262 MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 



and thus becomes disagreeable. I have found that a veiy 

 little salicylic acid will render it sterile, and thus preserve it 

 indefinitely. 



ENEMIES OF BEES. 



Swift was no mean entomologist, as shown in the follow- 

 ing stanza : 



"The little fleas that do us tease. 

 Have lesser fleas to bite them. 

 And these again have lesser fleas. 

 And so ad infinitum," 



Bees are no exception to this law, as they have to brave 

 the attacks of reptiles, birds, and other insects. In fact, they 

 are beset with perils at home, and perils abroad, perils by night 

 and perils by day. 



THE BEE MOTH — GalleHa Cereana, Fabr. 

 This insect belongs to the family of' snout moths, Pyra- 

 lidae. This snout is not the tongue, but the palpi, which 

 fact was not known by Mr. Langstroth, who is usually so 



Fig. 102. 



accurate, as he essayed to correct Dr. Harris, who stated cor- 

 rectly, that the tongue, the ligula, was " very short and 

 hardly visible." This family includes the destructive hop 



