vil merRAc TING OUEENS LLY 
paraffin oil, which evaporates less rapidly than 
turpentine, into the trench. Further particulars of 
this case are given on p. 229. For readers who 
may employ this remedy, I may remark that it is 
advisable to apply the oil at night in order to give 
it time to soak away before the queen flies again, 
because contact with the liquid oil would kill her. 
This operation requires too much attention to be 
employed merely as a precaution against ants, and 
it seems that the only way to avoid the possibility 
of destruction by ants is to place the nests at a safe 
distance from the ants’ nests. Unfortunately Laszzs 
niger is abundant almost everywhere, living in the 
ground in small colonies, of which there is no indica- 
tion on the surface. These colonies mostly dwell 
near the surface, but I have found them at depths 
extending to eight inches. One of my nests de- 
stroyed by Laszus nzger was in a tin domicile, which, 
being at a greater depth, and having a longer tunnel, 
ought, one would think, to have afforded greater 
protection from ants than the wooden-covered nests 
situated only just beneath the surface, and provided 
with only a short hole. Ants are more active in 
damp seasons than in dry ones, and in the dry 
season of 1911 none of my nests were destroyed by 
them. Fortunately ants can do no harm to brood 
sufficiently protected by bees, as is shown by the 
fact that, later in the season, a colony of Laszzs 
niger took up its abode under the wooden cover 
of one of my strong colonies of /apfzdarius, and the 
two colonies lived for some time together, the ants 
