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 carcass 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 moth had no more to do
with bringing about the loss than the maggots, found in the carcass 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 stocks, 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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