434 Shrews and Mice. 



irritate, perhaps destroy, the bees, and create a very offen- 

 sive stench. They often greatly injure comb which is out- 

 side the hive, destroy smokers, by eating leather off the 

 bellows, and if they get at the seeds of honey plants, they 

 never retreat till they make complete the work of destruc- 

 tion. 



In the house and cellar, unless they are made as they 

 should always be — mouse proof, these plagues should be, 

 by use of cat or trap, completely exterminated. If we 

 winter on the summer stands, the entrance should be so 

 contracted that mice cannot enter the hive. In case of 

 packing as I have recommended, I should prefer a more 

 ample opening, which may be safely secured by taking a 

 piece of wire cloth or. perforated tin or zinc, and tacking it 

 over the entrance, letting it come within one-fourth of an 

 inch of the bottom board. This will give more air, and 

 still preclude the entrance of these miserable vermin. 



SHREWS. 



These are mole-like animals (Fig. 222), and look not 

 Fig. 222. 



unlike a mouse with a long pointed nose like the moles, 

 to which they are closely related. They are insectivorous 

 and have needle shaped teeth, quite unlike those of the 

 Rodentia which includes the true mice. I have received 

 from Illinois and Missouri species of the short-tailed shrews 

 — Blarina — which enter the hives in winter and eat the 

 bees, only refusing the head and wings. They injure the 

 combs but little. As they will pass through a space three- 

 eighths of an inch wide, it is not easy to keep them out 

 of hives where the bees are wintering on their summer 

 stands. I have received a short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevi- 

 cauda, Gray, which was taken in the hives by Mr. Little, 

 of Illinois. 



