242 



THE HIVE AND HONET-BEE. 



Almost anything hollow will often, for a series of years, 

 be successfully tenanted by bees. To see hives, with 

 large, open cracks, whose owners are ignorant and care- 

 less, bidding defiance to the moth, may, at first sight, 

 impair confidence in the value of any precautions. While 

 stocks often flourish in such log-cabin hives, others, in 

 costly " Bee-Palaces," are frequently devoured by the 

 worms — ^their owner, with all the newest devices in the 

 Apiarian line, being unable to protect them against their 

 enemies, or to explain why some colonies, like the chil- 

 dren of the poor, appear almost to thrive upon neglect, 

 while others, like the offspriog of the rich, are feeble, 

 apparently in exact proportion to the care lavished on them * 



I shall now explain why some stocks flourish in spite of 

 neglect, while others, most cared for, fall a prey to the 

 moth, and shall show how, in suitable hives, and with 

 proper precautions, the moth may be kept from seriously 

 annoying the bees. 



A feeble colony being unable to cover its combs, they 

 are often filled with the eggs of the moth, and, frequently, 

 their owner becomes aware of their condition only when 

 their ruin is completed. But how, can the novice 

 know when a stock, in a common hive, is seriouslyf in- 

 fested with these aU-devouring worms ? The discouraged 

 aspect of the bees plainly indicates that there is trouble 

 of some kind within, and the bottom-board will be cov- 

 ered with pieces of bee-bread mixed with the excrement 

 of the worms, which looks like grains of gunpowder.X 



* It is very common to hear bee-keepers speak of having " g lod luck," or " bad 

 luck," with their bees ; and, as bees are managed, success or failure often seems to 

 depend almost entirely upon what is called "luck." 



t Inexperienced bee-keepers, who imagine that a colony is nearly ruined when 

 they find a few womis, should remember that almost every old stock, however 

 strong or healthy, has some of these enemies lurking about its premises. 



X When bees in the Spring prepare their cells for brood, the bottom-board is 

 often covered with small pieces of comb and h'ee-bread ; but if these arc not mixed 

 with the ilack excrement, they are proofs of Industry, instead of signs of ruin. 



