614 
MOTH MILLER 
A small red ant, Solenopsis, sp.,t has been 
found to be an enemy of the bee moth, as 
many of our cage experiments were de¬ 
stroyed by this ant killing the moths and 
larvae. The attack is made on the moths 
during the day or when they are at rest. 
Usually the ants crawl under the wings of 
the moth and begin the attack upon the ab¬ 
domen. There is no apparent struggle on 
the part of the moth, for close examination 
is necessary to determine that the moth is 
dead and not resting. The abdomen seems 
to be all that is desired and this is carried 
away in small pieces to the nest of the ants. 
This same species of ant also destroyed 
moths which had recently been prepared for 
exhibits. . At such times only the abdomen 
was taken by the ants. In their attacks on 
the larvae the ants entered the cages and 
crawled over the comb and wax in search 
of their prey; and if any larvae were ex¬ 
posed they were attacked. The larger larvae 
are more frequently attacked, as they are 
less active and usually feed in more ex¬ 
posed places than do the smaller ones. Un¬ 
less the larvae were well protected by webs 
in the refuse, they were destroyed by the 
ants. Apparently there are days and even 
parts of days when the ants are most active 
in their destruction. Never were the ants 
present in sufficient numbers to attempt 
tracing them to their nests. No observa¬ 
tions have been made upon this ant in or 
about the apiary, and, while it proved very 
destructive under artificial conditions, the 
moths and larvae might be better able to 
protect themselves under natural conditions. 
Three hymenopterous parasites have been 
recorded from the bee moth. One is a chal- 
cid, Eupelmus cereanus, found by Roudani 
in Italy; another is Braeon brevicornis, 
which was found by Marshall in France, 
and a third species, Apenteles lateralis, was 
recently found by A. Conte in France.* * This 
last species was found near Lyons, where it 
spread very rapidly. It is apparently of 
considerable importance since it has also 
been reported to attack the larvae of several 
other moths in England and Germany. The 
adult parasite is about one-sixth of an 
inch (4 mm.) in length, very lively, and 
avoids light; the body is black and the 
wings are transparent, with black specks. 
The larvae of the bee moth are attacked 
while quite young and never attain a large 
size. A single parasite develops in each 
larva. The bees are said to pay no atten¬ 
tion to the presence of the parasite, so that 
it can easily enter the hive in search of the 
bee moth larvae. It was artificially intro¬ 
duced into hives by Conte with very satis¬ 
factory results. 
ARTIFICIAL CONTROL. 
Unfortunately, the only natural enemy of 
t Determined by Wilmon Newell 
* “A Hymenopterous Parasite of the Bee-moth.” 
a Conte ( Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci, Paris , 154 pp. 
41, 43), 
the bee moth that is present to any great 
extent is the honey bee itself. In the ab¬ 
sence of any other natural enemies of im¬ 
portance, the measures of artificial control 
must be made all the more effective if the 
beekeeper is to free his apiary of the pest. 
If the moths are driven from the hives by 
strong colonies of Italianized bees, they will 
surely seek scraps of comb and wax about 
the ground and stored comb and honey in 
the honey-house. It seems quite likely that 
in such cases the eggs are deposited as near 
to the comb as possible, as along the cracks 
between the supers, and the larvae, after 
hatching, find their way to the comb thru 
crevices much smaller than the moth could 
enter. 
One of the best methods of artificial con¬ 
trol, and one upon which many beekeepers 
depend, is fumigation of combs and honey. 
Gas is able to penetrate material that it is 
not possible to treat in any other manner. 
The fumigation process is not difficult, for, 
when once started, no further attention is 
necessary until the treatment is complete. It 
is not necessary to watch the entire process. 
Stored material, such as comb honey and 
empty combs, should be examined from time 
to time, and at the first evidence of the wax 
worm they should be fumigated. Stored ma¬ 
terial of this kind should be examined at 
least once every week during the summer 
and once every month during the winter 
season, so as to detect the infestation at 
the start. 
fumigation. 
In the present investigation two mate¬ 
rials have been used in the fumigating ex¬ 
periments. These were selected because al¬ 
most every beekeeper is acquainted with 
them and they can be obtained in practic¬ 
ally every locality at a reasonable price. 
They are sulphur and carbon bisulphide, or 
“high life.” 
SULPHUR. 
Dry powdered sulphur, or “flowers of sul¬ 
phur, ” is a light-yellowish powder, with 
which every one is familiar. When sulphur 
is burned it unites with the oxygen of the 
air and forms a poisonous gas known as 
“sulphur dioxide.” This gas is quite effect¬ 
ive in killing some kinds of insects, includ¬ 
ing the wax worm. A common method of 
burning the sulphur is to place it on a pan 
of red-hot coals and immediately tier up 
the infested supers over the burning sul¬ 
phur. The bottom super should not contain 
any infested material, and the pile should 
be covered as quickly as possible. A num¬ 
ber of experiments were made with sulphur 
for fumigating combs containing the wax 
worms. The results of these experiments 
are given in the following table: 
Table I.—Results of Fumigating Infested 
Gombs with Sulphur Dioxide. 
