Black Ants Taking Over the Yard

[Beltzington]

Not sure why but this year we are experiencing a huge population of black ants, not sure of the type but I would typically call them sugar-ants. They are very small and do not seem to bite or if they do you can't feel it. There are literally 1000's of this ants everywhere, the only good thing is they have seemed to have driven off all of the fire ants. Normally I say live and let live but they have started coming into the garage and you can't stand anywhere without dozens of them crawling onto your feet.

I have tried borax as it has worked for me in the past but it doesn't seem to put a dent in their population. I am concerned they may decide to start coming into the house, any suggestions?

 

[mercdv]

I'm not sure how you are using the borax but if you are just sprinkling it instead of making the liquid version then you might want to try mixing it as a liquid. I personally swear by Terro liquid. If the ants will take it, then it will kill the colony. Not all ant will take it but I've only run into one colony so far that hasn't and it was a large red ant colony. You know the kind that raids other colonies nests and steals the larva. I put it out in bottle caps in the area where the ants come in the house or where they get up under the siding on the house. It has worked 100% of the time for me on ants that take it. It even took out a very large colony of carpenter ants that got into one of our buildings because of some water damage. It works in about 24-48 hours after the ants find the bait as long as they pile up on it. I use it instead of making my own mixture because it come in a sealed bottle and I can leave it on the shelf and just grab it when needed. Saves me the time of mixing up my own.

If the ants do not take sweet liquids, then I resort to using Ortho Orthene. I do not like using it much but I have had to use it a couple of times on two very large mounds of red ants right up next to the house. They kept coming in the house scouting and it got annoying.

 

[mcfarmall]

I second the motion with Terro liquid. We had an invasion of piss ants this year and I bought a six pack of ready to use Terro liquid bait stations...within 2 days...no more ants.

 

[oosik]

I have an old 25# bag of Ortho product with a goodly percentage of diazinon. I sprinkle a row of it all the way around the house every year. No creepy crawlies in the house.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Sevin powder is also very good on insects. It will kill just about everything.

I bought a big 15lb bag at rural king.

 

[Deere Dude]

Not sure if you have a tank and sprayer, but I would get some Bifen IT from DIY pest control. Mix it 2 oz per gallon of water and just spray where you don't want bugs. It is a termicide but I use it for carpenter bees, fire ants in an orchard and for spiders. Either way it cost about $20 a 3/4 gallon and works great.

 

[MickeyDBC]

Sounds like crazy ants. They kill fire ants and generally don't bite but they play **** with electrical contacts.

 

[Beltzington]

I'm not sure how you are using the borax but if you are just sprinkling it instead of making the liquid version then you might want to try mixing it as a liquid. I personally swear by Terro liquid. If the ants will take it, then it will kill the colony. Not all ant will take it but I've only run into one colony so far that hasn't and it was a large red ant colony. You know the kind that raids other colonies nests and steals the larva. I put it out in bottle caps in the area where the ants come in the house or where they get up under the siding on the house. It has worked 100% of the time for me on ants that take it. It even took out a very large colony of carpenter ants that got into one of our buildings because of some water damage. It works in about 24-48 hours after the ants find the bait as long as they pile up on it. I use it instead of making my own mixture because it come in a sealed bottle and I can leave it on the shelf and just grab it when needed. Saves me the time of mixing up my own.

If the ants do not take sweet liquids, then I resort to using Ortho Orthene. I do not like using it much but I have had to use it a couple of times on two very large mounds of red ants right up next to the house. They kept coming in the house scouting and it got annoying.

Interesting Terro active ingredient is Boric Acid, similar but slightly different to Borax. I did just shake out 20 mule team borax onto the small mounds I could find, initially it seemed to be working but they came back in force in a couple days. We have been getting ALOT of rain this year so any powder or liquid open containers would be quickly washed away. I see Terro also has some enclosed bait sticks and liquid feeders so I will give them a try. It may be I will need to use both bait and contact killer to get these under control. Thanks

I looked at an ant identification website and by the pictures I believe these ants or either pavement ants or little black ants, fortunately they are too small to be carpenter ants.

ps I just read the ingredients for terro liguid and it is borax. •Contains sodium tetraborate decahydrate (Borax) (5.40%) and other ingredients (94.60%)

So I may just make my own bait stations and mix up a liquid batch of sugar water and borax.

 

[Doofy]

I use Diatomatious Earth. Cheap and non-toxic but it sure kills the ants. My big problem is with Huge Carpenter Ants and in a couple of days they are gone. You just sprinkle it around or use a puffer bottle for nooks and crannies.

 

[mercdv]

ps I just read the ingredients for terro liguid and it is borax. •Contains sodium tetraborate decahydrate (Borax) (5.40%) and other ingredients (94.60%)

So I may just make my own bait stations and mix up a liquid batch of sugar water and borax.

Yea, I used to make my own but the Terro is a little thicker and I swear they might add something as an attractant. I noticed that the ants were going for it more than my homebrew. I don't know this for sure but they did seem to prefer the Terro. I also can buy it for practically nothing so I just buy it because I'd rather not spend the time mixing things. Any way, a sugary mixed solution of borax is definitely better than sprinkling the powder around because they take it back to the queen and feed her. You should notice a major difference after 48 hours once a lot of them get on your mix.