NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



devours considerable numbers of caterpillars, 

 beetles, and a host of other small creatures. 



I have been informed by bee-keepers that it is 

 not very uncommon to find a pair of Dormice in a 

 nest in a bee-hive if the aperture should be large 

 enough to allow their entrance. They do not 

 seem to molest the bees in any way, nor do the 

 latter make any attempts to drive them out. This 

 is partly owing to the fact that they lie asleep in 

 their cosy nest during the daytime when the bees 

 are active, and only issue forth by night. The 

 Dormice, probably, nibble a little of the honeycomb 

 when opportunity offers. They resort to bee-hives 

 on account of the warmth therein, and because such 

 retreats afford security against their many enemies. 

 However, in the modern bee-hives the entrance hole 

 is not sufficiently large to admit a Dormouse. 



I have now and then watched Dormice about 

 sundown emerge from some snug retreat and, 

 approaching a bee-hive, search out and eat the dead 

 and dying bees which had been cast from the hive 

 during the day. These Dormice do little real direct 

 harm to man. True, they may nibble some of his 

 fruit and grain occasionally, and eat a little honey, 

 but this is compensated for a thousand-fold by the 

 great number of insect pests they devour. They 

 not only eat the mature insects, but they seek out 

 the caterpillars which often play such havoc with 

 vegetation ; and should any insect, its larvae or eggs 

 be hidden beneath the bark, or in cocoons, it tears 

 70 



