CHAPTER 14 

 Enemies of Bees 



We have found no enemies of bees quite so bad as our own 

 selves, when we are neglectful or too avaricious. We have occa- 

 sionally removed too much honey, to our sorrow later. 



The moths have never done much harm in our apiaries, 

 because we promptly accepted Mr. Langstroth's statement that 

 there is no more danger of a healthy colony of bees being de- 

 stroyed by the moths than there is of a healthy cow being killed 

 by carrion flies; although a queenless colony will be just as 

 readily riddled by the maggots of the moth as the body of a 

 dead cow will be consumed by the maggots of carrion. 



We keep our empty combs from year to year, during the 

 winter in a cold honey house, where the thermometer often goes 

 down to zero F. ( — 18" C). Neither larvae, eggs nor moths can 

 withstand such low temperatures. In the summer, if the honey 

 house is kept well closed, there is still no danger. But, in the 

 summer, we usually have all our combs in use where the bees 

 care for them better than we could. Hives in which the bees 

 have died at the opening of spring are usually the most fertile 

 breeders of moths, for moth worms often winter in out-of-the-way 

 comers, kept alive by the warmth of the bees. Were it not for 

 such accidental wintering of the live grub, moths would become 

 well nigh exterminated in these northern countries. Such combs 

 should be treated several times during the spring and summer 

 months and it is better to keep them out of the bee house. How- 

 ever, if the treatment is thorough, by burning a quantity of 

 brimstone in an earthen dish, with the supers and combs piled 

 in broken tiers, so as to allow free circulation of the gas produced, 

 the quantity of brimstone that will kill the flies in the room will 

 also kill the moths. The quantity to be used must depend upon 

 the size of the room and its greater or less ability to retain the 

 fumes. 



We also use carbon-bisulphide, poured upon a rag and laid 

 at the top of a pile of supers, closing the pile carefully to allow 

 the evaporating gas to penetrate in all the crevices. Care must 



113 



