The reader may imagine that as the bees are able to kill and dispose of such apparently impracticable enemies as the slug and snail, they would find little difficulty in destroying the death's-head moth, when it has succeeded in gaining an entrance into their hives. But such is not the case, for after it has baffled the vigilance of the guards at the entrance, the bees appear paralyzed as if by some spell. Some writers imagine that a kind of cry, which this magnificent insect has the power of emitting, by resembling the potent voice of the queen-bee, when she wishes to call her unruly subjects to order, has the same effect upon the worker-bees, and for the time causes them to sit motionless, while the intruder is permitted to commit its ravages with impunity. It may be as well to remark, that although it is much more plentiful some years than others, the death's-head moth is at all times a much commoner insect than is generally supposed. It is very rarely seen by day, but prefers flying in the dusk of the evening, when it is often taken for a bat. The larva or caterpillar of it is also a night-feeding creature, and during the day conceals itself with great care, but at night it leaves its place of concealment, and commits its ravages unseen. It is almost sure to exist in any potato-ground; but if it is intended to be captured it will be requisite to take a dark-lantern and enter the potato-field by night, when, by suddenly throwing the light on a patch of herbage, the potatoes may be thoroughly examined without disturbing any other portion. The caterpillar is also not unfrequently found on the common jessamine. If the observer wishes to rear the caterpillar until its transformation into a moth, he must be careful to give it the particular food on which it was living, as the caterpillar hatched on the jessamine will not eat the potato, nor will the potato-caterpillar touch the jessamine. It will require an incredible amount of food during its larval state; and when it has changed into a clrysalis it still requires attention. Before it changes, it should be placed upon some damp earth, into which it will speedily burrow. The earth must always be kept dump, as otherwise the case of the chrysalis will become so hard that the imprisoned moth will not be able to escape, when its time arrives for transformation into its winged state. I have in my possession three splendid chrysalides, all of which died on account of the dryness of the earth, and in two of them the moth was perfectly formed, and ready to escape. I have also a moth with a perfect body and limbs, but with its wings stunted and shrivelled like wet blotting-paper for the same reason. If the lives are placed near a potato-ground, the owner may be sure that the death's-head moth is not very far off, and will if it can invade the innermost recesses of his hives. But of course the bees do not submit quietly to all this. No, their military genius now slines forth brilliantly. They barricade themselves; they erect formidable fortifications of the most impregnable wax at the entrance of the hive, so that only one or two workers can pass at a time, and the sphinx never. It is worthy of observation, that it is only _after_ they have suffered that they erect these barricades; and then they only keep them whilst required, and whilst they are productive of no inconvenience.