374 HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



gained by giving any attention to the swarming individuals 

 except in watching them to determine the point from which 

 they are emerging. If this can be discovered, it will give 

 a clew to the location of the colony and operations against 

 the pest should begin at once, especially if they are 

 located in a building. The timbers containing the nest 

 may be removed and burned, or, possibly, they may be 

 treated with live steam or soaked with kerosene. If 

 the timbers are situated so that they can be subjected 

 to a temperature of 125 F. or over for a few hours, 

 the insects in their different stages may be destroyed. 

 It should be borne in mind, also, that swarms of winged 

 individuals indicate the presence of danger. 



In the tropics, much more care and attention must be 

 given to the prevention of injuries from this insect. 



In South Africa a machine known as the "universal 

 ant destroyer" is much used for killing the termites in 

 their nests. The machine consists essentially of a stove, 

 or brazier, and a force pump. A mixture of white arsenic 

 and sulfur is burned on the hot coals of the stove and 

 the fumes are forced by the pump into all parts of the 

 nest. 



The author is not aware that the results of any definite 

 experiments on the treatment of timbers with preservatives 

 to protect them from white ants have ever been published. 

 The late C. B. Simpson, entomologist in the Transvaal 

 of South Africa, had a series of such experiments in prog- 

 ress but it was probably never completed. The treat- 

 ment of timbers with creosote has been recommended 

 for protection against the injuries of white ants, but the 

 author is not aware of any definite experiments to dem- 

 onstrate its value. 



