OT- ANTS!

[GunnyMack]

Yup it's spring, the ants have moved into my shop again.
I insulated my shop with polyurethane foam board, foil faced.
Last fall I found a pile of foam dust on the floor. I got to poking around and found they had eaten all the foam from between the foil, 2" thick.
I hosed the area down with wasp spray- works on ants too!
I just went out to check the mouse traps, got 1! And I noticed more foam dust.
I saw one come out from near the ridge and sprayed it and the walls began to crawl!

20260427_164145.mp4

[JimT]

I am thinking of applying for an Agricultural Exemption on our property taxes. We have so many Fire Ant colonies we are now supporting that it's awful! So far everything I have tried using to kill them has not worked. Except gasoline. And that kills the ground for several years where ever you pour it. And at near $4 a gallon, it would cost a lot of money to kill all the colonies we have on the property.

[GunnyMack]

Try premethine base stuff like wasp & hornet spray.
Or propane( heavier than air) , hose down into the hole and light it after letting it settle a bit.
Ether works too!
I can see it now, your place will look like the end of Caddyshack!

Im afraid I have to take all my insulation down and chase these ants down.

[AmBraCol]

I am thinking of applying for an Agricultural Exemption on our property taxes. We have so many Fire Ant colonies we are now supporting that it's awful! So far everything I have tried using to kill them has not worked. Except gasoline. And that kills the ground for several years where ever you pour it. And at near $4 a gallon, it would cost a lot of money to kill all the colonies we have on the property.

Fight fire with molten metal. Have you seen what happens when you dump a bunch of molten metal into a fire ant hill?

[AmBraCol]

I wouldn't recommend this in a wall or other structure, but for fire ants in a field or yard?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGJ2jMZ-gaI

[JimT]

Too much work! Besides, if I am gonna melt down metal it'll be lead and I ain't gonna pour down an anthill.

I saw the one they did in Africa. That ant nest was 15 feet deep and about 30 feet wide. They used a concrete mix.

[GunnyMack]

A thin concrete mix would work!

I'll always remember my uncle catching a scorpion and he dropped it on a red ant heap( 50yrs ago, not sure if they were fire ants or not) and we watched those ants dismember it and take it down their hole.

Went back out to the shop, no more noise in the wall or ceiling... fingers crossed!

[piller]

I hate Fire Ants. Their bites leave me with spots that look like pimples, but take a week to totally heal.

[Ysabel Kid]

[Bill in Oregon]

I'm only vaguely familiar with them, but they are a huge problem and are even implicated in the decline of quail populations is some areas. Ankles got chewed up once while clearing brush in the alley behind my home in Sweetwater. Amazing that they crawl onto you and then wait until one signals "Bite" and they all bite at once.

[RIHMFIRE]

When you are done battling the ants up there
please come down here to eradicate the fire ants in my yard!!!

[Pisgah]

I'm only vaguely familiar with them, but they are a huge problem and are even implicated in the decline of quail populations is some areas. Ankles got chewed up once while clearing brush in the alley behind my home in Sweetwater. Amazing that they crawl onto you and then wait until one signals "Bite" and they all bite at once.

Here in South Carolina the Dept. of Natural Resources says that fire ants kill more whitetail fawns each year than coyotes!

[AmBraCol]

I'm only vaguely familiar with them, but they are a huge problem and are even implicated in the decline of quail populations is some areas. Ankles got chewed up once while clearing brush in the alley behind my home in Sweetwater. Amazing that they crawl onto you and then wait until one signals "Bite" and they all bite at once.

OK, Bill, this one's YOUR fault... I was resisting contributing more to thread drift until you posted the above...

Way back in the last half of the 20th Century my uncle acquired a piece of land a few miles north of the town where i grew up in the Amazon Basin. A fellow missionary came through and we all adjourned to the property for a bit of sight seeing and fun. The aforementioned missionary was of the "children should be seen and not heard" persuasion, which normally wasn´t an issue as we were all raised to be respectful of our elders. However, he and our uncle stopped to converse and he stopped with one foot right in a fire ant nest, something he was unfamiliar with as they weren't in evidence down where he lived. So, being the kind, helpful kids we were, we said, "Sir...." and he said, "Don't interrupt. Adults are talking!" "Sir???" "Don't interrupt!" So we didn´t. Instead we stood there observing the army scaling the heights, with one particularly robust one that seemed to be carrying a bugle or something. When that particular one reached the shirt collar it apparently sounded the bugle call and there was a slap.....Slap....SLAP,SLAP,SLAP!!!! followed by an impromptu strip, no tease about it! We enjoyed a good giggle as we'd TRIED to do the right thing and warn him, but his august person couldn't accept useful information from such as us.

The folks down in southern Brazil had no clue about the flora and fauna up where we were. Another missionary family came through and we joined them on the drive up to a convention that was being held near the mouth of the Amazon. The Belém-Brasilia highway was brand new, a two lane red dirt track through the immense rain forest. We stopped on a side road for a picnic lunch and the southerners went gamboling through the forest, enchanted with the vines, flowers and other oddities they'd never seen before. And as they made their way back to the cars they saw an embaúba tree that excited their imagination and creativity due to its broad leaves that made them think of those long handled fans one sees in the old movies about Egyptian royalty. They broke it off and came marking along, holding it over their queen (mother) and then slap.....Slap....SLAP,SLAP,SLAP!!!! The embaúba tree is hollow inside and jointed similar to cane, and fire ants love to use it as an apartment complex. And they were NOT happy about having their abode ripped out of its place and used as a cinematographic prop!

