you have dampness to
guard against. I have a little experience in this matter that spoils
your theory entirely. I have taken off glass jars, and watched them
till the bees were all out, and was _certain the moth did not come
near_ them, then immediately sealed them up; absolutely preventing
access afterwards, (I could do this with a jar more effectually than a
box which is made of several pieces,) I then felt quite sure that I was
ahead, and should have no trouble with the worms, as had often been the
case before. I was sadly mistaken.

THEIR PROGRESS DESCRIBED.

In a few days, I could see at first a little white dust, like flour, on
the side of the combs, and on the bottom of the jar. As the worms grew
larger, this dust was coarser. By looking closely at the combs, a small
white thread-like line was first perceptible, enlarging as the worm
progressed.

When combs are filled with honey, they go only on the surface, eating
nothing but the sealing of the cells; seldom penetrating to the centre,
without an empty cell to give the chance. Disgusting as they seem to
be, they dislike being daubed with honey. _Wax, and not honey, is their
food._

The reader would like to know how these worms came in the jars, when,
to all appearance, it _was a physical impossibility_. I would like to
tell positively, but cannot. But I will guess, if you will allow it. I
will first premise, that I do not suppose they are generated
spontaneously! Their being found there, then, would indicate some agent
or means not readily perceived.

A SOLUTION OFFERED.

The hypothesis that I offer is original and new, and therefore open for
criticism; if there is a better way to account for the mystery, I would
be glad to know it.

From the first of June till late in the fall, the moth may be found
around our hives, active at night, but still in the day. The only
object probably is to find a suitable place to deposit its eggs, that
the young may have food; if no proper and convenient place is found,
why, I suppose it will take up with such as it _can_ find; their eggs
_must_ be deposited somewhere, it may be in the cracks in the hive, in
the dust at the bottom, or outside, as near the entrance as they dare
approach. The bees running over them may get one or more of these eggs
attached to their feet or bodies, and carry it among the combs, where
it may be left to hatch. It is not at all probable that the moth ever
passed through the hive among the