260 ENEMIES OF BEES. 



bees to protect themselves from its ravages. If it had been 

 constituted so as to require but a small amount of heat for its 

 full development, it would have become exceedingly numer- 

 ous, early in the Spring, and might then have easily entered the 

 hives, and deposited its eggs among the combs without any 

 hindrance ; for at this season, not only is there no guard 

 maintained, by the bees, at night, at the entrance of their 

 hive, but large portions of their comb being left bare, are 

 entirely unprotected. How does every fact in the history 

 of the bee, when properly investigated, point with unerring 

 certainly, to the power, wisdom, and goodness of Him who 

 made it ! 



If there is reason to apprehend that the combs which are 

 not occupied with brood, contain any of the eggs of the 

 moth, these combs may be removed, and smoked with the 

 fumes of burning sulphur ; and then, in a few days, after 

 they have been exposed to the fresh air, returned to the hive. 

 By soaking them in clean water, for a day, they will be 

 cleansed, and the eggs or larvee of the moth effectually de- 

 stroyed. After removing them from the water, and care- 

 fully shaking out all that you can, hang them where they 

 will thoroughly dry. If not returned to the care of the 

 bees, they should be kept in a clean and dry place, out of 

 the reach of the moth. 



Bees, as is well known to every experienced bee-keeper, 

 frequently swarm so often as to endanger their destruction 

 by the moth. When the after-swarms have left, the parent 

 colony often contains too few bees to cover and protect their 

 combs, from the insidious attacks of their wily enemy. As 

 a number of weeks must elapse before the brood of the 

 young queen matures, the colony, for a considerable time, 

 at the season when the moths are very numerous, is con- 

 stantly diminishing in numbers, and often before it can re- 



