[ARCHIVED THREAD] - lets talk ant killer (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 4/22/2015 8:55:11 AM EDT
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with all this rain i am getting over run with ant beds. neighbors seldom treat there yards so it's a constant issue.
i need a nuke them from orbit solution. tried amdro... the ants sent me a thank you card for the free food with pic from the keg party the hosted while eating it. spectracide kills the mound but they just move and come back a few days later over and out.... same as spectracide at twice the price anyone know where i can get a 100 gal drum of ddt? fuck earth day i want my lawn to be a barren insect wasteland. |
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build them a school. #antlivesmatter http://unknownalbum.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/school-for-ants.jpg also Terro is what you seek. Or get straight borax and pour down the mound will kill them quick. maybe they needs jobs and hugs |
Demand CS
We also live in an area with crickets and tiny black ants. Nothing seemed to stop everything until we tried Demand CS. I read the label carefully and found that the strongest wipe out dose was for scorpions. I carefully measured, mixed, and sprayed the yard, block wall, foundation, windows and doors. The next morning was like a nuclear winter. Dead roaches, ants, and crickets everywhere. Our gardener cleaned them up like leaves. |
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Demand CS http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/images/thumbnails4/46.jpg.thumb_1024x1024.jpg We also live in an area with crickets and tiny black ants. Nothing seemed to stop everything until we tried Demand CS. I read the label carefully and found that the strongest wipe out dose was for scorpions. I carefully measured, mixed, and sprayed the yard, block wall, foundation, windows and doors. The next morning was like a nuclear winter. Dead roaches, ants, and crickets everywhere. Our gardener cleaned them up like leaves. Yep. That or Tempo. http://www.backedbybayer.com/pest-management/general-insect-control/tempo-sc-ultra-insecticide No license required and this shit doesn't fuck around. |
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I have found that moving them to a single location (based on the size of our yard,) is the best bet. In larger yards, obviously you may wish to establish more mounds.
Total eradication has never worked, in my experience, and I find them handy to have on a stone fence at the edge of our yard anyway---they still perform cleanup duties in the rest of the yard, and when obnoxious drunk college kids sit on the fence and act like idiots, they get stung. We established the fence location as their main mound by leaving a bunch of fried chicken there. Once the fire ant scouts found it, they set up a small mound there (and demolished the chicken.) Once that happened, I used water mixed with Ivory dish soap (10 parts water, 1 part soap,) and poured it over the other mounds in the yard, one by one, over a couple days. Eventually, they quit rebuilding all but one of them, and the one by the fence had grown larger, so I stepped up to coffee for the other mound where I didn't want it. (The soap mixture kills insects, but is non-persistent and won't really penetrate into the nest all that much, while the tannic acid in coffee seems to have a more lasting effect.) After a week of ant herding, we were left with just the big mound on the fence. Every once in a while they will try to set up another mound to expand elsewhere in the yard, and said mound gets the coffee treatment, and any above ground trails to the new mound (or towards the porch,) get a few hits of cheapo ant spray from the corner store, and they retreat back to the main mound for another 4 months or so before I have to remind them of their place. Been like this for years. |
| Same problem for me with Amdro. It works on small mounds but just seems to annoy the larger colonies so they move a few yards and start over. My neighbor has a pasture that is never treated, some fire ant mounds 16-18" high. When he mows they move over to my yard and I fight them for a couple of weeks then he mows again. |
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Quoted:
