LNEMIES OF BEItS. 241 



" Since that period, a succession of patent hives, wl^gse 

 originators were ignorant of the habits of the moth, has 

 appearea as its auxiliaries, and the two combined, have 

 nearly exterminated the bee from that section of the 

 country. The efforts of a few individuals, of more than 

 usual perseverance and ingenuity, were occasionally 

 attended with limited success. 



"In the Summer of 1810, 1 resided in the county of 

 Trumbull, Ohio. The moth had not reached this part of 

 the country, and' bee-culture was extensively pursued, and 

 with a success I have never witnessed elsewhere. The 

 rich German farmers were on a strife to excel each other 

 in the number of their colonies. Two or three hundred 

 they frequently attained. 



"In 1818, 1 again visited that county, and permanently 

 located there in 1823, and at both periods found that 

 pursuit stiU. prospering. In August, 1828, while visiting 

 a sick family in Mercer Co., Pa., I observed that a large 

 Apiary was suffering severely from the attacks of the 

 worm. The proprietor informed me that it had made its 

 appearance for the first time the present season. Within 

 another year, it spread over all of Northern Ohio, and in 

 the "Winter of 1831-2, I learned, from members of the 

 Legislature, that it had reached every part of our State. 

 Similar results followed its progress here, as m the New 

 England States. 



" Until the introduction of your system of movable 

 fi-ames, no successful means of counteracting its ravages 

 were devised. I am happy to say that, by the aid of your 

 hives, I have not the least difficulty in meeting it. 

 " With great respect, yours, &o., 



" Ret. L. L. Langstrotfl " Jared P. Kirtland.'' 



out the large death-head moth (SpTmrnn atropos), a single one of which can swallow 

 a tablespoonful of honey. ^ 



An Apiarian, from Ohio, sent me some honey-eating moths, much larger than the 

 bee-motb, which entered his weak hives and gorged themselyeswith honey. 

 11 



