COCKROACHES AND HOUSE ANTS. 99 



holes made in the nest with a stick, promptly closing the holes with the 

 foot. The bisulphide penetrates through the underground tunnels 

 and kills the ants in enormous numbers, and if applied with sufficient 

 liberality will exterminate the whole colony. 



Whenever the nests of any of these ants can not be located, there is 

 no other resource but the temporary expedient of destroying them 

 wherever they occur in the house. The best means of effecting this 

 end is to attract them to small bits of sponge moistened with sweetened 

 water and placed in the situations where they are most numerous. 

 These sponges may be collected several times daily and the ants 

 swarming in them destroyed by immersion in hot water. It is reported 

 also that a sirup made by dissolving borax and sugar in boiling water 

 will effect the destruction of the ants readily and in numbers. The 

 removal of the attracting substances, wherever practicable, should 

 always be the first step. 



