Ants and wasps!!!

[Desirai]

BAH HUMBUG.

My coop/shed has been up for a grand total of like.. a week. There are already wasps in the rafters deciding where would be the best place to make a nest.

And..

FIRE ants. Like the kind that swarm you when you do not know they're there, and while you're leaning against a board to caulk, they come out and attack and bite you!!!

The wasps don't bother me but the ants HAVE GOT TO GO.

How can I remove the ants? I really don't want to use any poison of any kind unless absolutely necessary.

Ants swarm, bite and kill things. Quickly.

What can I do? I don't even have any chickens in there yet. There's no food source or water source in/around the shed.

 

[wilbilt]

Are they paper wasps? I have a huge problem with them here. I normally spray any I see in the spring when they are starting to build nests. I certainly would not want to spray poison in or around the coop, though. Others have suggested a spray bottle filled with soapy water with a little old-fashioned "mediciney" mouthwash added to it. I am going to try it this year when they start nesting in the eaves of my coop - which I know they will.

I don't have a problem with mud daubers, as they are solitary wasps and not aggressive.

As for ants, I have used a product called "Revenge". It comes in a small plastic bottle and you just put a drop or two of it where the ants are. They scoop it up like crazy and take it back to their nest, and in a day or so there are no more ants. I think it is just boric acid and not highly toxic to anything other than ants and roaches. I don't know if it works on fire ants as we don't have those here, thankfully.

 

[Desirai]

Yeah I am almost positive the wasps are mud daubers as well. Usually when they fly, their back legs hang down and they fly slowly, but other wasps don't.

Paper wasps don't bother me either, as long as you leave them alone they leave you alone.

But the ants are fire ants.. I'll try to see if I can find some of the stuff you're talking about.

Lucky, you don't have fire ants?

 

[wilbilt]

Yeah I am almost positive the wasps are mud daubers as well. Usually when they fly, their back legs hang down and they fly slowly, but other wasps don't.

Paper wasps don't bother me either, as long as you leave them alone they leave you alone.

But the ants are fire ants.. I'll try to see if I can find some of the stuff you're talking about.

Lucky, you don't have fire ants?

It's hard not to bother the wasps when they nest everywhere - like under the lid of the BBQ, in the car door jambs, porch handrail, etc. They are BAD here, and just about the only thing I kill without hesitation.

All of the ants I have seen around here in the past 25 years are black. Small, too. I grew up in southern CA and there were large red ones down there that would bite.

This is the stuff I was talking about:
http://www.get-revenge.us/antkiller.html