472 ENEMIES OF BEES. 
the moth as early in the season as he can, while swarming 
his bees. The destruction of a single female worm may 
thus be more effectual than the slaughter of hundreds at a 
later period. 
816. Mice. It seems almost incredible that such puny 
animals as mice should venture to invade a hive of bees; 
and they often slip in when cold compels the bees to retreat 
from tne entrance. Having once gained admission, they 
build a warm nest in their comfortable abode, eat up the 
honey and such bees as are too much chilled to offer resis- 
tance,* and fill the premises with such a stench, that the bees, 
on the arrival of warm weather, often abandon their polluted 
home. The entrance should never be made deep enough to 
allow mice to pass (348). 
817. Brrps. Very few birds are fond of bees. ‘The 
King-bird (Tyrannus musicapa), which devours them by 
scores, is said—when he can have his choice—to eat only the 
drones; but as he catches bees on the blossoms—which are 
never frequented by these fat and lazy gentlemen — the 
industrious workers must often fall a prey to his fatal snap. 
There is good reason to suspect that this gourmand can 
distinguish between an empty bee in search of food, and 
one which, returning laden to its fragrant home, is in excel- 
lent condition to glide—already sweetened — down his 
voracious maw. 
818. The bee-keepers of England complain of the spar- 
rows, which they accuse of eating bees. If these birds 
add this mischief to so many others of which they are guilty, 
the bee-keepers should find some means of getting rid of 
them. In the Vosges (France) most of the farmers suspend 
earthen pots to the walls of their barns in which the spar- 
rows make their nests. These jug-shape pots are examined 
*In eating bees, the mice eat the head and corselet, but not the abdomen, 
probably because of the smell of the poison sack. 
