THE BEE-MOTH. 
41 
When the bees are rid of the worms from the eggs of the 
previous year’s raising, there will be but little more trouble 
again until after the swarming time, and hives that lose 
queens, or are weakened by over-swarming, are in danger 
from the great number of motbs that will be prowling about 
at that time. Destroy all the worms and moths you can in 
the early part of the season, to prevent their breeding. 
Split alders laid under the hive offer a nice place for them 
to collect under where they can be destroyed. In my first 
attempts at harrowing I annoyed and worried myself exceed- 
ingly in holding the harrow to make it track right, and then 
did bungling work — the harrow going much as it pleased. I 
afterwards learned that my business was to guide the horses, 
and the harrow would come right of itself. And so with 
my bees. If they are kept right in other respects, I know 
there will be no danger from worms. I never lose any from 
this cause, neither do I direct much attention specially to 
their protection. The dread of the moth and a want of 
knowledge among bee-keepers, have given a fine chance lo 
moth-proof bee-hive peddlers to operate. Doubtless most of 
them arc honest in representing that they have just the hive 
that is needed. But when the keeper has tried the “ucv- 
cr-fail” hive he finds that it too is subject to fail like all others. 
When I commenced selling hives, I had perhaps as complete 
a moth trap as is made, attached to my hive, in order to sat- 
isfy this anxiety for such arrangements, but afterwards con- 
cluded to make nothing to it but what was actually needed. 
I have not seen, nor do I expect to see, a moth-proof hive. 
Yet it is bost to have hives made with few openings or cracks 
in them, that bees cannot enter to clean out the worms. I 
have seen entrances made to hives that bees could pass out 
and in at, but moths could not enter. I have seen a magnet 
placed at the entrance to paralyze the moth as it entered, but 
not to affect the bee. Some use pulverized glass or coarse sand 
glued to the boards about the entrance, presuming that bees 
can pass over such a rough surface and moths can not. A 
glass tube for an entrance, and various other contrivances to 
deceive the moth and lead it into a trap. 
As ingenious a contrivance as I have seen is a piece of 
perforated tin to slide down over the entrance at night, and 
still give the bees air. [The moth does all its mischief at 
night]. The hives are all set along in a row, and a rod 