I have found that moving them to a single location (based on the size of our yard,) is the best bet. In larger yards, obviously you may wish to establish more mounds. Total eradication has never worked, in my experience, and I find them handy to have on a stone fence at the edge of our yard anyway---they still perform cleanup duties in the rest of the yard, and when obnoxious drunk college kids sit on the fence and act like idiots, they get stung. We established the fence location as their main mound by leaving a bunch of fried chicken there. Once the fire ant scouts found it, they set up a small mound there (and demolished the chicken.) Once that happened, I used water mixed with Ivory dish soap (10 parts water, 1 part soap,) and poured it over the other mounds in the yard, one by one, over a couple days. Eventually, they quit rebuilding all but one of them, and the one by the fence had grown larger, so I stepped up to coffee for the other mound where I didn't want it. (The soap mixture kills insects, but is non-persistent and won't really penetrate into the nest all that much, while the tannic acid in coffee seems to have a more lasting effect.) After a week of ant herding, we were left with just the big mound on the fence. Every once in a while they will try to set up another mound to expand elsewhere in the yard, and said mound gets the coffee treatment, and any above ground trails to the new mound (or towards the porch,) get a few hits of cheapo ant spray from the corner store, and they retreat back to the main mound for another 4 months or so before I have to remind them of their place. Been like this for years. I like this guy. Maybe I'll try herding them at my place to the spot at the end of the road where some kids park their trucks to fish in the lake without permission. I'm getting tired of running them off so I could just recruit the ants to do it! |
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I have found that moving them to a single location (based on the size of our yard,) is the best bet. In larger yards, obviously you may wish to establish more mounds. Total eradication has never worked, in my experience, and I find them handy to have on a stone fence at the edge of our yard anyway---they still perform cleanup duties in the rest of the yard, and when obnoxious drunk college kids sit on the fence and act like idiots, they get stung. We established the fence location as their main mound by leaving a bunch of fried chicken there. Once the fire ant scouts found it, they set up a small mound there (and demolished the chicken.) Once that happened, I used water mixed with Ivory dish soap (10 parts water, 1 part soap,) and poured it over the other mounds in the yard, one by one, over a couple days. Eventually, they quit rebuilding all but one of them, and the one by the fence had grown larger, so I stepped up to coffee for the other mound where I didn't want it. (The soap mixture kills insects, but is non-persistent and won't really penetrate into the nest all that much, while the tannic acid in coffee seems to have a more lasting effect.) After a week of ant herding, we were left with just the big mound on the fence. Every once in a while they will try to set up another mound to expand elsewhere in the yard, and said mound gets the coffee treatment, and any above ground trails to the new mound (or towards the porch,) get a few hits of cheapo ant spray from the corner store, and they retreat back to the main mound for another 4 months or so before I have to remind them of their place. Been like this for years. Interesting coexistence strategy... |
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Advion Fire ant bait sells for $316/25 lb bag, 1.5-2 lb per acre Fastest acting bait by far.
Extingush Plus (has an IGR added) is $206.67/25lb bag. 1.5-2 lb per acre Good product but slower acting than Advion. Top Choice is a fipronil contact granule with 12 month control. Slow to start (4-6 weeks) but easily a year residual. Very expensive, $2.75/lb and rate is 2lbs/1000 sq ft. I'm in the business. Not restricted use and you can buy all of these products as long as it is for personal use. I can tell you where to pick it up in Bham. Donnie 205. 641. 1157 |
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I have those ants that smell sour when crushed.
Tapinoma Freaking Sessiles I use this to kill them. 9.1% Fipronil. Taurus SC 
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Exterminator told me that one of the side benefits of Termidor (fipronil) that they use to treat for termites is that it also works on fireants. And it works as a barrier. Said it can be effective 20 feet from application. that's the same ingredient in Frontline Plus. |
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A new (new to me) ant appeared in our yard about 3.5 years ago. It's black with a greyish sheen to its abdomen. It looks sort of like those big-ass, black carpenter ants that live in trees, but this new one is 2/3 or 3/4 its size. They are the size of what I call 'domestic fire ants'--the bright orange ones that were common before the fire ant invasion.
