ENEMIES OF BEKS. 233 



Wax is the cliief food of these wonjis.* When obliged 

 to steal their living among a strong stock of bees, they 

 seldom fare well enough to reauh the size which they 

 attain when rioting at pleasure among the full combs of a 

 discouraged population. In about three weeks, the larva) 

 stop eating, and seek a suitable place for encasing them- 

 selves in their silky shroud. In hives where they reign 

 unmolested, almost any place will answer their purpose, 

 and they often pUe their cocoons one on another, or join 

 them together in long rows. They sometimes occupy the 

 empty combs, so that their cocoons resemble the capping 

 of the honey-ceUs. In -Plate XIX., Fig. 56, Mr. Tidd 

 has given a dra^Tng, accurate in size and form, of a 

 curious instance of this kind. The black spots, resembling 

 grains of gunpowder, are the excrements of the worms. 

 In hives strongly guarded by healthy bees, many a worm, 

 wliile piying about to find a snug hiding place, is seized 

 by the nape of the neck, and served with an instant writ 

 of ejectment. If a hive is thoroughly made, it runs a 

 dangerous gauntlet, as it passes, in search of some 

 crevice, through the ranks of its enraged foes. Its mo- 

 tions, however, are exceedingly quick, and it is full of 

 cunning devices, being able to crawl backwards, to twist 

 round on itself, to curl up almost into a knot, and to flat- 

 ten itself out like a pancake. If obliged to leave the 

 hive, it gets under some board or concealed crack, spins 

 its cocoon, and patiently awaits its transformation. In 

 most hives, it readily finds a crack int» which it can 

 creep, or a smaU space between the movable bottom- 



" * "liarTffl fed exclusively on pv/ra wax will die, wax being a non-nitrogenona 

 Eobstanoe, and not furnisMng the aliment required for their perfect develop- 

 ment.'' — DoNHOFF. 



This statement agrees with the, fact, that 'the larvffl prefer the brood-comhs, and 

 that the combs of an old stock are more liable to be devoured than those of a 

 new one. 



