CHilPTER YIII, 



THE BEE MOTH. 



^SjN some localities the bee moth is said to be 

 iM| very destructive, yet I regard the depredations 

 ^gT of this insect as much less to be feared than 

 some bee-keepers suppose. The bee moth is the 

 agency provided by nature for returning back to the 

 earth the contents of any hive when left by the bees, 

 in the same manner that the flesh fly is the means 

 provided for returning to the earth the carcass of 

 any animal. 



I do not believe that a strong, healthy stock of 

 bees was ever attacked and destroyed by the bee 

 moth. The stock must from some cause become re- 

 duced in numbers, so there are not bees enough to 

 cover all the comb, before the moth will make an 

 attack. But when the comb is unprotected, the 

 moth follows the instinct of its nature, and deposits 

 her eggs in it. The bees from some cause keep 

 decreasing, and the moth continues depositing her 

 eggs in the vacated comb, until the entire comb of 

 the hive is a complete mass of vile worms, the 

 progeny of the bee moth. ' 



About this time the bee keeper notices for the 

 first time (for, if he is keeping bees on the old plan, 

 he lets them take their own course, believing if he 



