270 ENEMIES OF BEES. 



Let me, however, strongly advise the incorrigibly careless, 

 to have nolhiHg to do with bees, either on my plan of man- 

 agement, or any other ; for they will find both time and 

 money almost certainly thrown away ; unless their mishaps 

 open their eyes to the secret of their failure in other things, 

 as well as in bee-keeping. 



If 1 find that the worms, by any means, have got the up- 

 p>er hand in one of my hives, I lake out the combs, shake off 

 the bees, destroy the worms, and restore the combs again to 

 the bees : if there is reason to fear that they contain eggs 

 and small worms, they may be smoked with sulphur, or 

 soaked in water, before they are returned. Such operations, 

 however, will very seldom be required. Shallow vessels 

 containing sweetened water, placed on the hives after sun- 

 set, will often entrap many of the moths. So fond are the 

 molhs of something sweet, that I have eaoght them slicking 

 fast to pieces of moist sugar candy. Pans of milk have been 

 recommended for entrapping the moth. If milk was as 

 cheap as water, it miight be used for such a purpose. 



I cannot deny myself the pleasure of making an extract 

 from an article* from the pen of that aecomplished scholar, 

 and well-known enthusiast in bee-culture, Henry K. Oliver, 

 Esq. " We add a few words respecting the enemies of 

 bees. The mouse, the toad, the ant, the stouter spiders, 

 the wasp, the death-head moth, (Sphinx atropos,) and all the 

 varieties of gallinaceous birds, have, each and all, " a sweet 

 tooth," and like, very well, a dinner of raw bee. But the 

 ravages of all these are but a baby bite to the destruction 

 caused by the bee-moth, (Tinea mellonella.) These Bimble- 

 footed little mischievous vermin may be seen, on any eve- 

 ning, from early May to October, fluttering about the apiary, 

 or running about the hives, at a speed to outstrip the swiftest 



'Report OQ bees to tKe Essei County Agricultural Society, 1851. 



