In walking through the woods one sometimes becomes conscious of a sickly sweet smell somewhere near us. This proceeds from a hive of bees not very far away, generally in the hollow of a tree. The honey, which is usually excellent, is generally brought for sale to us in the comb by some of the woodmen. Occasionally, however, it is somewhat bitter, through being obtained from the flowers of certain trees or plants. The Madagascar bee, known to entomologists as _Apis unicolor_, differs but little in appearance from the English species, although it is somewhat smaller, darker, and less hardy. It chooses, if left to nature, the same kind of situation for its hive, and multiplies in the same way. The drones also are idle and are killed off at certain seasons. The Madagascar insect is much more gentle when handled than the English one, but there is great difficulty in hiving the swarms. These bees continue to store honey during the winter months, although that is the dry season, with few flowers; and they work in all weathers, even during a heavy thunderstorm. [Sidenote: DEATH’S-HEAD MOTH] The enemies of the Madagascar bee are, in the first place, rats, then ants and the wax-moth; but the greatest enemy of all is the death’s-head moth (_Sphinxatropos_), which is very common. He enters the hive fearlessly, for although the bees crowd round him they have no power to stop him, as their stings cannot pierce that downy body, with its tough skin, but merely slip along it harmlessly. As soon as he is within he keeps his wings vibrating with a low humming noise and leisurely sucks his fill—a very long fill. The damage he does is immense, and hives have been known to be sucked dry, and not a drop of honey to be found in them, so that the bees quite give up resisting. Other enemies of the bee are a parasitical solitary wasp, which lays its eggs in the hive; and another wasp which seizes the bees when returning to the hive for the sake of their laden honey-bag, and it also kills them with wonderful celerity. The Malagasy have a good general idea of the economy of the hive, and of the habits of the bees. They usually find the wild nests by watching the flight of the laden bees, and then by listening during the hot part of the day, when the bees are “playing.” At most places the people know of a number of wild nests, over which they keep supervision. In many villages they make large quantities of mead, more especially when the rite of circumcision is being observed. For bees’-wax there is always a ready sale.[13]