122 BEEKEEPING 



one or two of the brood combs had been 

 entirely destroyed and the remaining ones 

 ruined for any future use. 



Whenever they are found we may be 

 quite sure that some other agency is at 

 work to weaken the colony ; the moth be- 

 ing only a danger signal to warn us to 

 look closely and discover what it is that is 

 weakening the bees to the point where 

 they are no longer able to resist invasion. 



In some sections of the country ants are 

 a serious pest in the beehive. They may 

 be prevented from reaching the colony by 

 using a low platform set up on short legs. 

 Each leg should be stood in a tin cup con- 

 taining any heavy oil. The ants will not 

 cross the oil. Such an arrangement must 

 be given occasional attention, however, 

 for rain-water will collect in the cups and 

 float off the oil. In place of the oil the 

 legs of the hive stand may be banded with 

 tree tangle foot, a sticky preparation sim- 

 ilar to that used on fly-paper. It will re- 

 main viscid and effective during the 



