1 897-] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 1 89 



wood and carving out a resting place for its last stage as a worm 

 on the edges of frames and narrow spaces of the hive often made 

 harder by the coverings of propalis. 



The caterpillars are social in their habits, hundreds congrega- 

 ting on the same comb, although each has an individual tunnel 

 in which to spend its prescribed time, lengthening and expanding 

 it according to necessity with positive " no admittance" at either 

 end. When disturbed or alarmed the worm moves rapidly within 

 its silken gallery in either direction and on account of the density 

 of the tube may be more easily seen when held up to the light. 



The natural food of the caterpillar is neither wax or honey, as 

 was supposed, but the cast-off skins of the bee larvae and the 

 pollen contained in the brood combs. A diet of wax alone does 

 not furnish sufficient nutriment to enable the worm to spin silk. 

 The majority of worms with which I have experimented upon a 

 wax diet reached the chrysalis stage — most of them without any 

 cocoon, while some completed their transformations beneath a 

 shabby apology of a gauze covering adulterated with particles 

 of the pasteboard box containing them. Of the very few which 

 emerged, nearly all were undersized and imperfect. In no in- 

 stance of a wax-reared female have I seen the usual healthy con- 

 dition always to be found in a female produced among the comb 

 containing the animal tissues and pollen. I doubt whether a 

 second generation could be raised from individuals whose existence 

 had been due to wax alone. 



The length of time from the egg to the perfect moth differs 

 according to the weather and the amount of food available. A 

 scanty supply will retard development much beyond the usual 

 time. The two broods in this section of country appear in May 

 and July. Egg-laying continues all Summer until October. All 

 of the worms which are overtaken by cold weather pass the 

 Winter in their cocoons, and are prepared to emerge during any 

 balmy evening in April in quest of fresh pasture. 



A well-known enthusiast in bee culture, Mr. Henry K, Oliver, 

 after enlarging upon the mischief caused by mice, toads, ants, 

 spiders, wasps and gallinaceous birds, says it is but a baby bite 

 compared to the destruction caused by the bee-moth, and con- 

 cludes his remarks with the following: 



" He who shall be successful in devising the means of ridding 

 the bee world of this destructive and merciless pest will richly 



