228 
TUE UIVK AND UONEY-BKE. 
CHAPTER XII. 
THE BEE-MOTU, and OTHER ENEMIES Oli' liEKS—DlSBASBt 
Oi* BEES. 
The Bee-Moth {Tmea mellonella) is mentioned hy 
Aristotle, Virgil, Columella and other ancient authors, as 
one of the most formidable enemies of the honey-bee. 
Modern writers, almost without exce[)tion, have regarded 
it as the plague of their Apiaries; while in this country its 
ravages have been so fatal, that the majority of culti¬ 
vators have abandoned bee-keeping in despair. Most of 
the contrivances devised against it have proved worthless, 
and not a few have aided its nefarious designs. 
Having closely studied its habits, I am able to show 
how careful bee-keepers may protect their colonies from 
being ruined by its as(s:iults. The careless will obtain a 
“ moth-proof" hive only when the sluggai'd finds a 
'‘'■weed-proof" soil. Before stating how to circumvent 
the moth, its habits will be briefly described. 
Swammerdam speaks of two species of the bee-moth 
(called in his time the “ bee-wolf"), one much larger than 
the other. Linnasus and Reaumur also describe two 
kinds — Tinea cereana and Tinea mellonella. Most 
writers suppose the former to be the male, and the latter 
the female of the same species. The following description 
is abridged from Dr. Harris’ Report on the Insects of 
Massachusetts: 
“Very few of the Tineas exceed or even cqu.al it in 
size. In its adult state it is a winged moth, or miller, 
measuring, from the head to the tip of the closed wings. 
