CHAPTER XI. 



THE BEE-MOTH, AND OTHER ENEMIES OE BEES. DIS- 

 EASES OF BEES. 



Op all the numerous enemies of the honey-bee, the Bee- 

 Moth (Tinea mellonella,) in climates of hot Summers, is by 

 far, the most to be dreaded. So wide spread and fatal have 

 been its ravages in this country, that thousands have aban- 

 doned the cultivation of bees in despair, and in districts 

 which once produced abundant supplies of the purest honey, 

 bee-keeping has gradually dwindled down into a very insig- 

 nificant pursuit. Contrivances almost without number, have 

 been devised, to defend the bees against this invidious foe, 

 but still it continues its desolating inroads, almost uncheck- 

 ed, laughing as it were to sdorn, at all the so-called 

 " moth-proof" hives, and turning many of the ingenious 

 fixtures designed to' entrap or exclude it, into actual aids and 

 comforts in its nefarious designs. 



I should feel but little confidence in being able to reinstate 

 bee-keeping in our country, into a certain and profitable 

 pursuit, if I could not show the Apiarian in what way he 

 can safely bid defiance to the pestiferous assaults of this, 

 his most implacable enemy. I have patiently studied its 

 habits for years, and I am at length able to announce a sys- 

 tem of management founded upon the peculiar construction 

 of my hives, which will enable the careful bee-keeper to 

 protect his colonies against the monster. The careful bee- 



