Fire ants... uhg!

[mechmagcn]

With the weather being so hot and dry locally we have had major problems with fire ant invasions this summer. They get into everything, the house, my trucks and yesterday I found them in the teardrop
I have tried just about everything on the shelf to control them, but as everybody knows, if a product actually works it is pulled off the market pretty quickly. Anybody have any home remedies other than buying a tanker load of gasoline and killing the entire yard? Although this isn't out of the question, I wouldn't have to mow grass for a long time

[Kevin A]

This stuff works really well on the ant population around here, might be worth a try.
http://www.terro.com/

[Steve_Cox]

Jeff,

We had serious problems with fire ants in Florida and found Amdro to work really well.... It looks like ant eggs and the drones take it to the Queen, she realizes it isn't one of her eggs and eats it like a good little cannibal and the rest of the colony follows suit.

I moved to New Mexico recently and my new neighbor next door was battling fire ant colonies in the ally behind our houses. She hadn't had much luck so I found a place that had Amdro and used it out in the alley.... went back two days later and no fire ants.. that was 2 months ago... still no fire ants... good luck

[mechmagcn]

Kevin, that stuff works well on the small black ants we have around, but has no affect on fire ants
Steve, thanks for the heads up on Amdro, that's one I haven't tried. One question though, is this a broadcast or spot treatment? With it being so dry this year the ants aren't building mounds above ground unless we have a rain, and that has been few and far between.

[robertaw]

I'll be on the hunt for some Amdro!

Everything we've tried so far, the fire ants use to make hills out of!!! We're actually supplying them with building material. I hate fire ants.

[mechmagcn]

I'll be on the hunt for some Amdro!

Everything we've tried so far, the fire ants use to make hills out of!!! We're actually supplying them with building material. I hate fire ants.

Was sort of what I was thinking about most of what I have tried

[asianflava]

Fire ants are one thing that I don't miss at all about TX and FL.

The key is to be vigilant. After you treat them, you are not in the clear. You have to get them right away if they try to move back in. Amdro works well, I've also tried that Orthene stuff (it smells really bad and strong). I'm not too sure that Orthene works because I never see the carcasses of dead ants. I'm convinced that they move somewhere else.

Steve, I didn't know that you moved closer to me. You should try to make it up to Last Gasp.

[chezrad]

You want ORTHENE

http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/productTemplate.jsp?proId=prod170004&itemId=cat50076

Everything else just chases them around the yard.

This stuff will kill a mound in 24 hrs.

A tablespoon is all it takes. Spot treat with Orthene then you can broadcast something to keep them out. This stuff has worked wonders in the most infested parts of South Carolina. Great Stuff!

[Pyrofish]

As a Florida Fire ant battler for the past 15 years, I can attest to Amdro.

There is another one that works in a spreader, and it's not Amdro. That's for total yard control. Amdro works on the mound treatment around here. Vigilance is key. Every spot, every hole where you see an ant. They must die!

Alternatively, and less effectively, I use black powder granules. My left overs are quite small and relatively useless, so I spread them around the mounds. I wait for 20-30 minutes and go back. When all of the pests have a grain of BP on them, I use a torch and have some fun

[Txbum]

Jeff, Txbum here...earlier this year I worked all week cleaning my dad's place for his 85th birthday party. Well it rain four inches two days before the party. Guess what? I had fire ant mounds all over the two acres...I went to the store bought 2 large plastic cans of Orthene and two bags of fire ant bait. I treated each mound by sprinkling the Orthene (warning a skunk smells better than this stuff) on the ant mounds. Later that day I broadcast the fire ant bait using a fertilyzer spreader. On the birthday party event over 100 people and scores of kids, not one ant bite. You know if it is Orthene by the pungent make you wanna gag odor.....but it definetly works....Richard

[mechmagcn]

Thanks for the heads up on the Orthene, even if it does smell bad, if it gets rid of the ants, I could care less. Until we get some rain I'm afraid it will be hard to find mounds to treat, but I guess I could go ahead and broadcast something.

[planovet]

[asianflava]

My dad used to do that until some firefighter saw him doing it and told him to stop. He'd light a dried palm frond and burn the escaping ants with it.

After he was told to stop, he used to use one of those propane powered foggers and blast the ant hill with the insecticide till it came out the other holes. Looked like the ground was smoking.

[PanelDeland]

Just watch the little buggers don't get on ya while treating.I got into some about 5 years ago and took me a minute to get out of them and them offa me.I still have a rashy looking spot on my left leg where I got eat up by them.

[Miriam C.]

Ever try cornmeal. Not sure if they eat different than the ants we have here but I know cornmeal will kill the whole tribe of carpenter ants. They eat it and can't digest it...They actually die of starvation. The whole nest!!!!!