Acres of ants - any ideas?

[MountainGirl]

Recall my earlier thread about the tiny piles of granular stuff? https://theoutdoortradingpost.com/showthread.php?19336-Strange-ground-what-is-this

Well... that's the place PO and I bought, and now some of those little piles are a good 8-10" tall and if red ants weren't the original builders they've sure moved in. Found a smaller one with an access hole about the diameter of a pencil (in the pic, north edge of the pile), and watched the little shits going in and out, pushing the little balls out the hole. We need to END this... before it finishes spreading over the two cleared acres.

PO is gonna direct spray the bigger mounds - but we need to find a way to kill them en masse over the large 2-acre area. I'll be researching ant-kill methods - but if any of you guys have any ideas it would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

18164

[White Shadow]

Spread diatomaceous earth?

[Slippy]

Ahh, the age old fire-ant control question...:flamer:

My answer is that you cannot beat them. Period. End of Story.

The little bastards will win. Know that going in to battle.

The best strategy is to chase them away from the areas that you frequent. THAT can be done. But the battle ain't cheap.

Granular works pretty good, so does liquid (any brand from your local feed store, or Tractor Supply or Walmart etc). Look for chemical %.

I've poured gas on the mound, diesel fuel, and light fluid and lit them on fire; I've poured bleach and cleaning chemicals on the mounds, I mow them down with the brush cutter/tractor etc.

My suggestion is to work on the mounds closer to the house and let the other ones go.




Recall my earlier thread about the tiny piles of granular stuff? https://theoutdoortradingpost.com/showthread.php?19336-Strange-ground-what-is-this

Well... that's the place PO and I bought, and now some of those little piles are a good 8-10" tall and if red ants weren't the original builders they've sure moved in. Found a smaller one with an access hole about the diameter of a pencil (in the pic, north edge of the pile), and watched the little shits going in and out, pushing the little balls out the hole. We need to END this... before it finishes spreading over the two cleared acres.

PO is gonna direct spray the bigger mounds - but we need to find a way to kill them en masse over the large 2-acre area. I'll be researching ant-kill methods - but if any of you guys have any ideas it would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

18164

[Mad Trapper]

You can make your own bait traps with a mixture/solution of boric acid and sugar. They will take the sweets home and kill their brothers and sisters. I use this for carpenter ants in buildings here, put out in used tuna fish tins. For outside you'd need a bunch for two acres, and something to keep rain out. Powdered borax on the mounds will help too.

Also can spray the mounds with permethrin, can get concentrate from AG supply stores. This will get them going in and out. For buildings where ants are going in hit the foundation perimeter with spray every couple weeks.

Can use the same stuff to spray clothes, dilute 20:1 with distilled water, let dry, and works on insects/ticks. I bet you got ticks in TX too!

18165

[MountainGirl]

Spread diatomaceous earth?

Had to google, found this, like it!

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=diatomaceous+earth+for+fire+ants&view=detail&mid=EE13CA8EFA26799A80AAEE13CA8EFA26799A80AA&FORM=VIRE

[MountainGirl]

Ahh, the age old fire-ant control question...:flamer:

My answer is that you cannot beat them. Period. End of Story.

The little bastards will win. Know that going in to battle.

The best strategy is to chase them away from the areas that you frequent. THAT can be done. But the battle ain't cheap.

Granular works pretty good, so does liquid (any brand from your local feed store, or Tractor Supply or Walmart etc). Look for chemical %.

I've poured gas on the mound, diesel fuel, and light fluid and lit them on fire; I've poured bleach and cleaning chemicals on the mounds, I mow them down with the brush cutter/tractor etc.

My suggestion is to work on the mounds closer to the house and let the other ones go.

Thanks, Sir Slippy! I'll make sure PO reads your post... He's the Ant Killer on this team :)

The mounds are easy to spot... I wonder if I need to worry about the hundreds of 2" granular ground-level piles around the yard... that some thought might be worm castings (that other thread in the OP). And I mean hundreds. Maybe should nip that in the bud somehow?

[MountainGirl]

You can make your own bait traps with a mixture/solution of boric acid and sugar. They will take the sweets home and kill their brothers and sisters. I use this for carpenter ants in buildings here, put out in used tuna fish tins. For outside you'd need a bunch for two acres, and something to keep rain out. Powdered borax on the mounds will help too.

Also can spray the mounds with permethrin, can get concentrate from AG supply stores. This will get them going in and out. For buildings where ants are going in hit the foundation perimeter with spray every couple weeks.

Can use the same stuff to spray clothes, dilute 20:1 with distilled water, let dry, and works on insects/ticks. I bet you got ticks in TX too!

18165

Thanks MT; good info.
Not sure how we'd keep the rain out. Along with destroying the mounds I just want to kill them all... and I'm not against poison whatsoever.
I think maybe PO is gonna have some fun here, lol :explodingbomb:

[Sparkyprep]

I spend a fortune on Amdro Fire Ant Bait. Keep a pretty good stock of it in the barn. As Slip said, it is a constant battle. The Amdro kills the mound, but new ones pop up constantly. I curse the man that brought them to the U.S.

[Slippy]

I spend a fortune on Amdro Fire Ant Bait. Keep a pretty good stock of it in the barn. As Slip said, it is a constant battle. The Amdro kills the mound, but new ones pop up constantly. I curse the man that brought them to the U.S.

