472 ENEMIES OF BEES. 



the moth as early in the season as he can, while swarming 

 his bees. The destruction of a single female worm may 

 thus be more effectual than the slaughter of hundreds at a 

 later period. 



816. Mice. It seems almost incredible that such puny 

 animals as mice should venture to invade a hive of bees ; 

 and tliey often slip in when cold compels the bees to retreat 

 from the entrance. Having once gained admission, they 

 build a warm nest in their comfortable abode, eat up the 

 honey and such bees as are too much chilled to offer resis- 

 tance,* and fill the premises with such a stench, that the bees, 

 on the arrival of warm weather, often abandon their polluted 

 home. The entrance should never be made deep enough to 

 allow mice to pass (348). 



817. Birds. Very few birds are fond of bees. The 

 King-bird {Tyrannus musicapa), which devours them by 

 scores, is said — when he can have his choice — to eat only the 

 drones ; but as he catches bees on the blossoms — which are 

 never frequented by these fat and lazy gentlemen — the 

 industrious worliers must often fall a prey to his fatal snap. 

 There is good reason to suspect that this gourmand can 

 distinguish between an empty bee in search of food, and 

 one which, returning laden to its fragrant home, is in excel- 

 lent condition to glide — already sweetened — down his 

 voracious maw. 



818. The bee-keepers of England complain of the spar- 

 rows, which they accuse of eating bees. If these birds 

 add this mischief to so manj' others of which they are guilty, 

 the bee-keepers should find some means of getting rid of 

 them. In the Vosges (France) most of the farmers suspend 

 eaithen pots to the walls of their barns in which the spar- 

 rows make their nests. These jug-shape pots are examined 



*In eating bees, the mice eat the head and corselet, hut not the abdomen, 

 probably because of the smell of the poison sack. 