Anyway, this new ant is KILLIN' THE SHIT OUT OF THE FAR AINTS! This will be the 4th year I haven't used a broadcast fire ant killer. (I used Ortho Bug-B-Gone Max previously with good results.) The new ant lives in the ground and leaves the dirt they excavate around the hole untidily. Also, they don't live permanently in one place--they forage on excursions. They might live in a nest a few days or weeks and then leave it for a month or more and then return to it again. I've seen these ants, alone, far from a nest and I've seen them in 'squads' far or close to a nest, They don't travel single file--they don't give a shit about hiding their numbers Obe-wan. I've seen them coming out of fire ant mounds carrying off their larvae. As of this year, most of my street is fire ant free. I know most of my neighbors and they've never used ant killer that I know of. I showed some of them the ants but they don't believe they're killing fire ants. The new ant is so fast and wiley...No kidding they can run at about 3.5 inches per second. I've noticed another oddity in the yard lately with regard to ants: I've never seen the red ants previously mentioned in an actual mound like fire ants build. I was mowing my grass about two weeks ago when I saw what I thought was a fire ant mound. I thought damn, the good ants must have left because the fire ants are back. In my hatred I ran over the mound thinking they wuz far aints and very much to my surprise they were the red ants I call domestic fire ants. There was more then 10 times the number of them in that one spot than I've ever seen of them before. Where usually they've tried to hide when disturbed, these were 'boiling' like fire ants do when their mound is mowed. I thought it was very odd. [Don't laugh but] it makes me wonder if the fire ant invasion doesn't eventually cause domestic ants to morph (not evolve) into something that kills-off fire ants for some period of time. Because they've shown themselves to be able to cross or bypass virtually any obstacle and thrive here, I've often wondered why fire ants haven't been here all along. I've read how they're supposed to have gotten here but after reading it and after reading of their incredible exploits I've been left to doubt they needed our help for transportation. Oh, and the tiny piss ants that make the tiny, neat, bowl-shaped nests are back. I haven't seen them in a decade or more but now they're back in my yard, perhaps due to the new ant's presence |
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Quoted:
I have found that moving them to a single location (based on the size of our yard,) is the best bet. In larger yards, obviously you may wish to establish more mounds. Total eradication has never worked, in my experience, and I find them handy to have on a stone fence at the edge of our yard anyway---they still perform cleanup duties in the rest of the yard, and when obnoxious drunk college kids sit on the fence and act like idiots, they get stung. We established the fence location as their main mound by leaving a bunch of fried chicken there. Once the fire ant scouts found it, they set up a small mound there (and demolished the chicken.) Once that happened, I used water mixed with Ivory dish soap (10 parts water, 1 part soap,) and poured it over the other mounds in the yard, one by one, over a couple days. Eventually, they quit rebuilding all but one of them, and the one by the fence had grown larger, so I stepped up to coffee for the other mound where I didn't want it. (The soap mixture kills insects, but is non-persistent and won't really penetrate into the nest all that much, while the tannic acid in coffee seems to have a more lasting effect.) After a week of ant herding, we were left with just the big mound on the fence. Every once in a while they will try to set up another mound to expand elsewhere in the yard, and said mound gets the coffee treatment, and any above ground trails to the new mound (or towards the porch,) get a few hits of cheapo ant spray from the corner store, and they retreat back to the main mound for another 4 months or so before I have to remind them of their place. Been like this for years. You are the ant whisperer. Very interesting read. |
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Some will think I am crazy. Coc-a-Cola. Dead serious. Its cheap too. 1$ per liter I have been using this for years, and they all die. I try to catch the hill when it is small. One scoop in with the shovel, one liter of coke in, close it back up. Gone in a day or 2. Bigger mounds get 2 liters. |
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I don't like Aggies much but they built a whole university around animals and farming so they are pretty knowledgeable.