Yep, In the same breath as the Kudzoo muthapranker! Erosian control or cattle feed my ass! :setfire:

[Inor]

I only have about 5 years of experience with fire ants, but from what I have experienced, Slip and Sparky are right - you cannot kill fire ants. We use the Ortho ant spray on the ones near the house, but they just pop up somewhere else a few days later. I tried a bunch of non-traditional stuff on them too but to no avail. They seem to like paint-stripper and it sure does not kill them. I put Drain-o down one hole; it did nothing. I mixed up a solution of very strong lye. They did not like it, but it didn't kill them either. Trisodium phosphate seems to do absolutely nothing to them.

I have a really big hole out by our pasture gate. The hole is about the diameter of my thumb. Once the spring winds die down some I am going to melt some aluminum and pour that down the hole. I doubt it will kill the colony but I am thinking if I dig it out after the aluminum cools, it might look pretty cool.

[Mad Trapper]

I only have about 5 years of experience with fire ants, but from what I have experienced, Slip and Sparky are right - you cannot kill fire ants. We use the Ortho ant spray on the ones near the house, but they just pop up somewhere else a few days later. I tried a bunch of non-traditional stuff on them too but to no avail. They seem to like paint-stripper and it sure does not kill them. I put Drain-o down one hole; it did nothing. I mixed up a solution of very strong lye. They did not like it, but it didn't kill them either. Trisodium phosphate seems to do absolutely nothing to them.

I have a really big hole out by our pasture gate. The hole is about the diameter of my thumb. Once the spring winds die down some I am going to melt some aluminum and pour that down the hole. I doubt it will kill the colony but I am thinking if I dig it out after the aluminum cools, it might look pretty cool.

Fill the hole up with borax.

[Prepared One]

Yep, the fire ants are going to be a constant battle I know. I never had a problem with them here at this house but I have in other houses and I remember it was an ongoing conflict. With 2 acres of cleared land I 'll be doing good just keeping them away from the house and out buildings. That's OK, I'm going to make those little bastards my new hobby. :grim:

[White Shadow]

Most insects can't handle diatomaceous earth and it doesn't harm pets. Takes some time, but they track it back home.

Last year I was super happy with the discovery of wasp killing, honey bee safe mix of a teeny bit of boric acid in 50/50 apple juice and water. Filled a pop can with it, dropped a stick in so they can climb back out and then magic happens. I mounted a boat cup holder on my back fence and just keep the can filled up. In a couple of weeks all the wasps were gone. I HATE wasps.

[Slippy]

Excellent tip White Shadow.

Wasps are my kryptonite and I am at perpetual war with the little bastards. This may be a game changer. Where does one find Boric Acid?

Thank you Sir!


Most insects can't handle diatomaceous earth and it doesn't harm pets. Takes some time, but they track it back home.

Last year I was super happy with the discovery of wasp killing, honey bee safe mix of a teeny bit of boric acid in 50/50 apple juice and water. Filled a pop can with it, dropped a stick in so they can climb back out and then magic happens. I mounted a boat cup holder on my back fence and just keep the can filled up. In a couple of weeks all the wasps were gone. I HATE wasps.

[Dwight55]

Here in Ohio where I live . . . we have black ants and for lack of a better descriptor . . . piss ants.

Either or both can and will invade the house, shop, garage, etc.

My favorite and counted on fixer is cinnamon . . . just plain old ground cinnamon used in cooking and baking.

IT KILLS THEM GRAVEYARD DEAD . . . fortunately . . . many of them crawl thru it . . . and take it home to the kiddies . . . in a couple days . . . we're done with them until next time.

Try it . . . can't do worse than anything else you've used that didn't work.

May God bless,
Dwight

[Prepared One]

Most insects can't handle diatomaceous earth and it doesn't harm pets. Takes some time, but they track it back home.

Last year I was super happy with the discovery of wasp killing, honey bee safe mix of a teeny bit of boric acid in 50/50 apple juice and water. Filled a pop can with it, dropped a stick in so they can climb back out and then magic happens. I mounted a boat cup holder on my back fence and just keep the can filled up. In a couple of weeks all the wasps were gone. I HATE wasps.

You and me both!!!! I am always at war with wasps. I see no reason for them to exist and I do my damnedest to hunt them down and kill them when I see them. Thanks for the tip. I will employ any and all weapons at my disposal, including both conventional and nuclear, in order to destroy wasps!

[White Shadow]

Excellent tip White Shadow.

Wasps are my kryptonite and I am at perpetual war with the little bastards. This may be a game changer. Where does one find Boric Acid?

Thank you Sir!

Here is the video I got the info from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wElK5Jbr18

Here is the acid I used - lifetime supply
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LLQ4AU8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And just to make life easy, here is the cup holder
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BPZNBJV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Jester-ND]

another reason to live where the ground freezes 6ft down in winter.......

[Prepared One]

Here is the video I got the info from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wElK5Jbr18

Here is the acid I used - lifetime supply
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LLQ4AU8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And just to make life easy, here is the cup holder
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BPZNBJV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Awesome! I know what I am doing out at the country place this weekend.

[bigwheel]

Thanks for that tip.

[bigwheel]

We used to have fire ants but they got killed out by crazy ants. Spraying around whatever you dont want them to get into about twice a month is the only way I have found to keep em beat back.
https://www.texasagriculture.gov/tabid/76/Article/1078/crazy-ants.aspx

[Box of frogs]

Orthene fire ant control does wonders.
BoF

[shootbrownelk]

Boy, looks like a Giant Anteater would have a field day around your spread Mountain Girl.