Page:How to Keep Bees.djvu/216

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174
HOW TO KEEP BEES

board; it was made quite involuntarily as the caterpillars spin wherever they go. The bee-moth is especially destructive to stored comb if it is piled close together.

REMEDY

To prevent the injuries of this pest the colonies should be kept strong. The bee-moth follows the rule of other parasites and attacks only the weak and the irresolute, and never injures a comb that is covered with bees. A queenless colony, dejected and discouraged, is usually victimised by it. The Italian bees have learned to cope with the bee-moth and exterminate it whenever attacked by it. Some bee-keepers, when a comb becomes infested, introduce it into the centre of an Italian colony, being sure that the little wretches will find there the fate they deserve. But to us this seems rather an imposition upon a self-respecting colony of bees.

The use of plain, simple, well-made hives is a protection from the bee-moth, as such hives do not afford hiding-places for moths and eggs.

Before comb is stored it should be put in a closed box out of doors, and a saucer of carbon bisulphide placed on top of the comb and left for a day. The deadly gas of this poison is heavier than the air and so falls instead of rising. Care should be taken not to breathe the fumes more than is necessary and hence the work should be done in the open air. Another reason for this is that the gas is inflammable, and hence no fire should be allowed near it. There