502 THE bbk-kbbpbr'S guidb ; 



basins with this. Ants in California are killed by saturating 

 the runs with gasoline, and then burning all. It is a "quick 

 remedy, but hard for the ants. 



This ant is red except the eyes and abdomen, which may 

 be nearly all black, large soldiers, or tipped with black — com- 

 mon workers. There are many hairs on the abdomen. 



In such cases, if they occur, it is best to put a sweet poi- 

 sonous mixture in a box and permit the auts to enter through 



Fig. 289. 



Leg of Hive-Stand. — Original. 



an opening too small to admit bees, and thus poison the ants. 

 Or we may find the ant's nest, and, with a crowbar, make a 

 hole in it, turn in this an ounce of bisulphide of carbon, and 

 quickly plug it up by packing clay in the hole and on the nest. 

 The liquid will kill the ants. This better be done when the 

 ants are mostly in their nest. 



THE COW-KILLER. 



This ant-like insect, Mutilla cocciuea (Pig. 290), has been 

 sent me from Illinois and the South as far as Texas. It is a 

 formidable enemy of the bees. The male has wings and'no 

 sting. The female has no wings, but is possessed of a power- 

 ful sting. She is an inch (25 mm.) long, very hairy, and black, 

 except the top of her head and thorax, and a broad basal band 

 and the tip of the upper part of her abdomen, which are bright 



