2223
PLAGUE OF
ANTS
CITY HOUSES
RAIDED
There is a plague of ants, and house- wives in almost every suburb are at their wits' end in an endeavour to arrest the wholesale depredations of the pest.
FELL THROUGH FLOOR
A week or so ago a woman in one suburb found that the linoleum in her kitchen appeared to be rising.
She had great difficulty in closing the doors and eventually found that the doors would not close at all. Her husband took some inches off the bottom of the woodwork but the trouble became more accentuated. The other day when the woman was crossing the kitchen the boards beneath her gave way and she was precipitated amongst a mass of ant combs. The beams supporting the flooring had been whittled down by the ants into mere lathes of wood, and the brick and stonework of the foundations had been honeycombed by ants, which must have been working for the last seven years or more.
REARGUARD ACTION
In all the houses visited the queen ants which had made their nests at depths ranging from ten to seventeen feet had sought refuge in almost in- accessible places and the amount of labour involved in discovering and re- moving them was prodigious. As the workers toiled away the ants covered their retreat with astonishing ingen- uity and closed up all their holes by plugging them with soil and earth.
One of the primary sources of ant invasion was said to be the manufac- ture of a poor quality of cement by builders. The thin surface of the cement was eaten through without difficulty by the insects and when the plague became rampant the only solu tion was the discovery and destruction of the queen ant.
NEW HOUSES ATTACKED
A house that had only been erected twelve months had to be vacated by the tenants because of ants, and here again the housewife had fallen through the flooring of her lounge, which had been undermined by the insects. The house has now been empty for four months. Digging is still proceeding at the base of the outer walls. Even the hearthstone in the living-room had been cracked by their activities beneath floor level.
Extract from "The Star" Johannes- burg, Transvaal, issue date 6/7/1998.
WARNING TO OTHERS
The fact that this report relates to conditions in another continent, detracts not one whit from its value as a warning to property owners and those concerned with building in Hong Kong or in any other parts of the
Hong Kong Builder
Far East where white ants are known to exist. It is unwise to take comfort from the fact that there may now be but few termites in the locality, or to imagine that there is no real danger to property.
A change in local conditions favour- able to these insects may well result in their becoming a definite menace in a very short space of time. Once established, termites will breed with amazing rapidity. They often work in concealment, and it is quite common for their attack on timber to reach an advanced stage before their presence is even suspected.
PRECAUTIONS NEEDED
In the case of new buildings, much can and is being done structurally by Architects and Builders to minimise the risk of such attack. But, such is the ingenuity displayed by termites in over-coming obstacles in order to reach food, that the only positive means of protecting the timber and woodwork is to render the material repellent to them.
Fortunately, this can now be done easily, cheaply and with lasting effect.
Where timber can be treated prior to erection, the method is to soak it in a solution of "Atlas A" Wood Pre- servative and water. Ample penetra- tion is secured, and so powerful is the Preservative that termites will never attack the treated timber, nor yet remain in the vicinity. For, with their food supply cut off, the marauders must perforce seek their sustenance elsewhere.
EXISTING BUILDINGS
Experience shows that the timber existing in established houses can also be rendered completely immune, pro- vided that trouble is taken to ensure that every vulnerable surface is thoroughly treated. This can usually be best accomplished by brush-coating with a somewhat stronger mixture of "Atlas A" and water.
LESS FIRE RISK
"Atlas A" is not a smelly, oily material. It is, in fact, odourless and Moreover, can be supplied stainless.
the timber can afterwards be grained, painted or varnished. These features, and the fact that "Atlas A" renders timber highly resistive to fire action, make it ideally suited to domestic requirements. "Atlas A" ensures equally positive and lasting protection for timber situated in the open or beneath ground level, provided that the treated wood is rendered water-proof by a substantial coating of paint, tar or similar material, to prevent the eventual leaching out of the preser vative by rains &c.
FOUNDATION TREATMENT
The Preservative сап be used in many other ways as a means of com- bating white ants. For instance, the earth or rubble beneath floors and the
Photo:
Star, Jo'burg. QUEEN ANTS DUG OUT. In the fore- ground are the queen ants, whose ages are estimated at eleven and nine years respec- tively. Each may lay as many as 35,000 eggs per day. On man's palm is the king The spongy-looking substance is the ant combs, to which the eggs from the queen are conveyed by the worker ants. Thirty buckets of combs were taken from beneath this floor.
ant.
NOT EXPENSIVE
"Atlas A" Wood Preservative is unique in that it is supplied concen- trated. Apart from the consequent saving on freight and handling char- ges, the fact that this product is used at high rates of dilution makes it in- expensive and extremely economical, A single gallon of the Preservative, when diluted with water for brush application, gives a volume of four gallons of ready-to-use solution, whilst dilution for application by immersion give ten gallons.
TECHNICAL SERVICE
You are invited to write for interest- ing literature describing "Atlas A" Wood Preservative and setting out in detail the simple directions for its use. Where any unusual problem connected with the protection of any class of timber against Termites, Borers or other ligniperdous insects is encoun- tered we shall be pleased to advise you in the light of our long experience, with the product, without charge or obligation.
"Atlas
A "
Wood Preservative, which has proved its value in practic- ally every part of the world, is an entirely British product, being made by Atlas Preservative Company, Ltd., at Erith, Kent, England.
Sole Distributors:
For South China, Hong Kong & Macao:
masonry of foundations can be im- MALCOLM &
pregnated with "Atlas A " to form
a barrier to the insects, while new cement, etc., can be mixed with an "Atlas A solution instead of plain water, with the same purpose in view,
ED
MALCOLM & CO., LTD.
P. O. BOX 151.
HONG KONG BANK BUILDING. TELEPHONE: 31144.
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