THE BEE MOTH.
IN some localities the bee moth is said to be very destructive, yet I
regard the depredations of this insect as much less to be feared than
some bee-keepers suppose. The bee moth is the agency provided by nature
for returning back to the earth the contents of any hive when left by
the bees, in the same manner that the flesh fly is the means provided
for returning to the earth the carcase of any animal.
I do not believe that a strong, healthy stock of bees was ever attacked
and destroyed by the bee moth. The stock must from some cause become
reduced in numbers, so there are not bees enough to cover all the comb,
before the moth will make an attack. But when the comb is unprotected,
the moth follows the instinct of its nature, and deposits her eggs in
it. The bees from some cause keep decreasing, and the moth continues
depositing her eggs in the vacated comb, until the entire comb of the
hive is a complete mass of vile worms, the progeny of the bee moth.
About this time the bee keeper notices for the first time, (for, if he
is keeping bees on the old plan, he lets them take their own course,
believing if he meddles with them, they will "run out,") that something
is wrong with that hive. So he examines them, and finds the combs a
mass of webs, with hundreds of moth millers among the combs, and the
combs themselves filled with vile worms. "Ah!" he says, "the bee moth
has destroyed that swarm of bees;" when in fact the bee moth had no
more to do with bringing about the loss than the maggots, found in the
carcase of a nice lamb destroyed by dogs, had to do with destroying the
life of the animal. "Oh," says some wise bee keeper, "I know better
than that, for I have seen the bee moth flying about my hives and
trying to get in." Very well; I have seen the flesh fly circling about
live animals, but think you there was any danger from them, as long as
the animal was in health? Not a bit. Neither is there any danger from
the bee moth, if you keep your stocks of bees _strong and healthy_.
But if you have weak or diseased stock, or have honey in boxes in warm
weather _unprotected by the bees_, look out for the bee moth.
Fumigate with sulphur all combs taken from hives in warm weather;
immediately after which, seal up closely in well-made hives or boxes,
to prevent access by the moth miller. All combs taken out _late in the
fall_, and kept through the winter in a place where they will be liable
to freeze, may be sealed up so the moth cannot gain access to them,
and the contents will keep safely through the next summer. Freezing
destroys the vitality of the moth eggs. Fumigating with sulphur, as
directed in "Care of Box Honey in Warm Weather," will destroy the _moth
worms_, and prevent damage to the combs, if they receive attention
within a few days after the eggs are hatched; but if the worms are
suffered to remain for any considerable length of time, the combs
will be badly damaged, if not entirely ruined. In protecting honey or
empty comb from the bee moth in warm weather, every bee keeper should
recollect that eternal vigilance is the price of success! With the
Controllable Hive and new system of bee management, the true condition
of stocks is known at all times. The stocks are very populous in July
and August, which is the time the bee moth is most numerous about the
hives. I never had a stock damaged by the bee moth since I adopted my
present system of bee management.
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