fTistory of Bee Moth, 4Ul 
September, and as I have proved by actual observation 
that they may pass from egg to moth in less than six weeks, 
I think under favorable conditions there may be even three 
broods a year. It is true that the varied conditions of tem- 
perature—as the moth larvae may grow ina deserted hive, 
in one with few bees, or one crowded with bee life—will 
have much to do with the rapidity of development. Cir- 
cumstances may so retard growth and development that 
there may not be more than two, and possibly, in extreme 
cases, not more than one brood in a season. 
It is stated by Mr. Quinby that a freezing temperature 
will kill these insects in all stages, while Mr. Betsinger 
thinks thet a deserted hive is safe; neither of which asser- 
tions is correct. I have seen hives whose bees were killed 
by the severe winter, crowded with moth pupz or chrys- 
alids the succeeding summer. I have subjected both larve 
and pupe to the freezing temperature without injuring 
them. I believe, in very mild winters, the moth and the 
chrysalids might be so protected as to escape unharmed, 
even outside the hive. It is probable, too, that the insects 
may pass the winter in any one of the various stages, 
though they generally exist as pup during the cold season, 
HISTORY. 
(hese moths were known to writers of antiquity, as 
even Aristotle tells of their injuries. They are wholly of 
Oriental origin, and are often referred to by European 
writers as a terrible pest. The late Dr. Kirtland, the able 
scientist, and first president of our American bee associa- 
tion, once said in a letter to Mr. Langstroth that the moth 
was first introduced into America in 1805, though bees 
had been introduced long before. They first seemed to be 
very destructive. It is quite probable, as has been suggested, 
that the bees had to learn to fear and repel them; for, un- 
questionably, bees do grow in wisdom. In fact, may not 
the whole of instinct be inherited knowledge, which once 
had to be acquired by the animal? Surely bees and other 
animals learn to battle new enemies, and vary their habits 
with changed conditions, and they also transmit this knowl- 
edge and their acquired habits to their offspring, as illus- 
