KILLING ANTS AND YELLOW JACKETS 



jackets also nest in the ground in old squirrel or gopher holes, and 

 they too can be suffocated with carbon bisulphide or by pouring in 

 gasoline or kerosene and firing it. Hornets which nest in trees are 

 troublesome, but are much less numerous than the cave-dwelling 

 species. 



Poisoning yellow jackets to carry destruction to the young brood 

 is practicable. Dr. J. H. Miller, of San Leandro, saved his fruit 

 in this way: 



I bought half a dozen beef livers, five pounds of arsenious acid and 

 several pounds of baling wire. Cutting the liver into pieces as large as 

 a man's fist, I put them into a hot solution of arsenious acid, and, bend- 

 ing the wire into a hook at each end, I suspended the pieces from the 

 lower limbs of trees all around my drying-ground. The fruit was soon 

 deserted, and the insects busily worked at the fragrant liver, carrying 

 pieces to their nests, causing the death of those that had been destroying 

 the fruit and the next generation also, and so completely that ther<* may 

 not be enough of the pests in that neighborhood the following year to 

 require a repetition of the treatment. There is no risk in so using the 

 poison, for the yellow jackets will not return to the fruit, and bees will 

 not go near the meat. 



When there are serious infestations of ants in the orchard, they 

 can be overcome by hanging a dilute sweetened poison in flat two- 

 ounce spice cans on the tree trunks close to the regular trails, fol- 

 lowed up and down by the ants. The poison is prepared on a for- 

 mula given below. A few strands of excelsior are inserted in the 

 poison syrup. The ants get loaded up with the syrup, which does 

 not kill them immediately. They carry some of it to the egg-laying 

 queens and they all die. The cost is five to eight cents per tree. The 

 poisoning is best done late in March, early in April, or during Sep- 

 tember and October. Extermination has been accomplished in a 

 number of cases. 



The U. S. Bureau of Entomology recommends the following 

 formula for ant syrup "on account of its stability at high tempera- 

 tures, freedom from crystalization, and continued attractiveness": 



Granulated sugar 9 pounds 



Water 9 pints 



Tartaric acid (crystallized) ' grams 



Benzoate of soda 8.4 grams 



Boil slowly for 30 minutes, Allow to cool. 



Dissolve sodium arsenite (C. P.) 15 grams 



In hot water Yz P^t 



Cool. Add poison solution to syrup and stir well. 



Add to the poisoned syrup: 

 Honey VA, pounds 



Mix thoroughly. 



DISINFECTING NURSERY STOCK 



Cuttings, scions, young trees and vines, etc., can be freed from 

 insects by inclosing in a tight box or cask and placing a saucerful 

 of carbon bisulphide on the top of them, covering it with canvas or 

 any tight-fitting cover. The bisulphide vapor will destroy all insect 

 life in forty minutes. 



