The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1906-10-26
THE DESTRUCTIVE BEE MOTH.
How Its Presence May Be Detected
and Its Ravages Prevented.

Il Is not to be wondered that our
forefathers were afraid Of the moths
for their bees. Until the invention OF
the movable frame hive It was next
70 impossible TO ascertain the extent
OF the damage 10 the bee industry On
the moths account, says Farm and
Home. The common belief among
beginners is that an army Of wax
worms will attack q colony OF bees
and kill them. The truth Of the mat
ter is that the mischief begins with
the little innocent looking mothmil-
Ter, which fits about among the
hives and enters those which are
weak IN bees and there finds lots Of
vacant cells in which to deposit her
eggs. In due time the tiny wax
worms hatch from those eggs and
begin 10 feed on the comb, at the
same time filing them full OF webs.
This trouble is more serious in the
Southern States than It is further
north. The remedy for this is to
keep all colonies strong in bees; not
10 give them more combs than they
can occupy. If combs have been out
during the winter so as to be frozen
they are safe until the weather be-
comes warm enough for fresh eggs
to be laid in them. A good, tight.
cool cellar is about the best place TO
store them until needed.
There is too much neglect of this
kind among many farmers. We do
not sufficiently recollect that the
moths become more numerous as the
season advances. In the spring
combs may be left for two or three
months without protection and with
out showing much of the ravages of
the MOTH because they are then very
scarce, having been reduced in num-
bers by the winter, for it is now GER
tain that ordinary winters in this
latitude kill all of the moths except
those which happento be sheltered in
colonies of live bees. The only hives
bic way are those whose bees have
died at the close of the winter. They
have kept a few moths alive, and
when the bees dwindle away no liv-
ing insect is left in the box but the
struggling and rustic moth worm.
The few moths that hatch in spring
make a second brood that appear in
full force about the beginning Of
August. If these find suitable lodg-
ings the third brood will become for
do hi hn nt he iai6 r
~ plentiful at this late date to take
by storm any hive that may prove
destitute of queen or Matching bees.
The eggs laid in the early part of
September may not all hatch If the
season is cool, but If a warm fall
gives them the opportunity they
thrive in an astonishing manner.
Every year large numbers of hives
are bereft of their queens, most of
which are either robbed by other
bees or sacked by the bee moth, or
first robbed and afterward sacked,
while their owner imputes all the
mischief to something else.
When honey is taken from the
hive, and has been away from the
bee about ten days, if we inspect the
cappings which are discolored. and
those about any cells Of pollen, we
will detect little places of white dust
resembling -four upon the surface of
the comb, and usually the more
abundant near the bottom of the sec
tions. Although this place may not
be larger than the eye of a needle, it
tells us for certain that a tiny worm
of the wax moth is there, and unless
it Is destroyed it will itself destroy
more or less of the comb which in
cases our honey. How these eggs
from the moth come on our comb
honey is a mystery, as the bees
themselves guard the hive with vigil
lance against these moth enemies;
but certain it is that they are on the
combs, or else there would be no
larvae to commit depredations. The
most disagreeable feature Of the ex-
istence of the moth appears when
the first crop of honey has been re-
moved from the hives There is only
one way to avoid this. Burn brim-
stone in the beehouse, or under
those crates of comb honey, about
once every week or two until the
moths have been destroyed