Daily camera., 1899-04-28
TRADE IN ANTS EGGS.
CAN BUY A QUART FOR A
DOLLAR.
4sthsred in Rassia-Thsy Are Used -
Food for Gold Fish and Canaries sAd
Other Cage Birds-How They Are
Caught by the PsaaantA

An ant does not weigh much. In
fact, 500 of these wonderful little work
ers Will not turn the scale ct a single
ounce avoirdupois. Naturally, ants
eggs are a good deal lighter; and these.
even when they have turned to the lit.
tie white grubs called by naturalists
pupae, still weigh far less than full
grown warrior OF worker ants. And
yet you can buy whole quart Of ants
eggs. or rather pupae. for dollar.
How would you like the work OF col
lecting the hundreds OF thousands Of
eggs which go to make up this quar-
for that amount Of money? Ants eggs
are the subject OF big and increasing
trade. They come over from Europe
through German agents. dozens of
hundredweight, You would hardly
suppose such an amount could be col
lscted in a whole country in year as
are here !n one OF these shipments.
Yet probably all you see in one of these
patches came from a single small dis
OF the big forests there, where the soil
Ia light and loamy, you can in summer
hardly walk six steps without kicking
open little brown mound which
swarms as II scatters with myriads Of
busy workers, who rush to rescue the
eggs and larvae and repair the dam
age. And here is the secret of ant-egg
collecting. The peasants. who make
business Of ii, trade on the known anS-
iefy OF the workers for their charges.
The ants egg collector never attempts
to pick up the eggs one by one. He
waits for a sunny day. and then. be-
'ore wrecking the nest lays a number
OF thick. leafy twigs in a small pile
near II Next, he kicks open the nest
The working ants know well that a
very short exposure to the full heat
Of the sun will kill life In all the eggs
and pupae. so picking them up they
rush desperately for the nearest shell
ter. This is. OF course. the pile OF
tvigs. Meantime the collector is doing
the same thing with other nests. and
when he has finished and come back to
the FIRST he finds q neat little pile of
his spoil beneath the twigs, which he
sweeps neatly into a stif paper bag
ing hot day can collect from Ave to
seven quart. OF eggs. which he sells to
the agent who comes round at stated
intervals TO collect The whole trade
Ia a. present in the hands OF only two
or three firms. The eggs when first
collected are naturally mixed with rub
bish Of ali kinds. bits OF wood. dead
leaves and dust. The best grade are
cleaned before being sent over TO Eng
land. but quantity arrive here Just as
rough as when they were first col
leeted. and these have all to be cleaned
by hand. II is a most awkward job,
n the eggs are 30 light that the merest
breath sends them flying. and so no
mechanical means can be used for sep
arating the chan from the eggs. They
are spread on great sheets and picked
over by hand by girls This picking
10 most tedious. and takes almost as
long as the original collecting. Eng
AAuo II tHt ptst CuStOm6T IOf
eggs. They are the best food obtaina-
BILE for goldfish and other Inhabitants
OF the small aquarium many people are
fond Of Then they are useful for ca
naries and other cage-birds, being gen.
orally mixed with soft food. And
young pheasants. any keeper will tell
you. thrive on them vastly. but for
phsasants they are not often bought,
the expense Would be so great. The
young birds are turned into a copse
where ants nests are plentiful. and
soon md them out for themselves
There are few places In the United
States where ants are common enough
to make It worth while to collect their
eggs. but these localities could never
compete vita Russia. However. there
is great opening for any entsrprisinE
Individual In Central Africa, where the
termites build nests twelve and eight
een feet high. Also In northern Aus
traiia. where ants are equally common
Probably shiploads OF eggs could be
% th,ra