Bee moth

“ As in warm weather the instincts of the fly is directed to the dead carcass, so is the moth directed to honey-comb left without bees in the summer season, and by a similar process is each destroyed. When the bees have been off about ten days, or perhaps a little less if the weather is very warm, examine closely for the first appearance of the moth worms on the surface of the combs in the boxes. Their presence may be known by small thread-like webs or cocoons on the surface of the comb, growing larger as the moth worm enlarges in growth. ”

“ If asked how much such contrivances against the moth will help the careless bee-man, I answer not one iota; nay, they will positively furnish him greater facilities for destroying his bees. Worms will spin and hatch, and moths will lay their eggs, under the blocks, and he will never remove them. Thus, instead of traps, he will have most beautiful devices for giving effectual aid and comfort to his enemies.—Langstroth’s “Hive and Honey Bee.” 110
[For the American Bee Journal.] ”

“ 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. ”

“ Woe to the unfortunate moth that comes within their reach! “It is curious,” says Huber, “to observe how artfully the moth knows to profit, to the disadvantage of the bees, which require much light for seeing objects; and the precautions taken by the latter in reconnoitring, and expelling so dangerous an enemy.” Adroitly gliding between the guards, the moths will often contrive to insinuate themselves, unperceived, into the hives, and riot upon the honey. When they have obtained possession, they deposit their eggs upon the sides of the combs ”

“ It's not an easy matter to get in when the bees are not looking, but she manages it quite often; and when the little larvas hatch out of the eggs, they eat the wax and the mischief is done. When Mother Bee-Moth is seen the bees rush upon her and sting her to death. They have good cause to hate her, for the wax is precious, hard to make and to mould into the little cells. ”

“ And well they may, for death and destruction of the community follow in the train of the bee-moth. From the eggs hatch little sixteen-footed grubs that keep well hidden in the cracks, only venturing out to feed on the wax of the comb nearest them. As they grow they need more and more wax, but they protect themselves while getting it by spinning a silken web which prevents the bees from getting at them. ”

“ The best way of keeping moths outside the hives is to lessen the entrance, as before alluded to. Also, in the early spring, the hives should be lifted from their floorboards, which must then be made thoroughly clean, and all crevices and corners about the hive and stand should be scraped, so as to get rid of all eggs of moths and other insects before the warm weather hatches them or enables them to do mischief. The bee-moth is not so troublesome in England as it is in America and some parts of Germany ”

“ Thoroughly used up, and stupid with panic and chill, the bee kept on futilely grappling with the moth's body, which, in its turn, kept on sinking and rolling beneath her. A very few minutes of such disastrous folly sufficed to end the struggle, and soon the bee was floating, drowned and motionless, beside the moth. Then the ant, with satisfaction, returned to her refuge. ”

“ The moth has no jaws, like bees and wasps, so that it cannot pull off these hairs as the bee would; but, as I told you, it performs the work with its tweezers, which are placed in its tail, and are like the points of a pair of sugar-tongs. The insects, too, will use them very rapidly, and pull off a little of the down, spread the egg upon it, and then cover it with more down, and smooth it very neatly. ”

“ A MOTH CAN GO WHERE BEES CAN.
A hive that is proof against the moth, is yet to be constructed. We frequently hear of them, but when they come to be tested, somehow these worms get where the bees are. When your hives become so full of bees, that they cover the board in a cool morning, the worms will be seldom found there, except under the edge of the hive. ”

“ They'll gnaw for days together at the trunk, till they make a hole big enough to get in their paws, and then they'll haul out the honey, bees and all."
The moth is a dangerous enemy. During the day there is no risk of his attacks. But during the night he is, like other thieves and burglars, alive and active. "He loves the darkness rather than the light, because his deeds are evil." As no bee-master can do without sleep, I cannot expect of the most enthusiastic and devoted that he will watch his hives the whole night. ”

“ I make use of blocks of a peculiar construction, in order both to entrap the worms, and to exclude the moth from my hives. The only place where the moth can enter, is just where the bees are going in and out, and this passage may be contracted so as to suit the size of the colony: the very shape of it is such that if the moth attempts to force an entrance, she is obliged to travel over a space which is continually narrowing, and of course, is more and more easily defended by the bees. ”

“ I lay down the proposition that the moth never materially injured a good swarm in a decently made hive.
In this connection, I lay down another proposition, that without some explanation may seem as strange as the one above alluded to, (that a swarm of bees may have too much honey.) I think I may assert that the moth is or may be an advantage. We always act from one or more motives moving us to a particular point. Amongst other things, I stated that the moth never materially injured a good swarm of bees. Now, one of the requisites of a good one is strength. ”

“ The only condition when we can rest and feel safe is when we know all our stocks are full of bees. Even the "moth-proof" hive containing combs will be scented out by the moth, when there are no bees to guard it. An argument to show that a moth can enter where a bee can go is unnecessary, and a little observation, I think, will prove that her eggs sometimes go where she is not allowed. ”

“ Everybody has heard over and over again that roses, orchids, and columbines have acquired their honey to allure the friendly bee, their gaudy petals to advertise the honey, and their divers shapes to ensure the proper fertilisation by the correct type of insect. But everybody does not know how specifically certain blossoms have laid themselves out for a particular species of fly, beetle, or tiny moth. Here on the higher downs, for instance, most flowers are exceptionally large and brilliant ”

“ Yet, no such result will follow, when the bees are left among the combs, unless the swarm be very small; then the injury done will be in proportion. A strong stock may have as many moth eggs among the combs as a weak one, yet one will be scarcely injured, while the other may be nearly or quite destroyed.
Now, if this theory be correct, and the bees do actually carry these eggs among the combs, is there not a great deal of lost labor in trying to construct a moth-proof hive? The moth, or rather the worms, are ever present to devour the combs, whenever the bees have left them in this season. ”

