ENEMIES OF BEES. 267 



find their time and money almost certainly thrown away ; 

 unless their mishaps open their eyes to the secret of their 

 failure in other things, as well as in bee-keeping. 



If I find that the worms, by any means have got the up- 

 per hand in one of my hives, I take out the combs, shake 

 off the bees, route out the worms and restore the combs 

 again to the bees : if there is reason to fear that they con- 

 tain eggs and small worms, I smoke them thoroughly with 

 sulphur, and air them well before they are returned. Such 

 operations, however, will very seldom be required. Shallow 

 vessels containing sweetened water, placed on the hives 

 after sunset, will often entrap many of the moths. Pans 

 of milk are recommended by some as useful for this pur- 

 pose. So fond are the moths of something sweet, that I 

 have caught them sticking fast to pieces of moist sugar-candy. 



I cannot deny myself the pleasure of making an extract 

 from an article* from the pen of that accomplished scholar, 

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

 Esq. " We add a few words respecting the enemies of 

 bees. The mouse, the toad, the ant, the stouter spiders, the 

 wasp, the death-head moth, (Syhinx atropos,) and all the 

 varieties of gallinaceous birds, have, each and all, "a sweet 

 tooth," and like, very well, a dinner of raw bee. But the 

 ravages of all these are but a baby bite to the destruction 

 caused by the bee-moth, (Tinea mellonella.) These nimble- 

 footed little mischievous vermin may be seen, on any eve- 

 ning, from early May to October, fluttering about the apiary, 

 or running about the hives, at a speed to outstrip the swift- 

 est bee, and endeavoring to effect an entrance into the door 

 way, for it is within the hive that their instinct teaches them 

 they must deposit their eggs. You can hardly find them by 



* Report on bees to the Essex County Agricultural Society, 1851. 



