ENEMIES OF BEES. 
233 
Wax is the chief food of these worms.* When obliged 
to steal their living among a strong stock of bees, they 
seldom fare well enough to reach the size which they 
attain when rioting at pleasure among the full combs of a 
discouraged population. In about three weeks, the larvae 
stop eating, and seek a suitable place for encasing them- 
selves in their silky shroud. In hives where they reign 
unmolested, almost -any place will answer their purpose, 
and they often pile their cocoons one on another, or join 
them together in long rows. They sometimes occupy the 
empty combs, so that their cocoons resemble the capping 
of the honey-cells. In Plate XIX., Fig. 56, Mr. Tidd 
has given a drawing, accurate in size and form, of a 
curious instance of this kind. The black spots, resembling 
grains of gunpowder, are the excrements of the worms. 
In hives strongly guarded by healthy bees, many a worm, 
while prying about to find a snug hiding place, is seized 
by the nape of the neck, and served with an instant writ 
of ejectment. If a hive is thoroughly made, it runs a 
dangerous gauntlet, as it passes, in search of some 
crevice, through the ranks of its enraged foes. Its mo- 
tions, however, are exceedingly quick, and it is full of 
cunning devices, being able to crawl backwards, to twist 
round on itself, to curl up almost into a knot, and to flat- 
ten itself out like a pancake. If obliged to leave the 
hive, it gets under some board or concealed crack, spins 
its cocoon, and patiently awaits its transformation. In 
most hives, it readily finds a crack into which it can 
creep, or a small space between the movable bottom- 
* “Larvce fed exclusively on pure wax will die, wax being anon-nitrogenous 
substance, and not furnishing the aliment required for their perfect develop- 
ment.'’ — Dunuoff. • 
This statement agrees with the fact, that the larvce prefer tho brood-combs, and 
that the combs of an old 6tock are more liable to be devoured than thoso of a 
new one. 
