Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1911-08-18
ENEMIES Of HONEY BEES
Pests Which Ruin the Output of the
Hives.


tits more than likely that the bee
moth is one of the worst enemies
of bees and works more destruction
thar. all other enemies combined.
If such be really the case, then we
can consider ourselves fortunate, for
there is way to overcome this de-
stroyer. When you hear person
complaining that the waxworm has
killed his bees. you may set him
down as understanding very little
about bee culture, says the Amcri-
can Cultivator. The fact of the mat
ter is that all summer long there is
plenty of -millers fitting about
the apiary, seeking place to de-
post. their eggs. Should they per
chance find colony that has only
half Enough bees to cover its combs,
theysare ever ready to avail them
selves of their opportunity and be-
gin Immediately to lay eggs in the
empty combs. In a few days the
waxworm matches and begins to feed
upon the combs and fills the spac,
full Of webs. The bee-moth is doubt
less attracted by some odor, the
wax, .bee-bread, or something else
about the comb If possible she
goes to the combs, else she lays hei
eggs as near to them as she can
The eggs hatch, and if possible the
larvae proceed at once to feed on the
pollen or bee-bread, tunneling the
combs, and fashioning their silkon
runways. If the comb is not close
at hand, guided by sense which il
insects IS more delicate than we car
understand, they pass to the cont
and begin operations.
The means for prevention are
very simple. Try to keep all col
onies strong. Should you, however,
have some weak ones, take away
the combs which they are unable tc
use and give them, a frame or two
of Matching brood, taken from som,
strong colony which is able to spare
them, and give the strong colony
the empty combs. They will quickly
make use of them. All precautions
necessary for keeping my large stock
of extracting combs are to space
them one less to the hive than they
are used in the summer, and Their
leave them where they will freeze
during the winter. The moth passes
the winter usually in the egg stage
and a good, solid freezing will kill
them, so in the spring there are nc
worms to eat the comb. There are
usually two broods during the sea
son, one in the spring, the other
during the fall. 1t takes about three
weeks for the larvae to mature. An
other point in the safe keeping OF
combs. is the presence of pollen OF
dead brood. The larvae of the moth
cannot live on wax alone, they mus
have some other food. Combs uset
for extracting seldom have any pol
len or other heterogeneous food for the
worm in them. The combs which
are in the hive where the bees have
died are the most liable to their at
lacks haSiH ai,al
Ants =. are also considered an
enemy to the honey-bee. They have
been known to destroy many colo
MES especially in the South, where
in some localities it is necessary to
mount the hives on legs smeared
with soft tar. But in New Jersey, so
far as / have learned, the ants care
more for the warmth of the hive
than they do for the honey. Every
spring ! find ants under the hoods
of hives, and hundreds of eggs too,
but i have never found them in the
body of the hives whore the bee and
the honey are. Toads are without
question an enemy to the honey
bee 1t seems strange that anyone
could keep bees without finding out
that toads are among their most
deadly enemies. They operate very
stealthily and have way of darling
out their tongues with lightning-like
rapidity, so that without close and
careful observation their true char
acter may be easily overlooked To
ward nightfall they usually station
themselves near the entrance of the
hives and with their long tongues
snap up all the bees within reach.
1t is hard to tell how many bees it
takes to make meal, but they seem
to disappear yely fast. 1t is there
fore necessary to keep the hives on
stands at least six or eight inches
high or higher if convenient.
Mice are also enemies to the
honey-bee. They are especially fond
of honey and often work havoc with
the bees. Mice are particularly fond
of bee-bread, as we'll as a hive OF
combs as a place for building their
nests, consequently if they can pos
sibly reach the combs they are liable
to do much damage in short time
The only security against them Is to
put the combs away in such a man.
ner that they can by no possibility
get at them. They, of course. can
only do harm when they get into the
hives. We, therefore, advocate that
he entrances of the hives should be
ong and shallow in preference to
round holes, not more than a half
nch high and across the whole front
Of the hive. This space gives ample
In some localities the
King birds feel it their duty to feed
argely on the honey-bee. They
'woop down suddenly and pick up
he bees on the wing. OF course we
10 not like to destroy insectivorous
birds, but should they frequent the
lpiary, it would be necessary to
make use of the shotgun to at least
'righten them away. There are other
enemies, such as spiders and skunks,
,ut every intelligent farmer will
xnow how to combat these in his
'wn way. e
Service has long way to go before
gets to be loyalty.