158 BEE-FARMING. 



done by mice. Would not the common spring wire-trap, 

 baited with oatmeal, answer much better than the one 

 advocated by Huish ? 



The toad may be considered as a great devourer of 

 bees, and he does it in a very cruel and wicked manner. 

 He gets close beneath the stand, amongst weeds or be- 

 hind some heaps of earth, with just his head only peeping 

 out, and, being almost the colour of dry earth, it is diiB- 

 cult to detect his presence. In summer, just before 

 swarming, when the evenings are warm, the bees cluster 

 outside like a large bunch of grapes, often hanging from 

 beneath the stand for five or six inches. Now and then, 

 two or three bees will by some accident be loosened from 

 the cluster, and drop on the ground. No sooner does 

 this happen than they are gobbled up by the reptile ; thus 

 the poor bees have but little chance to defend themselves. 

 Again, a toiling industrious worker has been out on the 

 heath, perhaps some miles away from home, when it re- 

 turns laden with both honey and pollen. Weary and 

 exhausted when it arrives at home, just as it reaches the 

 alighting board it drops off and falls. The toad on the 

 watch snatches it up in his ugly maw, and it is seen no 

 more. The toad not only watches for bees, but is fre- 

 <juently seen close by the wall or hedge-bank which har- 

 bours a wasp's nest, and as greedily devours these yellow 

 gentry as he does the more sober-tinted bees. 



The only safeguard against this foe is to watch for his 

 appearance. When he sits " seeking whom he may de- 

 vour" in the eventide, take him by the hind leg and 

 throw him as far as possible over the fence. It will take 

 him some days, probably, before he will be able to reach his 

 old quarters. In some of our popular bee-books I have 

 seen the recommendation to empty the snuff-box on his 

 back. This is great cruelty, and cannot be used, even on 

 a toad, with a clear conscience. Our Irish bee-keepers, 



