EarJv Fxl" eric II CCS. 121 



mealworms or beetles, and put them into some metal receptacle, 

 which has ])een pre\iouslv prepared by beint;' one-third filled 

 with waste seed and bran, and then on top of this some loosely 

 screwed up newspaper and folded pieces of sacking' (the latter 

 slii^htly damped with porter). If the l)in is placed in some warm 

 (lr\- jilace, where the temperature does not fall l)elow 60 des^'rees 

 l\-ir.. propaij^ation will be fairly rapid, and all that will be 

 needed will be the addin.;^'^ ot more bran — say monthly. As soon 

 as it is established there will be plenty of mealworms amonti" 

 the sackinj^- and paper, from which they can be easily picked for 

 daily supplies. If the meal at bottom of the bin be not disturbed 

 it will be i)ro(luctive for some years. If the su])ply recpiired be 

 Uir^e it will be best to have two or three bins to use in rotation. 

 The process is not an offensive one. if the bins are kept in a 

 warm dry room — biu if cool and damp the contents of the 

 bin. sweat, ferment, and become foul and rotten. The lid ot 

 ordinary dust-bins is sufficient to confine the mealworms and 

 u ;ually lea\'es them all the air required. 



Breeding Motlis:- Place some skins, fur and maize, in 

 metal boxes, with their lids open, where moths frequent, until 

 they l)ecome thorou.L^iily moth eaten, or ma.ij^i^-ots freelv 

 a])pear, then remove the bo.xes and close their lids and in a short 

 time you will have a liberal suiiplv of ma.i^-.^-ots. and the boxec 

 continue productive for two or three vears. or lon.L;er. No 

 (offensive odour is ,ij;iven off. 



Ilrrcding Flics: — (iet some wide necked t^lass bottles. or 

 jars and place one or two over-ripe sjilit bananas in each; leave 

 them standint^- in tbe sun in some flv-frequented spot for a few- 

 days, then cover the mouths of the bottles with fine butter- 

 muslin. keepin.L^ them in a sunny position. As soon as flies 

 appear therein, the bottles can bp placed in ca,q"e or aviary, the 

 nmslin covers remo\ed. and as the flies escape from the bottle? 

 they are captured by the birds; as soon as all the flies have es- 

 caped replace the covers on the Ijottles. and the next day these 

 will a.^-ain be full of flies, and usually continue productive 

 throui^hout the season. There is no offensive odour, even if 

 the bottles be kept in the bird-room. Our member Mr. A 

 Ezra adopts this method for securiui^- flies for his humming 

 birds. 



