FIRE ANTS: Shop Vac & Incineration

Put bag in shop vac and use 2 heavy duty extension cords, suck them out and then burn the bag. We heard in some states its so bad the city doesn't allow home owners to remove them in any way. The city has to? Comments?

Toxins are destroying our planet and waters.

Zebrin

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zebrin
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  1. Don't stand in any out of place dirt mounds while removing sand spurs from your socks!
  2. If you are going to carry an empty 55 gallon drum that has been laying on its side in the yard for a while, make damn sure to look at it before carrying it against your body!
  3. Don't start smashing them with your hands when covered with them! It just makes them more angry, and will leave you with hand prints all over you, and sand spurs stuck in your hands.
  4. Compressed air can be your best friend when covered with the little bastards.
  5. All the gasoline in the world poured down the hole will make no difference.

Just a few things I have learned through the years from our little friends.

Keep in mind, they get very angry when you disturb their mound, if your vac doesn't have a fifteen foot extension tube I wouldn't consider it, they will circle around and get you!!

I don't really like chemical solutions, BUT Amdro is your friend with these things.

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Reply to
kryppy

I used to use a product call "Logic" to kill them. Broadcast about a half a pound on my 3/4 acre lot when I lived in Central Texas and it kept the place free of fire ants for about a year. It's a growth inhibitor; slow but effective. If I had a large ant mound in a high traffic area that needed to be taken care of quickly, I used "Orthene 75s". A tablespoon of powder sprinkled in top of the mound without disturbing them, IIRC.

I actually set a fashion trend when I lived there -- probably the first and last time that'll ever happen! Before I learned about the Logic® I wore short cutoff jeans and leather cowboy boots when I mowed the lawn. It looked ridiculous, but it kept me from getting bitten by fire ants. The fire ants might get on my boots, but I could brush them off before they got a chance to bite or get in my pants. (when fire ants get in your pants legs, it's no time for modesty. You strip immediately.) Pretty soon all the men were wearing the same outfit when they mowed.

Best regards, Bob

Reply to
zxcvbob

In Alabama, I disrupted an ant mound by sticking a nice thick water hose down their hole. Turned it on full blast. Was the coolest site watching the larva die in the hot sun. Needless to say the ants moved their home into a field instead of my flower bed. I filled the hole left by the water with leaf debris and cut grass clippings. Nice dark soil came out within 6 months and lots of worms!

Another option is to get a couple bottles of boric acid (roach powder) and coat their mound with it. Then disturb the nest. Ants go nuts trying to bite you but instead they end up coated in white powder taking it underground and slowly dying and with a little luck killing larva and the queen. I dried up several mounds that way as well. The grass around the area didn't die like I thought. I don't think anything can kill bermuda grass! Don't try this around your prize plants though. That sugar water boric acid recipe just doesn't work as well as they say it does, especially on fire ants.

Here in Fresno, we have ants but they aren't fire ants but still annoying because they come in the house and live in the walls. If you have baseboards you have to pull them out to cover the holes and the ants make a new hole elsewhere. I hate stucco! Cheap building materials. Combat baits seem to do the trick for a few months anyways. Then the neighbors ants decide to invade. Unless all your neighbors put out control for ants, there isn't much you can do to keep them away from your abode.

Carla

Reply to
Carla

I had the joy of dealing with these little blighters when I lived in Texas. Hated em, as everyone does. A note : if you don't have an air compressor to hand, water from a hose will wash them off effectively.

Philip

Reply to
Philip

Reply to
J Kolenovsky

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