey without stint. So deter- 

 mined are their attacks, that they will utterly ruin 

 weak colonies, and will sometimes so dishearten even 

 tolerably vigorous ones, as to make them desert their 

 hives. When once they have learnt there are stores 

 to be plundered, they do not fail to come in numbers 



