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with a little vinegar or sweetened whey, in white earth- 
en dishes, among the hives during the night ; these 
dishes must be removed early in the morning, or else 
many bees may be drowned in like manner. If small 
birds, especially the little wren, are encouraged to build 
their nests in the vicinity of apiaries, — by putting up 
boxes, made four inches square, with an entrance hole 
one and a-half inches wide, — many moths and millers 
will be caught and devoured by them. 
OTHER ENEMIES OF THE BEE. 
Roaches and ants seek an abode in hives through the 
openings of improperly-made joints. Hunt up their 
hillock, spade into it and pour warm soap-suds or lime- 
water over it. The places frequented in the hive, and 
especially the entrance crevices, should be moistened 
with spirits of turpentine, or with the juice of tansy, 
catnip or black walnut leaves, which will usually suffice 
to keep them away. Mice will enter the hive if they 
find an opening large enough to admit them. They 
eat some of the comb and bees, but cause the most 
damage by building nests within the hives ; by dimi- 
nishing the entrance so as to admit but one bee at once, 
and closing or covering all other openings with wire- 
cloth, they are excluded. Spiders catch bees in their 
nets, and should not be allowed to exist in the vicinity 
of the hives. 
