ENEMIES OF BEES. 233 



Wax is the chief food of these worms.* When obliged 

 to steal their living among a strong stock of bees, they 

 seldom fare well enough to reach the size which they 

 attain when rioting at pleasure among the full combs of a 

 discouraged population. In about three weeks, the larvae 

 stop eating, and seek a suitable place for encasing them- 

 selves in their silky shroud. In hives where they reign 

 unmolested, almost any place will answer their purpose, 

 and they often pile their cocoons one on another, or join 

 them together in long rows. They sometimes occupy the 

 empty combs, so that their cocoons resemble the capping 

 of the honey-cells. In Plate XIX., Fig. 56, Mr. Tidd 

 has given a drawing, accurate in size and form, of a 

 curious instance of this kind. The black spots, resembling 

 grains of gunpowder, are the excrements of the worms. 

 In hives strongly guarded by healthy bees, many a worm, 

 while prying about to find a snug hiding place, is seized 

 by the nape of the neck, and served with an instant writ 

 of ejectment. If a hive is thoroughly made, it runs a 

 dangerous gauntlet, as it passes, in search of some 

 crevice, through the ranks of its enraged foes. Its mo- 

 tions, however, are exceedingly quick, and it is full of 

 cunning devices, being able to crawl backwards, to twist 

 round on itself, to curl up almost into a knot, and to flat- 

 ten itself out like a pancake. If obliged to leave the 

 hive, it gets under some board or concealed crack, spins 

 its cocoon, and patiently awaits its transformation. In 

 most hives, it readily finds a crack into which it can 

 creep, or a small space between the movable bottom- 



* "Larvse fed exclusively on pure wax will die, wax being a non-nitrogenous 

 substance, and not furnishing the aliment required for their perfect develop- 

 ment." D6NHOFF. 



This statement agrees with the fact, that the larvse prefer the brood-combs, and 

 that the combs of an old stock are more liable to be devoured than those of a 

 new one. 



