further from the nest when turned up, escaped. It is quite necessary
to destroy any nests on or near land where fruit is grown, as the
insects increase in numbers at a surprising rate, and they travel
great distances after food for the grubs. I had an instructive walk
over the fruit farm of my son-in-law, Mr. C.S. Martin, of Dunnington
Heath, near Alcester, with his cousin, Mr. William Martin, who is
extraordinarily clever at locating the nests. He quickly recognizes a
line of flight in which numbers of wasps can be seen going backwards
and forwards, in a well-defined cross-country track, follows it up and
locates the nest a long distance from where he first perceived the
line. In this way during our walk he found a dozen or more nests. In
the evening, when the inmates were at home, they were treated with a
strong solution of cyanide of potassium to destroy the winged insects;
and the next day the nests were dug out and the grubs destroyed, which
otherwise would become perfect wasps.

Lately it has become a custom to pay a half-penny each for all queen
wasps in the spring, but Mr. C.S. Martin, who had many years'
experience on the fruit plantations of the Toddington Orchard Company,
extending to about 700 acres, as well as on his own plantations at
Dunnington, writes to me as follows on the subject:

"To catch the queens in the spring is to my mind a waste of
time, and I discontinued paying for their capture, as the
number visible in the spring appeared to bear no relation to
the resulting summer nests. In the first place, the number
of queens in spring is always greatly in excess of the
numbers of nests, and to attempt to catch all the queens is
a hopeless job. As a rule, I don't think one per cent, ever
gets as far as a nest unless the weather conditions are very