Bee-keeping in Victoria. 95 



Red Ants do, yet tliey annoy bees mncii after sunset in attempts to enter 

 the liive. Sugar ants may be destroyed with carbon bisulphide as 

 advised above, but if located under a hive the latter should be closed 

 and temporarily removed, but returned to the spot before morning and 

 the bees liberated. 



Wood Ants are shiny black ants about i inch in length. They 

 live in holes carried down to a depth of 2 feet occasionally. There 

 is a number of such burrows some distance apart, and sometimes con- 

 nected with surface tunnels. There are also summer nests made of fibre 

 and pieces of fine grass, and built against the stems of young trees or 

 in stumps and behind the bark of dead trees. This ant is, fortunately, 

 not found in many districts; it is very difficult to deal with, as there 

 are so many sniall nests not easily found. The distinguishing charac- 

 teristic of this species is its indifference to cold. It will be found quite 

 active at times when bees are in a semi-dormant state. It is never seen 

 out in sunlight, but keeps in the shade, and does its marauding work 

 mostly at night. Carbon bisulphide applied to the nests whenever 

 found is the only remedy. The small black ant, which sometimes 

 becomes very numerous in apiaries, is distinguished from the former 

 by its more slender build, quicker movements, and much larger colonies. 

 Its objective is honey, as distinguished from the Wood Ant, which preys 

 upon bees. 



Of the many ant remedies advertised, some are useless, while others 

 cannot be applied in an apiary, as they would be destructive of bee life. 



Spiders. 



There are several species of spiders which prey on bees. The black 

 spider with a red mark will increase rapidly in an apiary if left undis- 

 turbed, and will exact a heavy toll in bees. The lurking places under 

 covers and other shelter spots about hives should be periodically exam- 

 ined, the spiders killed, and the balloon-like cocoons containing their 

 eggs burned. 



BiKDS. 



The Australian Bee Eater {Merops ornatus). 



As a destroyer of bees this bird holds pride of place. Mr. C. French, 

 in the Journal of Agriculture of February, 1902, says: This beautiful 

 bird is unlike any other of our Australian birds, and cannot easily be 

 mistaken. The general plumage of this bird is a beautiful golden green 

 and azure blue, the feathers of the throat being of_ a rich yellow. 

 Length of bird, according to Mr. Campbell, 10 inches, including tail, 6 

 inches, and bill 1-J inches, the tail feathers assuming a peculiar shape 

 and colour. The habits of this bird are partially migratory, and the 

 birds are to be found in the northern parts of Victoria. They appear 

 in September, and, according to Mr. Campbell and other ornitholo- 

 gists, leave again in March. The eggs, usually five in number, are 

 deposited in holes made mostly in the sandy banks of rivers. 



The bee eater, as its name implies, has a bad reputation as a 

 destroyer of bees, but the strictly insectivorous nature of the bird renders 



