Wasps, Bees, and Ants 549 



trowel. With these in hand find a small colony of ants, such as are com- 

 mon under stones in most parts of the country. Collect as many of the ants 

 and of the eggs, larvae, and pupK as possible, and put them in a fruit-can, 

 together with the dirt that is scooped up in collecting them with the trowel. 

 Search carefully for the queen; sometimes she is found immediately beneath 

 the stone covering the nest, but often it is necessary to dig a considerable 

 distance in order to find her. She can be recognized by her large size. If 

 the queen is not found, empty the contents of the can back into the nest, 

 and take up another colony; without a queen the experiment will be a failure. 

 Whn the queen is found place her in the vial so that she shall not be injured 

 while bing carried to the schoolroom. 



"Having obtained a queen and a large part of her family, old and young, 

 return to the schoolroom and empty the contents of the fruit-can onto the 

 board covering the upper pane of glass, and place the queen there with her 

 family. If much dirt and rubbish has been collected with the ants, remove 

 some of it so that not more than half a pint of it remains. When this is 

 done leave the ants undisturbed for a day or tv^'o. Of course the moat should 

 be filled with water so that they cannot escape. 



"Usually within twenty-four hours the ants will find the opening leading 

 into the space between the two panes of glass and will make a mine into 

 the layer or earth which is there, and will remove their queen and young to 

 this place. This process can be hastened by gradually removing the dirt 

 placed on the cover of the nest with the ants. 



"After the ants have made a nest between the panes of glass they can 

 be observed when desired by merely lifting the board forming the cover of 

 the nest. 



"With proper care a colony can be kept in a nest of this kind as long 

 as the queen lives, which may be several years. The food for the ants can 

 be placed on the base of the nest anywhere within the moat, and may con- 

 sist of sugar, minute bits of meat, fruits, etc. With a little care the kinds 

 of food preferred by the colony can be easily determined. The pupae of 

 ants, which can be collected from nests in the field during the summer months, 

 will be greedily devoured. The soil in the nest should be kept from becom- 

 ing too dry by putting a little water into on^ side cf the tin tray from time 

 to time." 



White prefers for a formicarium an inverted bell-glass (Fig. 751) mounted 

 on a wooden block which is set like an island in a shallow pan of water. 

 "Enough of the contents of a nest should be removed and transferred to 

 the bell-glass to occupy about half of its available space. A cover either of 

 baize or brown paper should be placed over the sides of the glass so as to 

 conceal the contained earth and to allow the light to filter only through the 

 surface, so that the ants may be thus induced to work against the transparent 



