ENEMIES OP BEES. 243 



ment founded, in part, upon the peculiar construction of my 

 hives, which will enable the careful bee-keeper to protect 

 his colonies against the enemy. The careful bee-keeper, 1 

 say ; for to pretend that the careless one, can, by any con- 

 trivance, effect this, is " a snare and a delusion ;" and no 

 well-informed man, unless steeped to the very lips, in fraud 

 and imposture, will claim to accomplish anything of the 

 kind. Tho bee-moth infests our Apiaries, just as weeds 

 take possession of a fertile soil ; and the negligent bee- 

 keeper will find a "moth-proof" hive, when the sluggard 

 finds a weed-proof soil. Before explaining the means upon 

 which I rely, to circumvent the moth, I will give a brief 

 description of its habits. 



Swammerdam, towards the close of the 17th century, 

 gave an accurate description of this insect, which was then 

 called by the expressive name of the " bee-wolf." He has 

 furnished good drawings of it, in all its changes, from the 

 worm to the perfect moth, together with the peculiar webs 

 or galleries which it constructs, and from which the name of 

 Tinea Galleria, or gallery moth, has been given to it by 

 some entomologists. He failed, however, to discriminate 

 between the male and the female, which, because they differ 

 so much in size and appearance, he supposed to be two dif- 

 ferent species of the wax-moth. It seems to have been a 

 great pest in his time ; and even Virgil speaks of the "dirum 

 tineae genus," the dreadful offspring of the moth ; that is the 

 worm. 



This destroyer usually makes its appearance about the hives, 

 in April or May ; the time of its coming, depending upon 

 the warmth of the climate, or the forwardness of the season. 

 It is seldom seen on the wing, unless startled from its lurking 

 place about the hive, until towards dark, and is evidently, 

 chiefly nocturnal in its habits. In cloudy days, however, I 



