484 



THE bee-kbepkr's guide ; 



the powder-like droppings of the caterpillars, -which will 

 always be seen on the bottom-board in case the moth-larvae 

 are at work. Soon, in three or four weeks, the larvae are full 

 grown (Fig. 264). Now the six-jointed and the ten prop-legs — 

 makingf sixteen in all, the usual number possessed by cater- 

 pillars — are plainly visible. These larvae are about an inch 

 long, and show by their plump appearance that they at least 

 can digest comb. However, though these are styled wax- 

 moths they must have either pollen or dead bees to mingle 

 with their wax. While it is true that there is a little nitrogen- 

 ous material in wax, there is not enough so that even the wax- 



FiG. 266. 



^H«?;*':^«^ 



Bce-2Iolli.—Orhfmal. 



Cocoons. — Original. 



moth larva could thrive on it alone. They now spin their 

 cocoons, either in some crevice about the hive, or, if very 

 numerous, singly (Fig. 26S, a) or in clusters (Fig. 26S, b) on the 

 comb, or even in the drone-cells (Fig. 265, c), in which they 

 become pups, and in two weeks, even less sometimes, during 

 the extreme heat of summer, the moths again appear. In 

 winter they may remain as pup^ for months. The moths or 

 millers — sometimes incorrectly called moth-millers — are of an 

 obscure gray color, and thus so mimic old boards that they are 

 very readily passed unobserved by the apiarist. They are 

 about three-fourths of an inch long, and expand (Fig. 266) 



