M. Reaumur was of opinion that ants were not to be reckoned among the enemies of bees; and he relates an instance of their living as very close neighbours, yet in perfect harmony. The ants established themselves between the glass panes of his bee-box and the wooden shutters which covered them; and as a similar circumstance occurred to Bonnet, and in other of Reaumur’s hives also, it seems probable that the ants took up their quarters in this situation for the sake of the equable warmth that the bees would impart to their eggs. “Ants were without the hive,” says Reaumur, “and bees within; a single glass only separating two nations, so different in manners, in customs, and genius. The bees were abundantly provided with a dainty of which ants are exceedingly fond, I mean honey. The ants had just reason to be apprehensive that the bees would be uneasy, and jealous to preserve so precious a treasure. Nevertheless the utmost harmony and concord prevailed between the two nations. Not a single ant was tempted to enter the hive, how strongly soever she might be invited by the fragrance of the honey; nor did any bee disturb the ants, though superior to them in power; the several individuals, on each side, went in and out peaceably; they would meet in the way without teazing or molesting one another: respect on one side, and complacency on the other, were the foundation of this peace.”—Nat. History of Bees, p. 352.
The destruction of queen wasps and queen hornets in the spring, and of wasps’ and hornets’ nests in the summer, will prove the best security against those formidable enemies. None but queen wasps and queen hornets appear in the spring. Everyone which is then annihilated would probably have been the founder of a kindred colony, and every colony of wasps at a moderate computation may be calculated to produce at least 30,000 in a season. These destroyers may often be watched to their homes and exterminated in the night, by brimstone, gunpowder, or boiling water.
The wooden guards invented by Espinasse, or the tin guards of Huish, will be very useful in case of a formidable attack, and had better be made use of if an assault be apprehended from these predatory insects.
Powder and shot are the only protectors from the visits of birds.
The exclusion of poultry must be left to the ingenuity of the apiarian.
In an ungenial autumn, it is not uncommon for bees that are ill-managed and not properly fed, to plunder the hoards of their own species, and bees that have thus acquired predatory habits, become great annoyers of industrious and well-fed colonies; they are known by the name of corsair bees. On these occasions spies are said to be sent our to ascertain the respective strengths of neighbouring colonies, and to select the weakest for attack. They make similar attacks upon the nests of humble-bees, as well as upon the bees themselves; in the former case they will carry off almost the whole of the stores that have been collected, unrepulsed by its proprietors; and in the latter case, says Huber, “the humble-bee, accustomed to such exactions, yields up its honey, and resumes its flight.” In both cases it renews its labour in the fields, and repairs with its surplus treasure to its usual asylum, and that even after repeated robberies. Mr. Hubbard says that he has known repeated instances of weak stocks being expelled from their hives by strong ones. The best remedies for this evil are the contraction of the entrances, as for guarding against wasps, or a change in the situation of the hives.
Dr. Darwin in his Phytologia has related an instance of a besieged hive being removed to a distant and more easterly part of the same garden: the assailants in this case did not follow, and the bees resumed their usual occupations. Removal to a still greater distance would seem to promise more certain relief. In order to raise their courage above its natural height when thus attacked, Schirach recommends mixing a little wine or brandy with honey, and presenting it to the bees that are besieged.
Huber has called the attention of Naturalists to what he designated as a new enemy of bees, the Sphinx Atropos or Death’s-head Hawk-moth, to which his attention seems to have been first directed in 1804. This gigantic moth, which derives its name from having upon its back a mark somewhat resembling a death’s head, has, from this cause together with its size, (which at first caused it to be mistaken for a bat,) produced great alarm amongst the people of some countries, being regarded by them as the harbinger of some calamity. Kuhn speaks of its having been noticed in the apiaries of some monks at the close of the last century, as well as in the bee-houses of other persons: and Campbell, in his Travels, mentions it as plundering the wild bees in Africa of their honey. This moth makes its appearance towards the close of summer: it has the faculty of emitting a shrill mournful cry, which, when threatened by the vengeance of the bees, has the power of disarming their fury. It operates upon them like the voice of their queen, and thus enables the moth to commit the greatest ravages in the hives, with perfect impunity. Huber ascertained that it could not produce the same effect upon humble-bees; for whenever their nests are entered by one of these insects, it is immediately attacked and driven out. One that Huber introduced into a nest of humble-bees was actually stung to death by them, but not till many wounds had been inflicted upon its most sensible part, the belly. On dissecting one of these moths, he found a table-spoonful of pure honey in its abdomen. The proceedings of bees, when attacked by the Sphinx Atropos, as detailed in the Chapter on [Instincts], will suggest to the apiarian the best plan to be adopted, whenever this formidable insect shall invade their territories.