ENEMIES OF THE BEE 117 
become a source of anxiety to the bee- 
keeper, and it is therefore to his interest to 
aid in keeping their numbers down as much 
as possible. The usual method is to destroy 
the nests before the queens are hatched out 
—which generally occurs about the middle of 
September. 
Snails and Slugs.—Here again the bee- 
Keeper and the gardener are at one in their 
efforts against common enemies. It is pro- 
bably due to the trail of slime left by both 
slug and snail that the bees do not care to 
interfere with these intruders to the hive and 
leave them to roam about at their leisure. 
The practice of using old honeycombs as 
bait or traps for these marauders is not to be 
commended, for their fermenting contents 
near the hives is in no way good, and may 
lead to ill, for the bees. Where snails and 
slugs are troublesome it is better to raise the 
hives at least a foot from the ground and 
clear away all grass and weeds in their im- 
mediate neighbourhood, sprinkling the ground 
with strong salt and water—or if the ground 
is to be fallowed, dry salt may be used. 
Birds.—For the most part birds are in- 
direct enemies of the bees, for they injure 
them by injuring the buds and flowers on which 
* 120 
