FIRE ANTS, What to do?

[2cycle]

I can't see myself stirring through a cubic yard of compost, while pizzing off 9000 already angry ants looking their queen.

Greg

 

[pigcicles]

We have 9700+ registered users, 390+ members visited today alone and the Orkin man is nowhere to be found ... somebody smoke him out

 

[2cycle]

I've entertained that thought, but TLW would not be happy. Even if I told her it was going to be the new garden pond/lake. But then it might backfire on me, and I'll have to buy more friggin rocks and weeds, and tote those heavy buggers, and move them 8 times before she's happy with it. I'll poison them this evening again, it aint gonna rain.

Greg

 

[coyote]

ALRIGHT NOW. We are gonna take this to a higher power..
"The lord please git rid of my fire ants prayer.."

Dear Lord, I thank You for this day,

I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving

God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive

me this day for everything I have done, said or thought

that was not pleasing to you.


I ask now for Your forgiveness. Please keep me safe

from all danger and harm. Help me to start this
day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let

me make the best of each and every day to clear my

mind so that I can hear from You. Please broaden

my mind that I can accept all things.

Let me not whine and whimper over things I have

no control over. And give the best response when

I'm pushed beyond my limits.

I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my

heart. Continue to use me to do Your will.

Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak...

Keep me uplifted that I may

have words of encouragement for others.

I pray for those that are lost and can't find their way.

I pray for those that are misjudged and misunderstood.

I pray for those who don't know You intimately.

I pray for those that will delete this without sharing it with others.

I pray for those that don't believe.



But I thank you that I believe that God changes people and God changes things. I pray for all my sisters
and brothers. For each and every family member in

their households. I pray for peace , love and joy in

their homes that they are out of debt and all their needs

are met. I pray that every eye that reads this knows

there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight.

I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees it.
And please get rid of them fire ants in my compost pile I pray that dear lord.

Amen..

can I get a Halleluja

 

[2cycle]

Halleluja
Halleluja

 

[bondvader]

Some body give me a hell yah!!!

 

[rikil]

no sense of adventure

 

[oillogger]

LOL! Me neither and I think you may have way under estimated the number of ants you could have. I would poke a handful of holes into the mulch to pour the mixture into and let it spread on its own. Just pouring the mixture on top is probably enough to get them on the move. Even if the queen is not killed those that are left will pick up and look for a new home somewhere else on your property just to irritate you. But the smaller new home may well mean the queen and what is left of the other ants will be pushing up daisies soon from your next house warming gift of love.

Fear not for they will not be missed long since there are probably legends of other colonies

of fire ants waiting at your property line for the mad rush to claim your newly unoccupied turf. If you listen closely you can hear them coming.

What the new fire ant trespassers do not know is that you are dressed like Clint Eastwood, you can do the Eastwood theme whistle, and you are holding your six shooter gallon of ant killing mixture.

 

[sleecjr]

instant grits. Try to put them in something that the grits wont get wet, but the ants can get to them. They will take it back to the mound and feed the other ants. It will swell and kill them. Its slow, but it works.

This is the best non poison way i have found. If you dont mind the pioson it works much faster.

 

[richtee]

ooo popping ants! I sense some entertainment value here! Blam! POP! BOOM! LOL..

I know - I'm twisted...

 

[coyote]

he he he...roll them grits around in some black powder first.

 

[oillogger]

This afternoon when I got home I proceeded to greet three trespassing colonies of ants with one gallon of my brew of Malathion and water. I poured a healthy dose over all three mounds. Then I remembered that last weekend I had to switch to my spare bottle of propane so I hurried off to a local service station for a refill. When I got back home I discovered all of the ants were apparently drunk from my brew since they were all lying on their little backs with their tiny feet sticking up in the air in what looked like a comatose state. I usually roll out the welcome mat for the little critters about every month or two especially after a rain when they build multi-storied homes on top of the ground.



Instant grits - Interesting idea! I think I could enjoy that method also and will give it a try as soon as I get some more trespassers. It also would probably be good for a compost pile.

 

[rikil]

you realize that when you find the magic formula for getting rid of these little buggers, you will have found the holy grail of ant control (for these ant species).

 

[pitrow]

I'm surprised no one has suggested the obvious...

Giant Anteater

 

[davenh]

If its a compost pile, you could mix in a bunch of grass, wet it down and cover with a tarp...cook'em out

.

 

[seboke]

Nature's Best!!!

 

[buzzard]

the grits is a good idea.

i use corn meal. like the grits it takes a good 3 days for them to go away but its good for the soil unlike poisons. that and its a lot cheaper. i just spread it around the holes i find in my yard. you still get new mounds that pop up every so often, however you dont feel so bad just putting more down at just .79 a bag that can last all summer.


im not sure if either one would be good for a compost pile, they are fairly damp correct? that will counter react the swelling in the little buggers bellies

i am going to get my first pile going some time in the next month or so, im getting excited about it.

 

[packplantpath]

I hate to do it, but I have no choice. Grits & corn meal do not work. I work about 8 doors down from the university entomology department, and one of the professors works on fire ants. I was in a seminar when somebody asked about it, and he said they tested it because so many people reported positive results.

