MANUAL OF THE APIART. 265 



are very readily passed unobserved by the apiarist. They are 

 about three-fourths of an inch long, and expand (Fig. 106) 

 nearly one and one-fourth inches. The females (Fig. 107) are 

 darker than the males (Fig. 107), possess a longer snout, and 

 are usually a little larger. The wings, when the moths are 

 quiet (Fig. 107) are flat on the back for a narrow space, then 

 slope very abruptly. They rest by day, yet, when disturbed, 

 will dart forth with great swiftness, so Reuamur styled them 

 "nimble-footed." They are active by night, when they essay 



Fig. 107. 



Male. Fem/de. 



to enter the hive and deposit their one or two hundred eggs. 

 If the females are held in the hand they will often extrude 

 their eggs ; in fact, they have been known to do this even after 

 the head and thorax were severed from the abdomen, and still 

 more strange, while the latter was being dissected. 



It is generally stated that these are two-brooded, the first 

 moths occurring in May, the second in August. Yet, as I 

 have seen these moths in every month from May to Septem- 

 ber, and as I have proved by actual observation that they may 

 pass from egg \o moth in less than six weeks, I think under 

 favorable conditions there may be even three broods a year. 

 It is true that the varied conditions of temperature — as the 

 moth larvss may grow in a deserted hive, in one with few 

 bees, or one crowded with bee life — will have much to do 

 with the rapidity of development. Circumstances may so 

 retard growth and development that there may not be more 

 than two, and possibly, in extreme cases, more than one brood 

 in a season. 



It is stated by Mr Quinby that a freezing temperature will 

 kill these insects in all stages, while Mr. Betsinger thinks 

 that a deserted hive is safe, neither of which assertions are 

 correct. I have seen hives, whose bees were killed by the 



