THE BEE-MOTH. 
39 
winter the moth eggs will generally be destroyed, and the 
combs can be kept for swarms. 
When it is desired to keep empty combs, destroy the eggs 
and worms in them by placing them in a close box or barrel 
and smoke them thoroughly with sulphur. Two days of hard 
freezing of the combs, when not occupied by the bees, will 
have the same effect. One moth will produce a great many 
worms. 
With the help of a magnifying glass I have counted a 
thousand eggs in one moth. By pulling off the head of a 
female, I have had it deposit a dozen or two of eggs in a 
crease of my hand in a few moments. 
The killing of one moth the first of June is worth as much 
as killing a hundred in August. They are still in the day- 
time and lay their eggs at night. By setting dishes contain- 
ing a mixture of sweetened water and vinegar about the hives 
a great number ot millers will be attracted to them and 
drowned. 
HOW TO DETECT THEIR PRESENCE IN A HIVE. 
If movable frame hives are used, the combs can be lifted 
out and examined. Otherwise, look at the entrance of the 
hive for their excrements. They can be distinguished from 
comb-cuttings by their being darker and of a powder ap- 
pearance. 
If the bees are in an open-bottomed hive, it could be turned 
bottom up and examined. In turning a hive bottom up when 
the combs are new and heavy with honey, be careful to turn 
it so that the edges of the combs will rest against the side of 
the hive to prevent their breaking. 
If a moth attempts to enter a well-peopled hive, it is at- 
tacked by the bees and has to use great agility in getting 
out of the hive from danger;, but if the hive is weak, and it 
gets past the sentinels, it will go almost where it pleases 
through the hive, and deposit its eggs among the combs and 
comb-cuttings at the bottom and in the cracks of the hive. 
Worms are found in the most populous families. It has 
been suggested, that as the eggs are small slimy things de- 
posited about the hives, that they adhere to the feet of the 
bees and are carried up in the hive. I know of no more 
reasonable way of accounting for their appearance in such 
