ENEMIES OF BEES. 245 



make no effectual opposition to the bee-moth, but, by 

 their forlorn condition, they positively invite her attacks. 

 She appears to have an instinctive knowledge of their con- 

 dition, and no art of man can ever keep her out. She will 

 pass by other colonies to get at a queenless one, as if aware 

 that she will find in it the best conditions for the develop- 

 ment of her young ; and thus the strongest colonies, after 

 losing their queens, are frequently devoured by the 

 worms, while small ones, standing by their side, escape 

 unharmed. 



It is certain that a queenless hive seldom maintains a 

 guard at the entrance, and does not fill the air with 

 the pleasant voice of happy industry. Even to our dull 

 ears, the difference between the hum of a prosperous hive 

 and the unhappy note of a despairing one is often suffi- 

 ciently obvious ; may it not be even more so to the acute 

 senses of the provident mother-moth ? 



Her unerring sagacity resembles the instinct by which 

 birds that prey* upon carrion, single out from the herd a 

 diseased animal, hovering over its head with their dismal 

 croakings, or sitting in ill-omened flocks on the surround- 

 ing trees, watching it as its life ebbs away, and snapping 

 their blood-thirsty beaks, impatient to tear out its eyes, 

 just glazing in death, and to banquet on its flesh, still 

 warm with the blood o life. Let any fatal accident 

 befall an animal, and how soon will you see them, 



" First a speck and then a Vulture," 



speeding, from all quarters of the heavens, their eager 

 flight to their destined prey, when only a short time before 

 not one could be perceived. 



The common hives not only furnish no reliable remedy 

 for the loss of the queen, but, in many cases, their owner 

 cannot be sure that his bees are queenless until their 



