INVESTIGATIONS PERTAINING To TExAs BEEKEEPING. 27 
is acquainted with them and they can be obtained in practically every 
locality at a reasonable price. They are sulfur and carbon bisulfide, or 
“high-life.” 
Sulfur. 
Dry powdered sulfur, or “flowers of sulfur,” is a light yellowish powder, 
with which every one is familiar. When sulfur is burned it unites with 
the oxygen of the air and forms a poisonous gas known as “sulfur 
dioxide.” This gas is quite effective in killing some kinds of insects, 
including the wax-worm. A common method of burning the sulfur is 
to place it on a pan of red-hot coals and immediately tier up the infested 
supers over the burning sulfur. The bottom super should not contain 
any infested material and the pile should be covered as quickly as pos- 
sible. A number of experiments were made with sulfur for fumigating 
combs containing the wax-worms. The results of these experiments are 
given in the following table: 
Table I—-Results of Fumigating Infested Combs with Sulfur Dioxide. 
Amount of Sulphur 
Stage of Time the Comhs Were Effect. 
Bee-moth. | Used per Cubic Foot. | Confined in Fumes. i 
Larvae............ | One-fourth ounce........ One hour............... Killed. 
TOF) oicsycuevsneinusencits One-half ounce.......... One hour.,............. Killed.* 
ere * Two-thirds ounce’....... One hour oe ven ccias cia ee Killed. * 
t \ 
The larve which were used for these experiments were ten to twenty 
ne old and in every case they were well protected by the webs and 
refuse. 
From the experiments with sulfur ‘dioxide it is evident that only ex- 
tremely large doses will affect the eggs of the bee-moth—so large, in fact, 
that such fumigation would not be practical. 
The larvee which were used in the experiments were of different ages 
and some were better protected than others. When the larve are not very 
well protected they are quite susceptible to the gas, but the larger larve, 
which are often enclosed in a mass of webs, are not killed except when 
extremely large doses of sulfur are used. , 
These results seem to indicate that the sulfur fumes are not ordinarilv 
penetrating enough to affect the eggs, and only when the larvae are young 
and not well protected will the gas affect them. -While the method is 
simple, there are minor details upon which the success of the operation 
depends. The sulfur must be burned at a high temperature in order to 
generate the most effective gas. While the method is generally effective 
under proper conditions, it cannot be recommended in preference to fumi- 
gation with carbon bisulfide. 
Carbon Bisulfide (“High Ltfe’). 
The commercial bisulfide is an oily liquid, very volatile and exceedingly 
foul-smelling. It is cold to the toucli and because of its rapid evaporation 
it produces a freezing sensation when dropped on the skin. When ex- 
posed to air at ordinary temperatures the bisulfide changes to a gas quite 
*Eggs which were present on these combs were not killed by the sulfur dioxide 
as larve were found hatching a few days after the fumigation. 
