94 THE BOOK OF BEE-KEEPING. 



has ceased, when the bees' irritability is very much increased. 

 The Red-backed Shrike, or Butcher Bird (Lanius collurio), we have 

 frequently seen catching bees and impaling them upon the barbs 

 of a wire fence surrounding the apiary. 



144:. Toads. — These should never be allowed in sufficient 

 numbers in an apiary to do any very serious damage. They will 

 watch the entrances of hives and lick up any bee coming within 

 reach of their long tongues; also those bees which have been 

 blown among weeds or grass under the hives. 



145. Mice. — These busy little animals will cause much 

 dcbtruction among the hives and bees if not kept within bounds. 

 Wherever their signs are noticed about the hives, search should be 

 made for them, and when found, killed. They will frequently get 

 into the hives among the combs if the entrances are too large ; 

 when such is the case, the bees are quickly destroyed, the combs 

 irreparably damaged, and the honey consumed. A good preven- 

 tive is to place a wire lengthways across the entrance ; this will 

 prevent the entrance of the mice, at the same time allowing suffi- 

 cient space for the exit and ingress of the bees, and ventilation. 

 Under the coverings of straw skeps is a favouri_,te place for mice 

 to make nests, holes being frequently gnawed through the crown, 

 and the combs tainted with their excreta ; this latter will fre- 

 quently cause the bees to vacate a hive. 



146. Wasps. — These are very troublesome to the apiarist 

 in autumn and late summer. All entrances to hives should be 

 kept well contracted, as although a colony may be strong enough 

 to defend a wide entrance, the wasps being able to bear a greater 

 amount of cold than bees, will attack a hive and gain an 

 entrance at such times when the temperature is too low to admit 

 of the warmth-loving bees guarding their entrance properly. They 

 will also endeavour to gain an entrance, and are usually successful, 

 before the bees are fairly awake for the day, and also after sun- 

 down, while twilight lasts. All wasps seen during March, April, 

 and beginning of May, should be killed, as those found flying then 

 are the queens, who are searching for locations in which to found a 

 new colony ; so that killing one of these in spring means many 

 thousands less during autumn. Narrow-mouthed bottles of stale 

 beer hung about the apiary will be the means of trapping large 

 numbers ; their nests should be searched for and destroyed at 

 night. 



147. Moths. — These are a great nuisance in the store-room, 

 but not so much in the hives, although they are in the first instance 

 usually reared in them. If colonies are kept strong, especially if 

 they are Italians, moths have little chance to do any material 

 damage in the hive ; but where combs are stored, they will quickly 

 be spoilt by the moth larvae drilling tortuous holes along the mid- 



