Enemies of Bees — Moths. 



313 



The eggs of the bee moth are white, globular and very 

 small. These are usually pushed into crevices by the female 

 moth as she extrudes them, which she can easily do by aid 

 of her spy-glass-like ovipositor. They may be laid in the hive, 

 in the crevice underneath it, or about the entrance. Soon 

 these eggs hatch, when the gray, dirty looking caterpillars, 

 with brown heads, seek the comb on which they feed. To 



Fig. 



Fig. 167. 



168. 



better protect themselves from the bees, they wrap themselves 

 in a silken tube (Fig. 167) which they have power to spin. 

 _ They remain in this tunnel of silk during all their growth, en- 

 larging it as they eat. By looking closely, the presence of 

 these larvae may be known by this robe of glistening silk, as it 

 extends in branching outlines (Fig 168) along the surface of 

 the comb. A more speedy detection, even, than the defaced 

 comb, comes from the particles of comb, intermingled with 

 the powder-like droppings of the caterpillars, which will al- 

 ways be seen on the bottom-board in case the moth-larvse are 

 at work. Soon, in three or four weeks, the larvse are full 

 grown (Fig. 169). Now the six jointed, and the ten prop- 

 legs — making sixteen in all, the usual number possessed by cat- 

 erpillars — are plainly visible. These larvse are about an inch 



