154 PLEA8UBABLE BEE-KEEPING. 



Wasps in some apiaries do much harm, but as they 

 generally direct their attention to weak stocks, which 

 they effectually clear out, the oft-repeated advice, 

 " Keep all stocks strong," is applicable to this case. 

 Narrow entrances will enable moderately strong 

 colonies to more effectually guard their home from 

 these persistent robbers. Now and again wasps may 

 be seen to seize heavily-laden bees that fall short of 

 the alighting board, and frequently they sever the 

 abdomen from the thorax, and fly away with the 

 former, which contains the honey-sac. " Prevention 

 is better than cure," and in order to limit the produc- 

 tion of wasps, queens seen in the early spring should 

 be killed, otherwise they will be the means of bringing 

 into existence multitudes of wasps. They have un- 

 doubtedly their place in the economy of nature, but 

 bee-keepers cannot afford to look on complacently 

 while the enemies of the bees are multiplying at such 

 a rate as to endanger the existence of all but the 

 strongest stocks. 



Ants' nests are sometimes found near hives, and if 

 they are the ants become a great nuisance. To 

 prevent their getting into the hive, the legs should 

 stand in small pans of water, or be daubed with 

 something objectionable to the ants, and over which, 

 therefore, they will not pass. 



Mice are partial to both wax and honey, and they 

 may be found not only among old combs, but also in 

 hives tenanted with bees. By keeping an entrance 

 only I inch in depth, mice will be kept on the right 

 side of the hive. 