They hate fire ants too. All about Fire Ants Fire Ant Control |
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This one works well as long as it's fresh.
http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/siesta-insecticide-fire-ant-bait-p-4079.html?utm_source=pricegrabber&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=BASF&utm_term=Fire+Ant+Control&utm_campaign=4079&zmam=70093104&zmas=1&zmac=9&zmap=4079 I had another mound that I treated with Amdro in a very public area and it was completely ineffective. I finally put a tablespoon of TSP in a gallon of water with dishwashing soap and drenched the mound. Knocked it out deader than shit. I'm not really an advocate of drenching, but this one mound in particular, it just needed to go. |
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Seven Dust on the mound, and Amdro in a 4ft perimeter around the mound, or across your entire yard depending how big it is. Seven Dust kills the mound, and the Amdro is for "insurance" purposes. As the ants forage for food, they bring the poison back to the mound and kills what the Seven Dust didn't get OR....there is a fly in south America that lays its eggs inside the ants, which eventually kill the ant, in which the offspring lays their eggs in more ants and the cycle continues. Some ranchers tried that in West Texas with great results, but the flys did not survive the drought. I need to come up with a new idea. The ants in my yard have gotten smart and are not making mounds anymore. |
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Quoted:
I have found that moving them to a single location (based on the size of our yard,) is the best bet. In larger yards, obviously you may wish to establish more mounds. Total eradication has never worked, in my experience, and I find them handy to have on a stone fence at the edge of our yard anyway---they still perform cleanup duties in the rest of the yard, and when obnoxious drunk college kids sit on the fence and act like idiots, they get stung. We established the fence location as their main mound by leaving a bunch of fried chicken there. Once the fire ant scouts found it, they set up a small mound there (and demolished the chicken.) Once that happened, I used water mixed with Ivory dish soap (10 parts water, 1 part soap,) and poured it over the other mounds in the yard, one by one, over a couple days. Eventually, they quit rebuilding all but one of them, and the one by the fence had grown larger, so I stepped up to coffee for the other mound where I didn't want it. (The soap mixture kills insects, but is non-persistent and won't really penetrate into the nest all that much, while the tannic acid in coffee seems to have a more lasting effect.) After a week of ant herding, we were left with just the big mound on the fence. Every once in a while they will try to set up another mound to expand elsewhere in the yard, and said mound gets the coffee treatment, and any above ground trails to the new mound (or towards the porch,) get a few hits of cheapo ant spray from the corner store, and they retreat back to the main mound for another 4 months or so before I have to remind them of their place. Been like this for years. I have found that 2 tablespoons of gasoline on each mound will kill them all. Dead.... and stay Dead..... They can keep their single main mound in someone else's yard. |
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I just use boric acid from the dollar store, it's fun watching them go crazy when they touch it Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile in the house mix boric acid with honey and peanut butter in a small jar lid put near infestation and kill them all Boric acid pills kill the roaches in the attic too. wtf do they want to be up there anyway? |
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LOL, you know how I know you didn't read the OP? Quoted:
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why are we even having this discussion? Hello Amdro. works 100% of the time. 5 lbs is less than $20 at home depot. LOL, you know how I know you didn't read the OP? Amdro works well for me but I broadcast it periodically at the perimeter in addition to putting it at mounds |
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Interesting coexistence strategy... Quoted:
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I have found that moving them to a single location (based on the size of our yard,) is the best bet. In larger yards, obviously you may wish to establish more mounds. Total eradication has never worked, in my experience, and I find them handy to have on a stone fence at the edge of our yard anyway---they still perform cleanup duties in the rest of the yard, and when obnoxious drunk college kids sit on the fence and act like idiots, they get stung. We established the fence location as their main mound by leaving a bunch of fried chicken there. Once the fire ant scouts found it, they set up a small mound there (and demolished the chicken.) Once that happened, I used water mixed with Ivory dish soap (10 parts water, 1 part soap,) and poured it over the other mounds in the yard, one by one, over a couple days. Eventually, they quit rebuilding all but one of them, and the one by the fence had grown larger, so I stepped up to coffee for the other mound where I didn't want it. (The soap mixture kills insects, but is non-persistent and won't really penetrate into the nest all that much, while