Fire ants count as pests to me.

[TeaChick]

Do ants get diabetes?

I hope so too! :-D

 

[TeaChick]

On another note, I tried to flood them outta the garden before...they made a raft! Out of the soldier ants and all climbed on and floated around til they hit dirt again! Evil creatures...

They're from the rain forests of South America. College students brought them to the states to study them and some (apparently including a very fertile queen) got away; this was several decades ago, I'm thinking the 70s-ish. Anyway, rafting to dirt is how the nests (queens) survive down there. It's terrible.
Another problem with that here is that, as soon as we know where all the mounds are and get good at avoiding them, we get a good heavy rain and they move. >:-(
Yes, evil creatures!!!

 

[TeaChick]

http://msucares.com/insects/fireants/facts.html

Above are a few facts about fire ants and why most homemade cures or urban legends on how to control either red imported or black imported fire ant colonies just don't work, and never will.

First forget that ditty about fire ants eating corn grits and swelling up till they explode. The vision of exploding fire ants may be appealing to the home owned but it is totally bogus.
Adult fire ants are incapable of eating solid food. All the food fire ants gather is first fed to their larva. The larva digest it and regurgitated part of it. This predigested liquid food is then passed around the colony by the adult worker ants for all to enjoy. If you are intent on destroying a red imported fire ant colony by chemical means, you had best start with the larva because besides being the future of the colony, the fire ant larva are the colonies' meal ticket in the here and now.

Fire ants are swift to move the visible mound if anything out of the ordinary happens to it like a soaking with hot water or other benign liquids, or if you run over it with a mower etc. The problem is that you may drive the mound right up against or into the foundation of your house and then you'll have a house or bed full of fire ants to either learn to live with or control at short range.

The thicker the grass or other ground cover the fewer new fire ant hills you'll have. The thinner the lawn cover the more likely the next new fire ant queen to alight on your property will find a good location to start a colony. Most fire ant colonies are 50 feet in diameter or less. However some fire ant colonies are 200 feet in diameter. The reason for this is because fire ants are imperialistic and if strong enough they will absorb surrounding colonies creating fire ant empires with multiple queens. If you only kill one or even a few of the queens in such a colony you're just spitting in the wind.

Thank you so much!!!

 

[Angelicisi]

I just read that they used dry molasses granules! I use liquid...huh. I'm going to look for dry. That would be so simple to apply...I wonder if its cheap?
The sugar moves them, the molasses farther.
In the past I tried grits and cornmeal plain and they just carried it in their holes, but I never thought to bait it with anything poison, please share your recipe, I have plenty of hills in non children/chicken areas and want to use the most effective/cheap! I know it doesn't blow them up lol I wish.
Trying molasses spray on the coop tomorrow...hope it works!

Next on my list is wood ash and citrus oils. Read the wood ash breaks down a waxy coating, suffocating them and citrus oils kill small mounds with a drench. Seems simple nuff to attempt

 

[LoneOak]

Quote: Why don't you just buy some Amdro and be done with it?

 

[Angelicisi]

I have 12 bags of poison granular spread. I have 12 cans of powdered poisons, waiting for a last resort, hubby bought them and said one attack and its ON! I have all of it on lock down until I can get the kids and chicken areas clear. Today's actual temp high is 102, rest of the week and weeks prior up there in temp too. The chickens can't be confined for days or weeks right now...plus I have been half successful (i'll take it) moving many ants so far...without poisons. So, if I can get the ants way "over there" I can poison the crap outta them, probably still won't poison tho if I can get them far enough lol. Plus, its kinda cool seeing 1st hand what home solutions can help, not necessarily kill but move them away.

I use a bug barrier spray around the house that works awesome at keeping bugs and ants from moving towards our wood house and foundation. But its not labled for fire ants, just repels then from building under the house or porches.

...

Why don't you just buy some Amdro and be done with it?

 

[Jessica Lynn]

Why don't you just buy some Amdro and be done with it?

Because we don't like to fill our yards where our animals and children play with chemicals!
We also have well water. So I'm not too keen on dumping a bunch of toxins on the ground where they might end up leaching into the groundwater!

If someone else chooses to fill their yard with chemicals then that's their decision. We choose not to!

 

[Angelicisi]

I just read that the drenches, injections and granules watered in all leech into both well and ground resivores and on the same article explaing how to mix the powders to make a poison drench if you need one. But the warn about reinvested land if not reapplied and that ONE application was enough to cause leeching...soooo ya bad stuff especially for ground water over time. Same site gave me a PDF file about possibly using them as beneficials for some things. Moving them to or leaving them in certain areas. It's a Louisiana plague and basically says its a joke to think one can ever eradicate them such as the same with mosquito controls here is state run warfare...fireants considered same battle. But we can keep numbers down and moved away from danger areas...we shall see. Trying natural controls 1st and even co habitation in controlled areas.
One of the more effective chemicals to actually kill a mounds? 1-3 gallon of petroleum fuel soaks...killing life around it plants around it and leeching
There was another chemical used over time to STERILIZE the hive! But doesn't kill.
ill cause other issues to. So again...finding a natural way to move them/kill them is needed. Our state is mudd and water, if everyone poisons were so screwed in 10 years time. Already certain areas that the state poisons have water contaminant warnings and "boil water" 1st recommendations for your sink water. That's sad.

Because we don't like to fill our yards where our animals and children play with chemicals!
We also have well water. So I'm not too keen on dumping a bunch of toxins on the ground where they might end up leaching into the groundwater!  

If someone else chooses to fill their yard with chemicals then that's their decision. We choose not to! 

I like this thread. I like trying things and recording the processes. I didn't mean to post so much lol but get excited about getting rid of these things.

 

[Angelicisi]

Grocery store molasses

Pre poison use dial sprayer

Riversilt chick coops base the ants are lovin. Lol

Drenched well with dial set to 2. And one cup of molasses in sprayer. Got to drench inside of young chicks run and outside and about a 3ft perimeter into the grass surrounding.
The ants are super duper mad lol I love it. Chicks get to free range for now.

Took about 10 minutes. I had everything on hand.

 

[Angelicisi]

Yesterday I drenched my chick coop, in their playpen, around the outside and perimeter about 3 ft. And coated the base of a tree the chickens eat their treats under. Ants love watermelon too :/
Ants are moving, in a line (or 3 lol) to about 1 ft outside the drenched area. Yay.
Direction of their move was unknown until they came above ground, but usually they move while underground and its often an unknown where they'll feel safe enough to pop up again. Somethin in the sugar/molassas they just don't like. So, since the soaks move them I may soak area completely stopping a ways out...see if they pop up at that perimeter. I think the granular molasses would be awesome for this. But may be able to coat the kid and chicken yard in a way to drive them out in the ditches! This weekend I may have time.
Rain is coming so I dunno what's gonna happen. Could soak it in well! Better than I and help OR could wash away all my home remedies lmao dang it.