FIRE ANTS

[Tony H]

Borax 20 mule power soap. It affects the nervous system on ants.

 

[Paul in TN]

Bifen IT. Mix 1 oz per gallon of water.

About a half gallon of the mix per mound.

Bifen is a “persistent” insecticide so as long as it doesn’t rain too much it will continue to be effective for a month or two.

If you’re going to use Biden don’t spray anything above the ground. Preferably use a pourable mix with little or no wind. Airborne it’s deadly to bees. Even in small amounts.

 

[Little Red Tractor]

My long-departed grandfather would tell about something called cynagas. Probably highly illegal; but the stories about what it killed were impressive!

 

[Gord Baker]

Go to YouTube and look up Anthill Art. Link below.

You can start a second career!
My dad put something on them in our yard in about 1980 and they never came back. Couldn’t have been very Environmentally friendly.

Nicely done on the Casting.

 

[JohnboyM]

Use the old Texas 2 step- works great in the piney hills of North Louisiana
Extinguish Fire Ant Bait broadcast in spring- then destroy the survivors with Surrender Powder
Each year the population dwindles
My 3 cents worth...

 

[rv7charlie]

A long time ago, a friend here in MS had relatives that ran cattle. They were getting frustrated with the county agent, who wasn't helping with their fire ant problem quickly enough. They mentioned it to a relative who is an entomologist. He asked them how much they were paying their vet to de-tick the cows, and said that if they left the fire ants alone, they wouldn't have the de-ticking expense. Supposedly, they now ban the county agent from spreading ant poison. No way to know the veracity of that tale, but I can say that I've had tick problems in some areas of my rural residential property, and when fire ant nests appear in those areas, the ticks disappear....

I now kill the ants when they're around walking areas, or if there will be a lot of people in the yard, but otherwise, I leave them alone.

 

[JethroB]

I posted this on another thread:

I remember the attempts to eradicate or control fire ants here in South Georgia in the 70’s. Crop dusters or planes would fly over dropping Mirex bait over the county. You would get pelted if standing outside. It was ground up corncobs soaked with the Mirex chemical. The county extension office gave out free small bags of it. Mirex was later outlawed as really bad stuff, like chlordane.

I have good luck with Amdro around the yard. Treat the individual mounds followed by the broadcast Amdro version for larger yard area. I expect I have many hundreds of mounds if not thousands across 100 acres. No treating them all, just learn to watch where you step, if my foot hits a soft spot I move it quickly. The mounds make a nice “whumph” and shudder when hit by the rotary cutter.

 

[RancherGuy]

I thank everyone for the information. Still not sure the best way to go,
At my age, I will not be walking around the pasture putting anything out. A sprayer behind my tractor may be something I could work with, but the cost of the spray?

I have made the following discoveries.

1) I have a 10' wide back blade with side plates (like a box blade) and gauge wheel. In past years, I find that when the soil is dry, winter is over, and grass has not started growing, I can methodically scrape the ground surface to kill them mechanically. I collect enough mound soil so that the soil rolls in front of the blade. The rolling action kills the little suckers. Unfortunately very few people have such a tool.

2) I have discovered that 12 months a year, when it rains the ants move to the top of their mounds to avoid drowning. At this point, driving over mounds with your tractor tires will kill because their little bodies will get stuck in the mud or moist soil. 90+% effective. The soil does not have to be muddy - damp is good enough, say the day after a 1 inch rain. Lots of grinning take place in the tractor seat with each bump.

 

[MasseyFerg231]

chlordane

That’s what my dad used.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

I had my place changed over from Agricultural Exempt for Timber to Wildlife Management, mainly because I didn't want to harvest trees should the taxman get picky. A wildlife biologist I had out to help develope the required plan I needed to submit, suggested Extinguish® Plus because it can be applied to grass forage (pastures and rangeland). It ain't cheap, but it goes a long way it you don't go crazy with it