the tannic acid in coffee seems to have a more lasting effect.) After a week of ant herding, we were left with just the big mound on the fence. Every once in a while they will try to set up another mound to expand elsewhere in the yard, and said mound gets the coffee treatment, and any above ground trails to the new mound (or towards the porch,) get a few hits of cheapo ant spray from the corner store, and they retreat back to the main mound for another 4 months or so before I have to remind them of their place. Been like this for years. Interesting coexistence strategy... Not to sound too much like a tree hugger, but I've found that co-existence works a lot better in the long run. The back yard has non-stinging little black ants that clean up dead insects and lizards, there's a thriving population of green anoles and house geckos in front and back yards that keep a handle on pest insect populations (and provide hours of amusement for the cats,) the front yard has fire ants that handle clean up there, along with the fence-sitters, a couple nests of Northern Paper Wasps were brought in to drive off a honeybee infestation and generally do their thing, and despite the elimination of standing water areas there are enough small insects indigenous to the yard to encourage dragonflies to frequent the place, which, along with the anoles, means we don't get bothered by mosquitos much. It just seems preferable to me to manage the yard biologically than to drench the place with un-necessary chemicals. The only real issue we've had that we have not been to address this way is pest control on the tomatoes. If we let the fire ants move up the driveway into the side yard, they could help with that, but I reckon that would alter the balance between the front and back yards too much. And if we move the tomatoes towards the fire ants, the college kids will just destroy the plants I reckon. So it's Ivory soap and water for the tomatoes, which is at least non-persistent. |
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I have found that 2 tablespoons of gasoline on each mound will kill them all. Dead.... and stay Dead..... They can keep their single main mound in someone else's yard. Quoted:
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I have found that moving them to a single location (based on the size of our yard,) is the best bet. In larger yards, obviously you may wish to establish more mounds. Total eradication has never worked, in my experience, and I find them handy to have on a stone fence at the edge of our yard anyway---they still perform cleanup duties in the rest of the yard, and when obnoxious drunk college kids sit on the fence and act like idiots, they get stung. We established the fence location as their main mound by leaving a bunch of fried chicken there. Once the fire ant scouts found it, they set up a small mound there (and demolished the chicken.) Once that happened, I used water mixed with Ivory dish soap (10 parts water, 1 part soap,) and poured it over the other mounds in the yard, one by one, over a couple days. Eventually, they quit rebuilding all but one of them, and the one by the fence had grown larger, so I stepped up to coffee for the other mound where I didn't want it. (The soap mixture kills insects, but is non-persistent and won't really penetrate into the nest all that much, while the tannic acid in coffee seems to have a more lasting effect.) After a week of ant herding, we were left with just the big mound on the fence. Every once in a while they will try to set up another mound to expand elsewhere in the yard, and said mound gets the coffee treatment, and any above ground trails to the new mound (or towards the porch,) get a few hits of cheapo ant spray from the corner store, and they retreat back to the main mound for another 4 months or so before I have to remind them of their place. Been like this for years. I have found that 2 tablespoons of gasoline on each mound will kill them all. Dead.... and stay Dead..... They can keep their single main mound in someone else's yard. Meh. Wouldn't really work in our situation. They do have a beneficial role if they are controlled, and anyway, if we moved them to one side, that neighbor has just a tiny strip of yard between two driveways, and to the other side we have an absentee landlord with a horde of college kids. If I let any get established in that yard, they'd end up uncontrollable without drastic chemical intervention, which I try to avoid. As it is, they live in their mound and bother no one except the odd drunk idiot, and we live in the house, and peace prevails. |
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Quoted: Advion Fire ant bait sells for $316/25 lb bag, 1.5-2 lb per acre Fastest acting bait by far. ... IIRC, it's suppose to be for professionals only, but you can buy it on Ebay or Amazon. A bunch of little plastic bait stations are $1+/each. Or buy a syringe, and squirt it on their trail. Here's one I found on Ebay. One tube is ~$9. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-30cc-tube-of-ADVION-Ant-Gel-w-Plunger-Tip-New-and-Fresh-RED-IS-OLD-STOCK-/251214552845 |
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Quoted: 47 posts in and no one has suggested a flamethrower or ginormous magnifying glass yet?  When I was a kid, we'd use a shovel to scoop up some ants from one ant hill, and dump them on another ant hill. It was cool to see hundreds of little ants fighting... |