234 



DISEASES AND ENEMIES OF BEES. 



but feeble in comparison. From the motli herself we 

 would have nothing to fear, were it not for her progeny, 

 a hundred, or a thousand, vile worms, the food of which 

 is principally wax. 



As the instinct of the flesh-fly directs her to a putrid car- 

 cass to deposit her eggs, that her offspring may have their 

 proper food, so the bee-motli seeks the hive containing 

 combs, where the natural food of her progeny is at hand. 

 During the day, a rusty brown miller, with its wings close 



Fig. 89.— BEE MOTH. 



to the body, may be often seen lying perfectly motionless 

 on the corner of a hive, or on the under edge of the top, 

 where it projects over. They are more frequent at the cor- 

 ners than anywhere else, one-third of their length project- 

 ing beyond it, appearing much like a sliver on the edge of a 

 board that is somewhat weather-beaten, (fig. 89). Their 

 color so closely resembles that of old wood, that no doubt 

 their enemies are often deceived, and they thus escape 

 with their lives. As soon as darkness shuts out the view, 

 and there is no danger of their movements being discov- 

 ered, they throw off their inactivity, and commence 

 searcliing for a place to deposit their eggs, and woe to the 

 stock that has not bees sutBcient to drive them from the 

 «onib. Although their larvae generally has a skin that 



