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complete elimination is extremely difficult. As usual, prevention
offers the best solution to the problem namely,
(a) to block or obstruct the entry of the ant,
(b) to keep premises clear and free from crumbs and scraps
of food,
(c) to seal holes and cracks through which ants could enter and
(d) to use an effective insecticide, preferably of a residual
nature.
Wasps. Complaints received implicated three types, the Common,
the German and the Tree wasp. (Vespula vulgaris, V. germanica
and V. sylvestris).
Fear of the wasp is often misplaced for they rarely sting unless
they are roused or frightened and, contrary to popular belief, wasps
are not entirely harmful for in Spring and early Summer they feed
mainly on insects, many of which are themselves injurious. However,
after mid-summer their diet becomes more vegetarian and the
workers feed on ripening fruit and other sweet substances, thus
effecting serious damage in orchards, sugar warehouses, grain
factories, etc., where they cause considerable wastage of goods.
In houses they become a nuisance during cooking and at meal times
and it is conceivable that they are instrumental in the spread of food
poisoning.
The queen wasp, the only survivor from the previous year's
colony, emerges from hibernation in the Spring to choose a site for
nesting, usually in cavity walls, lofts, under roof tiles and other sites
which evoke a certain ingenuity on the part of the disinfestors in
order satisfactorily to deal with the nuisance.
The exceptionally fine summer gave rise to a substantial
increase in the number of complaints received regarding this pest
and during the year some 91 nests were destroyed, mainly by means
of H.C.N, gas generated from purpose-made proprietary powder.
Cockroaches. The cockroach (Blatta orientalis) is well known
for its destructiveness, especially in relation to stored organic
matter, ranging from foodstuffs to book bindings. Food is rendered
repulsive from contamination not only with its faeces but also with
the secretion from its scent glands, and the cockroach is strongly
suspected of transmitting to man a number of pathogenic organisms
especially those of an enteric nature.
Most of the complaints received concerning this pest came
from bakehouses and the three large hospitals in the Borough:
very few originated from occupiers of dwelling houses.