191 
from destroying Bees „ 
in the state of New York, and had gradually progressed 
through New Jersey, and I have now learned, that last 
year they were first observed in Chester County. From 
this it appears they are gradually progressing to the south, 
and will probably in a few years spread over the whole 
country. Their ravages are so destructive wherever 
they appear, that, unless some method of destroying 
them shall be discovered, they bid fair to exterminate 
the bees from our continent. 
I therefore hope you will publish in the Emporium, 
for the information of the public, the following account 
of these worms, and of the methods that have been made 
use of to prevent their ravages. 
The worms are of a light yellow colour ; the body con- 
sists of twelve rings, and it has fourteen feet; the head 
is of a dark brown colour. They very much resemble a 
worm we often find in granaries of wheat. They are of 
various sizes ; the largest about as thick as a writing quill, 
and an inch and an half in length. 
These worms may be found in the mornings under 
the edges of the hive, where they lay out of the reach of 
the bees. When they have greatly increased, they 
either destroy the bees, or drive them from the hive. The 
combs will then be found nearly destroyed, and the re- 
mains of them matted together by a web, similar to a 
caterpillar’s nest. I am not certain whether they devour 
the honey or the young bees ; but, whenever I have raised 
a hive from the bench, if the worms had committed great 
! ravages, I have found young bees under the hive ; 
these bees, I have frequently observed, were half de- 
voured. 
After the worms have grown to their full size, they 
wrap themselves up in a very firm covering; and in 
about two weeks appear in the form of a moth, or what 
| is commonly called a miller. These moths are of a 
