Evening star., 1939-08-30


often carry disease. II she doesn't
do something about them quickly.
many Of her unwelcome callers will
soon be Observation-Disclosures.
With insects, large families are tte
rule.
Since the only reason insects come
into the kitchen is to find food, the
woman who discovers any of these
six-legged invaders should first get
all the food out of their way. She
should see that garbage is disposed
of soon as possible-that the lids on
metal garbage cans inside the house
and out are kept on, and that they
fit tightly.
Next, she should launch an i'm
mediate offensive. Some weapons
and maneuvers that have been found
successful in waging war on the more
common household insect pests are:
ANTS.
The ideal way to get rid of these
persistent insects is to find the COL
ony where the queen and young ants
are-then destroy it. However, often
either the colony cannot be found
or 1t Is inaccessible. Then it is nee
essary to resort to sprays-ant pow
ders-poison bats.
In the meantime, until these take
effect, one way to keep ants off
tables, refrigerators, and other mov-
able furniture is to set the legs Of
the furniture into shallow dishes
with little kerosene in them. An
other is to wrap poison ant tapes
around the furniture legs.
Sprays will seldom wipe out COL
ony, but they are useful for killing
ants that come out into the open in
large numbers. The ordinary kero-
sene-pyrethrum sprays on the mar
ket are excellent for killing ants that
can actually be hit with the spray
Both ant powder and poison bats
should be used carefully so they don't
get into food and so that children
and pets do not get hold of them.
But if the ants keep coming on In
spite Of this busting of powder, try
poison bait. No one bait can be
depended on to kill all kinds of
ants. And it may be necessary to
try several kinds before finding one
that the ants like and will take back
to the colony for food.
Put the bait in the places where
the ants ordinarily come for food
or along the line of march from
colony to food-moving it closer to
the colony each day. AS a safety
| measure, put the bait in perforated
pill boxes that only the ants can
get into. Or put it in a tin can
pounded full of holes with the lid
hammered on so tightly it can't
come of. Saturate a piece of blot
ter with the poisonous sirups-then
put that in the can or the box.
There are three poison bait for
mulas that should be effective in
killing the ants most common in
kitchens. One is-dissolve four
ounces of sugar in one quart of
water and stir in one-haf ounce of
tartar emetic. Another is dissolve
one-half pound of sugar in one
pint of hot water and add one
seventh ounce of sodium arsenate.
Bring to a slow boil and strain. And
for ants that do not like sweets
try working small quantities of tar
tar emetic into pieces of bacon rind
or grease.
HOUSEFLIES.
Household insect enemy number
one is the f1y-carrier of at least
80 different disease organisms. Prob
ably Of biggest help in keeping him
away from the familys food are
well-fitted screens on all doors and
windows. Screen doors should open
outward. Although a screen with
IA meshes to the linear inch is fine
enough to keep out houseflies-one
with at least 16 mashes to the inch
is better. because it keeps out small
er insects as well.
Homemade fly traps are a help in
controlling flies that are swarming
near the house waiting to come in.
For flies that buzz around the kitch-
en- door in numbers a spray of
kerosene-pyrethrum mixture is ef-
fective. This spray may be used in
doors. also. Close the room, atomize
the spray into the air until there is
a good floating mist. After half an
COCKROACHES
Cockroaches hide during the day
come out to forage at night.