OR, MANUAI< OP THS APIARY. 



SOI 



chamber, it is not difficult to practice poisoning. One year I 

 tried Paris-green with success. There are several reports of 

 ants entering the hives and killing the bees ; even the queen 

 is said to have been thus destroyed. 



I learn from Mr. H. E. Hill, of Florida, of a large, red ant 

 peculiar to that section (Fig. 288), which is a terror to bees. It 

 has destroyed nineteen nuclei in one week, and hundreds of 

 dollars worth of bees, for Mr. Hill. It hides and burrows in 

 rotten wood, above and below ground, in hive-covers, in parts 

 of hive^ separated by the division-boards — anywhere where 



Fig. 288. 



Florida Ant, in all stages. — Original. 



concealment is possible. So numerous are they that Mr. Hill 

 thinks there may be thousands in a colony, and he has 

 destroyed hundreds of colonies within the past two years. 

 Weak and queenless colonies suffer most, but none are exempt. 

 Scouts are sent out to locate the prey in the early twilight. 

 Ivater the chosen victims are stormed by the ant army and 

 routed, though many ants die in the conflict. This ant (Fig. 

 288) is known as the bull-dog ant in Florida. It is known to 

 science as Camponotus esuriens. (See American Bee Journal, 

 Vol XZiI, page 72.) Mr. Hill finds only one way — burning — to 

 destroy them, and only one to keep them at bay. The legs of 

 the hive stands are cut with a basin (Fig. 289), which is waxed 

 and kept filled with carbolic acid. This is not satisfactory, as 

 it evaporates quickly. I would suggest mixing kerosene and 

 lard, both of which are very obnoxious to insects, and fill the 