“ At night, sentinels are set to watch, and by moonlight you may see them pacing to and fro, turning in every direction. If an enemy approach, the sentinels utter a loud hum, and other bees rush to their aid. If the moth gets in, and escapes being stung to death, it lays its eggs, which produce grubs, that sometimes oblige the bees to quit the hive. The death’s-head moth, which is very large, sometimes gets in and produces a sound, which renders the bees motionless, and then it steals their honey.
The humble bee is a clumsy looking creature, with which most people are acquainted. ”

“ Huber mentions a species of moth that attacks and plunders bee-hives; it is called the death's-head moth. Finding out its daring depredations, he lessened the apertures of some of his hives, leaving sufficient room for the exit and entrance of the bees, but not for the entrance of the moth. ”

“ The young moth is not so easily got the better of, being cased in a sort of strong silk, by means of which it forms galleries, and slides from side to side of the hive; and the bees are unable either to get within reach of the enemy, or to rend this silken covering that defends it ”

“ The woman's mouth is the flower; the lips of the man, the visiting insect. "Moth" is the name which we give to night butterflies, that visit flowers in the dark. What the woman says is this in substance: "Kiss me with my mouth shut first, like a night moth coming to a flower all shut up, and not knowing where the opening is." The second comparison of the bee suggests another interesting fact in the relation between insects and flowers. A bee or wasp, on finding it difficult to enter a flower from the top, so as to get at the honey, will cut open the side of the flower, and break its way in. ”

“ How the eggs of the moth get into the boxes, has always puzzled bee-keepers. It is hardly possible for the moth miller to pass through a hive crowded with bees, to deposit her eggs in the crowded boxes. ”

“ If moths get in, change hives at any time when it is warm enough for bees to work, and give them all the honey in their old hive. If you discover moths too late for the bees to build comb in a new hive, take the queen from the hive infested with moths, and place it where the bees will unite with another colony, and feed them all the honey from the deserted hive. This, or the destruction of the bees and saving the honey, is always necessary, when moth-worms are in possession, unless they are so near the bottom, that all the comb around them may be cut out. Bees are fond of salt. ”

“ Bees, again, are sometimes much annoyed by the death’s-head moth which enters the hive at night, and devours the honey, apparently without danger to itself, though why this should be the case we do not know. After having suffered for some time, however, the bees barricade the entrance by building behind it a wall of wax and propolis, through which they make a hole large enough to admit themselves, but which quite excludes the bulky body of the moth. ”

“ And, from another side, if nothing is more instinctive than the manner in which domestic Bees construct their cells of wax with geometric regularity, there are other circumstances in which these same insects give proof of remarkable reflection, sagacity, and intelligence in co-ordinating their actions in the presence of an event to which they are not accustomed, and in attaining an end which has presented itself by accident. Such are, for example, the arrangements which they make to defend their honey against the attacks of a great nocturnal Moth, the Death’s Head. ”

“ Large hives, that never swarm, are never destroyed by the moth, unless they lose their Queen, melt down, or meet with some casualty, out of the ordinary course of managing them. They are not often in the least annoyed by them, unless there are bad joints, cracks, or shakes, so as to afford some lurking places for the worms. The reason for their prosperous condition is obvious. The stock of bees are so numerous that their combs are all kept well guarded during the moth season, so that no miller can enter and deposit her eggs. ”

“ Its fuzzy body, admirably adapted to be a pollen brush, its swift wings and its sedulous attention to business, all tend to make it the most important of the flower partners. Thus, especially for the bee, have thousands of flower species developed nectar, in pockets placed cunningly to entice her to take upon herself a pollen load. And for countless ages the flowers have painted their petals various hues and shed on the atmosphere their perfume, to advertise to the bee-world that they had pollen and nectar to spare. ”

“ The various seasons bring, of course, a succession of insect visitors to my valley. In early spring the solitary bees are a great delight to me; they are the species which exist in pairs, not often in communities, as the honey-bee does. Great masses of lungwort (pulmonaria) being out in flower in April and May, all kinds of insects are then to be found upon it, seeking honey or pollen among the blossoms. ”

“ But the very first time that you notice the male insect flying about on a warm summer’s evening you will see why the title was given to it; for it keeps on suddenly appearing and disappearing, over and over again, just as if it had the power of making itself visible or invisible whenever it chose. The fact is that the upper surface of the wings is glossy white, while the lower is dark brown, and that as the insect flies you can see the one and not the other. So every time that the wings are lowered the moth appears; and every time that they are raised it disappears. ”

“ On warm days myriads of these and other insects may be seen filling the air; it is the busiest time of their lives, as all are on errands of love to their kind, but of mischief to the agriculturist.
When the May Flower—"O commendable flowre and most in minde"—blooms, and the willows hang out their golden catkins, we shall hear the hum of the wild bee, and the insect hunter will reap a rich harvest of rarities. Seek now on the abdomen of various wild bees, such as Andrena, for that most eccentric of all our insects, the Stylops Childreni. ”

“ Some authors have placed Coleoptera or beetles as the highest of insects, others claim for Lepidoptera or butterflies and moths a first place, while others, and with the best of reasons, claim for Hymenoptera the highest position. The moth is admired for the glory of its coloring and elegance of its form, the beetle for the luster and brilliancy of its elytra or wing-covers; but these insects only revel in nature's wealth, and live and die without labor or purpose. ”