eggs under the very skirts of the hive, or in the rubbish on the floor,
or even in the combs of the bees; these eggs when hatched produce a
small whitish worm or larva, and it is in this stage that it commits its
ravages, extending its galleries through every quarter of the combs,
detaching them from the tops and sides of the hives, and causing them
to fall together.

The way to destroy them is frequently to lift up the hive in the
morning, and kill all you can see. The most effectual way is to drive
the bees into a new hive, but this can be only done in the height of
the honey season; or the affected combs may be cut out, and the bees
restored to their old habitation.

Mice are likewise very destructive to bees; sometimes they enter at the
door, but most commonly near the top of the hive; this they do generally
during winter, when the bees are in a torpid state; when this is
suspected, set a few traps about the hives.

The common bat will also sometimes take possession of a hive, and commit
very great havoc amongst the bees.

Wasps and hornets must be destroyed, if possible, either by gunpowder,
or by the more primitive mode of placing limed twigs before the holes,
when you have discovered their nests.

The spring is the time to kill the female wasps and hornets, for then,
by the death of one female, a whole nest is destroyed. Or place bottles
half full of sugar and beer where the wasps frequent; they will go in to
drink, and drown themselves in the liquor, not being able to get out of
the bottle again. Spiders must be killed, and their nets or webs broken
down, otherwise they will catch and destroy many bees.

Swallows, frogs, ants, earwigs, snails, woodlice, poultry, and small
birds of almost all kinds, are reckoned amongst their foes. And,
therefore, there should be no lack of vigilance on the part of the owner
of bees, to keep the bee-house as clean as possible from all vermin.

The signs of dysentery having commenced in any colony of bees may be
known by the floor-boards and combs being covered with stains, by the
dark coloured evacuations, producing an offensive smell, and frequent
deaths amongst the bees. "Bees," says Gelieu, "have no real disease;
they are always in good health as long as they are at liberty, are kept
warm, and provided with plenty of food. All their pretended diseases are
the result of cold, hunger, or the infection produced by a too close and
long confinement during winter, and by ex