Fire Ants removal suggestions:

twistedjeepster

twistedjeepster

Just another American with a gun!
Joined
May 25, 2009
Location
Kannapolis,NC
Well I posted on here a while back about moving into a new house, which is great, but I have a major fire ant problem. I was using ant killer but they just seem to move around from one spot to another. I need to get rid of these little bastards so my kids can play in the yard and so I can mow the grass. I would like any suggestions short of using an explosive device. Thanks.
 
the ant killer in the black plstic jug with the yellow lid.
 
I think there is a insectiside that you can spread over your whole lawn. I would try that and also put the bait like what ^ said on each mound. I like to run over their mounds with my lawnmower to get them good and pissed before I sprinkle the killer on them.
 
Here's what I do, and it's kid-safe and ok for dogs too:

Take a 5 gallon pail, fill with water (3 or 4 gallons). Mix in a good cup + of Dawn dishwashing detergent (the blue liquid, old style, not the new flavors). You can get big bottles of it at malwart, sams, etc). Stir it in, don't make lots of suds. Pour over the mounds...kills them dead. I usually do my yard, and my neighbors to either side when they first start coming out, usually don't have a problem all summer.
 
kaiser715 said:
Here's what I do, and it's kid-safe and ok for dogs too:
Take a 5 gallon pail, fill with water (3 or 4 gallons). Mix in a good cup + of Dawn dishwashing detergent (the blue liquid, old style, not the new flavors). You can get big bottles of it at malwart, sams, etc). Stir it in, don't make lots of suds. Pour over the mounds...kills them dead. I usually do my yard, and my neighbors to either side when they first start coming out, usually don't have a problem all summer.
Click to expand...

I guess I am going to back this theory up. I started to post earlier, but got called to supper. Here's my experience...

Last summer I had Fire Ants. I used Amdro on them. Sometimes it appeared to be doing some good, sometimes not. I had a big mound out by the road that I had been baiting... and disturbing without success for probably at least a week. One afternoon I just happened to notice that the mound looked wet and there were thousands/millions of dead ants and eggs laying everywhere. I asked my wife if she had done anything to it. She looked at me sort of funny and said she had thrown a bucket of Spic-n-Span scrub water on it. After that, I tried it a few times with the same result. This year, so far, I have not had one mound of Fire Ants.
 
Try to find another fire ant mound and take a scoop from that mound and dump it on the first one and vice versa, the ants will kill each other.:huggy:
 
Nothing works all the time. If you disturb the mound AT ALL the colony divides for self preservation. When you put the bait out, put it away from the mound. The workers take it back to the queen and it works from within. If you even put the bait on the mound they think they are being attacked.
Google and read up on them.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I gonna try the to soap and water trick and see if that makes them cease to live. Kind of on limited funds right now so that seems to be the least expensive route.
 
if you use the granduales, treat the hole yard, not just the mound. It took about 2 weeks to figure this out. 1 mound comes back every year.. but it stays calm in the yard
 
you could also try pourin dry grits on em. itll swoll up inside em and coz em to explode. and it does. my 74 granma told me about it and i tried it, and it does work
 
The soap and water actually did the trick. I just have to get more dish soap so I can get to the other mounds.
 
When we lived in Charlotte we had fire ants... Unfortuantely most homes being built with fill has spread them like wildfire. Ants are resilient... just teach the kids about them and deal with it unfortunately.

All the yard sprays do is cause them to move to the neighbors yard... when they get tired of them, they'll spary and then they are back in your yard.. it's a vicious cycle.
 
i am in the landscaping bus i use a product sold at lesco(john deere landscapes) its used at hotels and resorts granular spead on whole yard 1time a year works great, cant remember name but it was the only thing like that they had. your local farm or tractor supply prob has it too. you may need license
 
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