Turns out that in replicated lab experiments, the ants do indeed eat the grits, but it caused absolutely no colony size decline, and no death.

He indicated that fire ants tend to relocate the entrance to the hive when disturbed, so it looked like they died, when they just moved. This is why when you buy a granular poison, it says not to spread it on the mound, but around it.

 

[coyote]

Kill FireAnts

The War on FireAnts

Fireant control can be time consuming and costly. But, hey, this is war!
There are several methods to kill fire ants, some take a few hours, others a few weeks or months. The most important thing to remember when dealing with fireants is to be patient. And make sure you treat or remove all the mounds because if you miss even one young mound, they'll win. Re-infestation will occur in less than a year. Read on to find a fire ant killer.
Natural Fire Ant Control

Lye

An inexpensive, environmentally safe, natural fire ant killer is to melt ½ bar of lye soap in 5 gallons of water. Wear rubber gloves, protect your eyes and be careful handling the lye as it is highly caustic and can cause extreme burns. Pour this solution in a circle around the ant mound to prevent ants from escaping, then stir them up and drench them thoroughly. This will kill the ants instantly without polluting your garden or harming pets.
Boiling Water

Pouring boiling water on a colony has been recommended as a non-chemical solution to get rid of fireants. But if it does not kill the queen, it will not eliminate the colony.
To use boiling water as a method, start with a sunny, cool day when the ants are most active. Pour about 3 gallons of truly boiling water slowly over the mound. Some ants can survive up to 14 days underwater, so the key word here is boiling. The ants die from being scorched, not drowned. But be careful not to scald yourself! Try to collapse as much of the mound as possible while pouring. The ants, their larvae, and their stored food are all scalded and dead within seconds.
Drowning Them

Although this is not completely effective, it may help when only one or two mounds are found. Simply dig up the colony and dump it into a five gallon bucket filled with hot soapy water and let it sit for 24 hours. The temperature of the water and soap will hopefully kill them. Caution: Disturbing the nest will cause the ants to swarm their invader, take caution to prevent being stung.

Drenches for FireAnts

Mound drenches are insecticides diluted with water and then trickled down through the mound. They must come in contact with most of the ants, especially the queen, or they are not effective. Ants contacted by the drench die in less than 24 hours. It is best to use drenches in the spring and fall, when temperatures are between 70 and 85 F. In the hot summer months, ants stay deep in their mounds and are hard to reach with liquid insecticides.
Drenches should be used when there is a high risk of human contact or when fireants have invaded home lawns, school grounds, parks and other areas frequented by people.
FireAnt Bait

To avoid harming pets and children, poison fire ant bait must be used carefully inside the home and outside in the yard. Baits are insecticides that have been mixed with an ant attractant. Worker ants carry the bait back to the mound and share it with the colony and the queen. Although it is effective in killing the queen, baits may take several weeks before the colony finally dies off.
Place baits in corners, under cabinets, and in closets. Some examples of baits would be mixing boric acid (15% by volume) in peanut butter and placing it in a jar lid. Equal parts of borax and granulated sugar, or a borax and corn syrup mixture. Be sure to frequently refill the mixture and keep it away from high temperatures, high humidity, and intense sunlight. Baits can be rendered ineffective under these conditions.
Bait can also be spread around the nest in a circle. Spread it in a 1-3 foot circle, starting from the base of the mound. Spread it sparsely. If it is too concentrated, it will actually repel the ants.
Ants do not appreciate it when people dump things on their home. (Well, excuse me!) It's always good to remember when using an ant bait, do not dump the product directly on the mound or nest, broadcast it around and in other areas where ants are seen foraging for food.
Grits

There is a theory that fireants will eat grits, the grits will swell up inside their bellies and then the ants will explode. Boom! This is in fact false, and an old wives tale. Ants cannot eat solid foods, and therefore this theory does not work.
When people dump grits onto or near ant mounds, the ants do not die from the grits, they simple build another door (mound) to their colony, deserting the one covered with the grits.
Rice

Don't bother with this one, either. See Grits above.
Gasoline

This method consists of pouring gasoline on the mound and often times lighting it on fire. This method, aside from the obvious hazard to you from an explosion, is illegal and environmentally hazardous, and it is inefficient and ill-advised. It poses a risk of ground and surface water contamination that is irreversible. Not to mention, in warm, dry environments, you find yourself causing more damage than anticipated (i.e., grass fires).
Household Products

Many home products, such as chlorine bleach, ammonia, various detergents, plaster of paris, drain cleaners and so on are reputed as wonderful for fire ant management. Few, if any of these are effective for killing fire ants, and most pose a greater threat to pets, children, wildlife, and groundwater. In addition, it is illegal to use these products in a manner inconsistent with their labeling – they are not labeled for control of any type of pest.

gas does work..but I guess it works on everthing else also..

Oh did ya try the fire and ridance prayer.

 

[oillogger]

Now if you all please turn to hymn 264 in your pew songbook Sister Lilly will play our closing hymn for us on the piano.