The Beemoth oe Waxwoem 



35 



every locality at a reasonable price.- They are sulphur and carbon 

 bisulphide, or "high-life." 



Sulphur 



Dry powdered sulphur, or "flowers of sulphur," is a light yellowisfe 

 powder with which everyone is familiar. When sulphur is burned,, it 

 unites with the oxj^gen of the air and forms a poisonous gas knowu' as- 

 "sulphur dioxide."' This gas is effective in killing some kinds of in- 

 sects, including the waxworm. A common method of burning the- 

 sulphur is to place it on a pan of red hot coals and immediately tier 

 up the infested supers over the burning sulphur. The bottom smper 

 should not contain any infested material and the pile should be covered 

 as quickly as possible. A number of experiments were made with siitl- 

 pher fiunigating combs containing waxworms. The result of these 

 experiments are given in table 26. 



Table 26. — Results of fumigating infested combs with sulphur dioxide. 



The larvae which were used for these experiments were from ten to 

 twentj' days old and in every case they were well protected by the webs 

 and refuse. The larvae which were used in the experiments were of' 

 different ages and some better protected than others. When the larvae- 

 are not very well protected, they are quite susceptible to the gas, but. 

 the larger larvae, which are often enclosed in a mass of webs, were not; 

 killed except when extremely large doses of sulphur were used. 



Prom the experiment with sulphur dioxide, it is evident that only 

 extremely large doses will effect the eggs of the beemoth; so large, in 

 fact, that such fumigation would not be practical. 



These results seem to indicate that the sulphur fumes are not ordi- 

 narily penetrating enough to effect the eggs, and only when the larvae 

 are young and not well protected will the gas effect them. While the 

 method is simple, there are minor details upon which the success of 

 the operation depends. The sulphur must be burned at a high tem- 

 perature in order to generate the most effective gas. While the method 

 is generally effective under 'proper conditions, it cannot be recom- 

 mended in preference to fumigation with carbon bisulphide. 



Carbon Bisulphide {"High Life") 



The commercial bisulphide is an oily liquid, very volatile and exceed- 

 ingly foul smelling. It is cold to the touch and because of its rapid 

 evaporation it produces a freezing sensation when dropped on the skin. 

 When exposed to air at ordinary temperatures the bisulphide rapidly 

 changes to a gas or vapor which is a little more than two and one-half 



