228 THE APIARY. 



within view, either from the dining-room, or of those 

 whose duties oblige them to be near the apiary. If we 

 had not happened to be at hand at the moment this colony 

 started, it would have been irretrievably lost to us. Many 

 swarms and colonies are lost, simply because the depart- 

 ure takes place without anyone witnessing it. Let us 

 hope that runaway bees may always fall into the hands 

 of those who are as capable of taking care of them as 

 cwr neighbours appeared to be on the occasion we have 

 described. 



Other formidable enemies of bees are moths. These 



insects are creatures of the night, as the wasps are of 



the d^y, and they make their way into the hives under 



cover of darkness, in spite of the bee-sentinels. They 



deposit their eggs in any crevices in or near the hiye 



that they can find. There the warmth of the hive, or of 



. the sheltered situation, causes the eggs speedily, to hatch, 



and then the maggots soon work their way to the comb 



and larvae food, which they greedily devour, thereby 



often bringing about the gradual but certain destruction 



of the whole community of bees. The best method 



of, keeping moths outside the hives is to lessen the 



entrance, as before alluded to. Also, in the early 



spring, the hives should be lifted from their floor-boards, 



which must then be made thoroughly clean ; and all 



crevices and comers about the hive and stand should be 



scraped, so as to get rid of all eggs of moths and other 



insects before the warm weather hatches them or enables 



