228 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE BEE-MOTH, AUD OTHBE ENEMIES OP BEES— DISEASES 

 OF BEES. 



The Bee-Moth {Tinea meUonella) is mentioned- by 

 Aristotle, Virgil, Columella and other ancient authors, as 

 one of the most formidable enemies of the honey-bee.. 

 Modem writers, almost without exception, have regarded 

 it as the plague of their Apiaries ; while in this country its 

 ravages have been so fatal, that the majority of culti- 

 vators have abandoned bee-keeping in despair. Most of 

 the contrivances devised against it have proved worthless, 

 and not a few have aided its nefarious designs. 



Having closely studied its habits, -i. am able to show 

 how careful bee-keepers may protect ^heir colonies from 

 being ruined by its assaults. The careless wiU obtain a 

 '■'■moth-proof" hive only when the sluggard finds a 

 '■'■ vieedrjyroof" soil. Before stating how to circumvent 

 the moth, its habits will be briefly described. 



Swammerdam speaks of two species of the bee-moth 

 (called in hjs time the " bee-wolf"), one much larger than 

 the other. LinnKus and Reaumur also describe two 

 kinds — Tinea cereana and Tinea meUonella. Most 

 writers suppose the former to be the male, and the latter 

 the female of the same species. The following description 

 is abridged from Dr. Harris' Report on the Insects of 

 Massachusetts : 

 " " Very few of the TinecB exceed or even equal it in 

 size. In its adult state it is a winged moth, or miller, 

 measuring, from the head to the tip of the closed wings, 



