HOUSEHOLD AND CAMP INSECTS 59 



and add the poisoned solution to the syrup, stir well, and then add 

 to the poisoned syrup 1^/2 pounds of honey and mix thoroughly. 



Ants may be destroyed by the use of a very weak solution of 

 arsenic and syrup, which should be prepared by a druggist. It 

 consists of a poisoned syrup of sugar or other cheap sweetening 

 containing between one-fourth and one-eighth of i per cent of 

 sodium arsenite. The most convenient way of using the poison 

 is to saturate a piece of sponge with the syrup and place it in a 

 large jar with a perforated cover. Ordinary pint fruit jars or 

 even smoked-beef tumblers having tin covers perforated with nail 

 holes, are perhaps as convenient as any. The baited jars should be 

 placed in the vicinity of the nests and laid on the side or so located 

 that they can not be filled with water, and at the same time be easily 

 accessible to the ants. The insects will feed upon the poison 

 readily and also carry it to the nests, the latter insuring the eventual 

 extermination of the colony. Several baited jars can be used about 

 a house or yard. 



Trapping the ants by means of sponges dipped in sweetened 

 water is frequently advised and gives good results if conscientiously 

 carried out. First, attractive foods should be removed, so far as 

 possible, prior to the distribution of the pieces of sponge saturated 

 with sweetened water. These latter should be gathered from time 

 to time and the ants clinging thereto destroyed by dropping in 

 boiling water. 



The common outdoor nests of ants, especially those made in 

 the grass, can be destroyed by the use of carbon bisulphide. Make 

 a hole several inches deep with a broom handle and put therein 

 about i ounce of carbon bisulphide and cover quickly. In the case 

 of a large nest, several holes should be made at a distance of a foot 

 or a foot and a half and each charged with carbon bisulphide. A 

 more recent method is scooping out a portion of the soil and filling 

 the cavity with a solution of cyanide of potassium, using i ounce of 

 this deadly poison to a gallon of water. Another probably equally 

 effective way is the sprinkling of the surface of the nest with fine 

 particles of potassium cyanide. This material, it should be remem- 

 bered, is a most dangerous poison and every precaution should be 

 taken to avoid disastrous results. The nests of the large black ant 

 are usually found in timbers, such as studding in the walls and are 

 therefore almost inaccessible. The writer has seen 2 by 4 joists 

 badly riddled by the operations of this insect. 



The little black ant and the pavement ant are very likely to build 



