vii ATTRACTING QUEENS 117 



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 Lasius 

 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 Lasius niger 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 191 1 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 Lasius 

 niger took up its abode under the wooden cover 

 of one of my strong colonies of /apidarius, and the 

 two colonies lived for some time together, the ants 



