THE ENEMIES OF OUR HONET-BEE. 157 



means entailed upon bee-keepers in some parts of England 

 are very heavy. The best plan to free the bees from the 

 depredations of this animal is to place the hives on single 

 pedestals, or stands, about two feet high, and as winter 

 approaches lessen the entrance, so that only two bees can 

 pass and repass at each time. Espinasse says he has 

 known mice to take up their residence in hives without 

 destroying the bees. This is contrary to the experience 

 of every practical apiarian with whom I have come in 

 contact. Mice are unable to walk in a reverted direction ; 

 therefore hives on simple single stands are secure, unless 

 something is placed against them, as is frequently done 

 from thoughtlessness ; then these creatures, ever on the 

 watch for an opportunity, ascend. I have often thought 

 that they are tempted to enter straw hives because of their 

 resemblance in miniature to stacks of hay or straw, for 

 they are never known to enter wooden hives, and it is 

 morally certain they cannot smell either honey or bees in 

 cold weather ; thus they are probably allured at first by 

 the thought of feasting on grain, such as wheat or oats, 

 then, finding something more sweet, they speedily become 

 tenants at will. 



Huish recommends a trap of the following construc- 

 tion to destroy them, if they are lurking anywhere in the 

 neighbourhood of the apiary : — " Let a pea be soaked 

 in water, then draw a thread through it, and tying a small 

 stick at each end, place it in the ground the exact dis- 

 tance of the width of a brick ; the brick is then placed 

 on the thread, and the mouse coming to gnaw the pea 

 gnaws also the thread, and, the support of the brick being 

 thus taken away, it falls and kills ihe mouse." This kind 

 of trap may be found very serviceable, as mice are re- 

 markably fond of seed-peas. Sparrows are blamed for 

 much of the damage done to the rows of seed-peas in our 

 gardens in early spring, whereas it is nearly, if not all. 



