67 



CHAPTER VI.— PESTS AND DISEASES OF BEES. 



Pests of Bees. 

 t'fn-c of EiHiitii Coiiihf!. — Rcnicdij for the Bcc Moth. 



Almost any bee-kociicr will liavo honey-combs that are fur a time unoc- 

 cupied by bees; even it' through no other cause, colonies may have died in 

 winter, leaving combs empty or containing honey or pollen. Such combs are 

 valuable property and will reiiay the care required to preserve them. The 

 three principal enemies ol: unoccupied combs arc mould, mice and moths. 



Combs kept in a damp, close cellar ai'e likely to be affected by mould 

 This cannot be entirely prevented where bees are wintered in the cellar; 

 for, even if no colonies die, it may hai)pen that some of the outer combs unoc- 

 cupied by bees will be covered with mould. Fortunately, the remedy is not 

 difficult. Put a mouldy comb next the brood-nest of a prosperous colony in 

 the working season, and you will be surprised to find how soon the bees will 

 clean it up so that you will hardly recognise it as the same comb. 



Mice must be kept away from combs by shutting these up in Jiives or in 

 such other places where mice cannot enter. But be careful that you do not 

 peu the mice in with the combs. 



The chief enemy of the apiarist is the wax moth. If a colony dies in the 

 spring and the hive remains unnoticed on its summer stand, it is almost certain 

 that before the summer is over, you will find it containing a solid mass of webs 

 and cocoons, with perhaps not a vestige of comb left. Xou may have sealed 

 up the hive moth-tight before it is warm enough for a moth to fly ; the result 

 will be the same : for the eggs of the moth by some means have been laid, 

 during the i>revious fall, in the hive, notwithstanding the presence of the bees. 

 It is, however, not an easy thing to make a hive moth-tight, for a moth will 

 squeeze through a much smaller crack than a bee. The right thing to do with 

 a hive full of combs upon which a colony has died ,is to get the combs as soon 

 as possible in the care of a strong colony of bees. Especially if of Italian 

 blood, the bees will make short work of cleaning out the worms before they are 

 large enough to do much harm. 



There will be little danger to the combs from the moth until the weather 

 has become warm and bees have been flying for some time, say about the time 

 of apple bloom. When a hive is noticed with unoccupied combs, clean out all 

 dead bees, and put it under a hive occupied by a strong colony. If there 

 shiiuld be any entrance directly from outside into the upper hive, close it up, 

 so as to oblige the bees to pass through the lower hive in going in and out. 

 Keep the entrance very small the first few da.vs, for fear of robbers. After 

 the colony has had this lower hive in charge for about a week, so as to get it 

 cleaned out and get used to the work, you can give it a second hive of combs 

 to clean out, putting the second in the place of the first. 



