152 
ENEMIES OF BEES. 
partial attacks of single wasps, however, are of little 
moment, farther than that they are, perhaps, explo- 
ratory ; it is when they come in a hotly that the safety 
of a hive is endangered ; in such cases the utmost 
care of the bee-master is often unavailing. The wily 
insects soon discover the weakness of any particular 
hive in point of population, and, acting on this disco- 
very, attack it in such numbers, that nothing but its 
removal can save it from speedy and utter destruction. 
Bad as wasps are, the Bees themselves are the 
worst enemies to their own species. In a back- 
ward spring, or toward the end of autumn, when the 
population begins to be scanty, some bees may be 
observed lounging about the apiary, as if conscious 
that there was no present scope for the exercise of 
honest industry, and, like other idlers, seem ripe for 
any mischief. A single bee may be seen peering 
into the entrances of several hives, as if to ascertain 
the strength of the population, or the vigilance of 
the guards ; and on finding access from a deficiency 
in either of these particulars, proceeds to carry oif 
its load from the store-cells. After frequently re- 
peating these domiciliary visits, it returns at last with 
several of its companions, their numbers increasing 
at every visit, till the hive becomes a scene of pillage 
and slaughter. Their first endeavours are, it is said, 
to find out and kill the Queen ; and after this catas- 
trophe, the rightful owners seem to lose all interest 
in their property, and associating at last with the 
robbers, join in the plunder of their own stores.* 
* Old Butler, in his “ Feminine Monarchic," published at 
