492 
LEPIDOPTEKA. 
their dwellings, and cover them on the outside with a coat¬ 
ing of grains of wax mixed with their own castings, which 
resemble gunpowder. Protected by this coating from the 
stings of the bees, they work their way through the combs, 
gnaw them to pieces, and fill the hive with their filthy webs; 
till at last the discouraged bees, whose diligence and skill 
are of no more use to them in contending with their un¬ 
seen foes, than their superior size and powerful weapons, are 
compelled to abandon their perishing brood and their wasted 
stores, and leave the desolated hive to the sole possession 
of the miserable spoilers. These caterpillars grow to the 
length of an inch or a little more, and come to their full 
size in about three weeks. They then spin their cocoons, 
which are strong silken pods, of an oblong oval shape, and 
about one inch in length, and are often clustered together in 
great numbers in the top of the hive. Some time afterwards, 
the insects in these cocoons change to chrysalids of a light 
brown color, rough on the back, and with an elevated dark 
brown line upon it from one end to the other. When this 
transformation happens in the autumn, the insects remain 
without further change till the spring, and then burst open 
their cocoons, and come forth with wings. Those which 
become chrysalids in the early part of summer are trans¬ 
formed to winged m'oths fourteen days afterwards, and im¬ 
mediately pair, lay their eggs, and die. 
Bees suffer most from the depredations of these insects 
in hot and dry summers. Strong and healthy swarms, pro¬ 
vided with a constant supply of food near home, more often 
escape than small and weak ones. When the moth-worms 
have established themselves in a hive, their presence is made 
known to us by the little fragments of wax, and the black 
grains scattered by them over the floor. Means should 
then be taken, without delay, to dislodge the depredators 
and invigorate the swarm. These are so fully described 
in Dr. Thacher’s “ Treatise on the Management of Bees,’’ 
and in other works on the same subject, that I shall limit 
