THE ENEMIES OF OUR HO NET-BEE. 159 



through the kindness of their patron saint, are fortunately 

 delivered from this odious pest. 



Without doubt, bees can reckon amongst their enemies 

 the various kinds of soft-billed or insectivorous birds. 

 The wrarblers probably destroy many bees, but the worst 

 of this class of enemies is, that we are seldom able to 

 detect them actually destroying bees, therefore we cannot 

 often honestly charge them with this hideous crime. Very 

 few birds venture so close to our dwellings, as the bench 

 which supports the cottage hives is situated no further 

 away than beneath the kitchen window. Thousands, we 

 believe, of our honey-bees are picked off the blossoms by 

 birds, when, unsuspicious of danger, they are engaged 

 sucking up the honey from the nectary of the flower. 

 My bees are kept some distance away from my dwelling, 

 therefore I have had a very good opportunity of watching 

 closely this class of foes. After careful scrutiny I have 

 come to this conclusion : that most of our birds which 

 have been charged with this crime are innocent, in so far 

 as killing the living insect is concerned. I have seen the 

 thrush, tom-tit, robin readbreast, with several more, busy 

 picking up for food the dead bees lying on the ground, 

 beneath the stands, but I cannot say that I have ever seen 

 them standing on either the hive or pedestal to catch the 

 bees as they were leaving or returning to the hive. 



The worst bird enemy the British apiarian has to 

 contend against is, I am convinced, the fly-catcher. These 

 birds may be seen, on calm summer evenings, flying to 

 and fro, opposite the hives, and catching the poor bees on 

 the wing. Yet this bird may, after all, do far more good 

 than harm, in ridding the air of millions of insect pests. 

 The atmosphere would be unbearable were it not for 

 insectivorous birds. Not only so, what would become of 

 our garden vegetables, fruits, &c. were it not for birds ? 

 It is astonishing the quantity of insects and worms a 