Fire ants, nasty critters, but occasionally can be good for a laugh or two!

[.45colt]

My place borders about 2 miles of woods,second growth and swamp. We have all the critters and bugs anyone could ask for.for years I could hold them at bay until four years ago when yellow jackets went nuts. they got under the wood siding in several places and under the raised back porch. I had nests all around the house that anything from the local stores wouldn't touch. Finally I gave in and called the local exterminators , a small outfit. The Tech came out and had to put on a beekeeper suit to go under the porch. He sprayed all around the house and plainly said "this is a one and done" You won't see any tomorrow.". I thought Ya Right....!
Not only were the bees gone but a pile of carpenter ants the size of a football came out of the porch floor and died as well. The Tech also told Me they do a once a year spray for the whole house and buildings/ shrubs and all. We have had them do this every spring and No ants,spiders, bees or stinkbugs in the fall. My Wife is happy as all get-out with no bugs. Rant over.... .

[ESisk]

Ortho Orthene (Asaphate) best ant killer out there. bar none. White powder can be blown in cracks and tight places with old fashion duster.
Just a little sprinkled on a fire ant hill and it is dead next day. Works so good surprised it has not been banned.

[Lastmohecken]

Ortho Orthene (Asaphate) best ant killer out there. bar none. White powder can be blown in cracks and tight places with old fashion duster.
Just a little sprinkled on a fire ant hill and it is dead next day. Works so good surprised it has not been banned.

I wonder if this would also kill plain old common red ants?

[piller]

Best killer for those plain old red harvester ants is to find a Horned Toad. They eat red ants.

[.45colt]

ESisk wrote ; "Works so good surprised it has not been banned" .....Years ago there was a product on the market called "Dursban". I would mix it up and spray My house and the neighbors and it worked like magic. My Widowed Neighbor Lady went nuts as spiders were all over the outside of Her house. It was fantastic. Till the Feds banned it. If I was You i'd stock up on the Ortho Orthene (Asaphate).

[jeepnik]

I don't have ants, darn it. I just finished using a expanding foam material for setting posts & such. Works pretty good. I wonder what it would do to an ant colony. Cheap too, less than $10.

[JBowen]

The fire ants made their way north of the Arkansas River about 8 or 10 years ago here. They are some mean critters!! They claim Andro is the best killer. I have used it a bunch and to me it seems they just pack up and move over a few feet. Around my yard they make bigger mounds than the moles do. Hard on the lawnmower blades too.
I’m going to look for some of that Orthene .

JBowen

[marlinman93]

Each spring the ants come out here, and they eventually will find their way into the house if I don't do some preventive maintenance. It starts with ant powder sprinkled around the foundation of our house which does great to knock off thousands of ants. Then my wife gets peppermint spray and sprays it around the thresholds and along the bottom of the garage door. Ants don't like the smell and it masks any smell of food in the air that might entice them inside. Usually have to repeat the ant powder again in late summer, around Sept. to last until winter when they hide again. But doing this has stopped all ant problems since we started years ago.

[bmtshooter]

For fire ant mounds, dishwashing soap works pretty well. If you can fill the tunnels with a mixture of water and dishwashing soap (cheap is fine), the mound will be killed. It takes three or four gallons to fill mounds around my place. Like always they will eventually return, but that usually keeps them at bay. As previously mentioned, they like to cover your lower extremities before the "Bite Now" signal is given. It is amazing how quickly that will make nudists out of almost anyone.

[Bob Hatfield]

I have read the Borax kills ants. If you pour it out to where they get it on their feet they take it back to the nest and it kills them too. Not sure if it is internet lore or not but here is the AI take on it.

"Borax is a highly effective, slow-acting stomach poison for ants, typically killing them within a few days to a week as they carry it back to destroy the colony. The most effective method involves mixing 1 part borax with 3–4 parts sugar (or honey/peanut butter) to attract ants while they ingest or carry the mixture back to the nest."

[GunnyMack]

Borax ( boric acid) is a fine ant /termite killer.
Not to mention borate treated lumber has burn resistance plus bug killing makes it ideal for homes.

[AmBraCol]

I have read the Borax kills ants. If you pour it out to where they get it on their feet they take it back to the nest and it kills them too. Not sure if it is internet lore or not but here is the AI take on it.

"Borax is a highly effective, slow-acting stomach poison for ants, typically killing them within a few days to a week as they carry it back to destroy the colony. The most effective method involves mixing 1 part borax with 3–4 parts sugar (or honey/peanut butter) to attract ants while they ingest or carry the mixture back to the nest."

Works great for cockroaches, too. One important thing, if you DO use it around the house, make sure it's not accessible to pets or kids as it will do a number on them as well.

[piller]

Mix a bit of powdered sugar into the borax, and the ants hear a dinner bell. I have used it on ants in my house. Yes, do keep it away from children and pets.