Help !!! Fire Ants !!!

[jaxs]

Once people get a hard on for something (Fire Ants in this case) and fail on first attempt to get rid of it nostrils flare,eyes narrow and jaws lock on the bits. Scorched earth crusade ensues leaving little chance of turning them around. Broadcasting poison of ANY KIND for ANYTHING is not only ineffective it's irresponsible. The fact problem is still as bad after 10 years as when it began should tell you it's time to take a different approach. I'll give the exterminator a pass for squirting everything in sight because that's what customers expect and to do otherwise would cost exterminators their business. Use the approach I'm explaining and I promise a noticeable improvement within 2 years and a new convert by the 3rd year. You will use less poison in 10 years as you presently use in 1 year,spend far less time and have better results. Timing is 95% of the battle so patience and vigilance is of paramount importance. If you must, continuing to squirt your choice of product all over your property will not diminish the effect of doing as I reccomend as long as you do as I say at the time I say. The brief window for treatment occurs when fresh earth mounds are worked up following heavy rainfall. Ideally rain will cease late afternoon to mid-night and fresh mounds are visible 1-3 hours after sunrise. To see if time is right,open a mound to make certain eggs and winged reproductives are present. DO NOT DISTURB REMAINING MOUNDS OTHER THAN AS DIRECTED BELOW. Mix contact kill insecticide (bifenthrin that has been mentioned is a good choice) as directed in sprayer. Pump up to high pressure and set noozle to stream that can pernitrate mound. Holding nozzle a few inches from mound,inject 1-2 oz in each of 5-6 places on half basketball size, more or less places according to size of mound. Opening mound following day should not reveal any live ants but same number of eggs observed earlier when active mound was opened. Leave remaining mounds undisturbed to maximize insecticide gassing inside mound in the event stragglers. Our hope is that queen(s) were killed in the surprise attack. SURPRISE ATTACK is key,that's why mounds should not be disturbed before and during treatment. Pay close attention what happens when test mound is opened. Workers immediately start moving eggs and winged reproductive to safty below ground. Queens occasionally escape but not many and not often. Escapees most likely hadn't been moved to mound or had already been moved from mound at time of treatment but a few might be evacuated. As witnessed by low number of mounds which reappear compared to other treatments the mortality rate is extremely high. Time of year (Spring is best,Fall is good,mild winter can work and Summer poor.) ,amount of rain ,ambient temperature and window of time treated,success varies but always good in worst case. I believe you will be sold after the first treatment but like anything else some of us can screw up wet dreams. This month's weather pattern will afford opportunity so I would appreciate reports.

 

[JethroB]

As a kid in the early 70’s I remember being on the school playground and watching a plane fly back and forth. When it passed directly overhead we got pelted by fire ant bait granules. (Mirex) It was one of the gov’t’s attempts to eradicate the red fire ant. It didn’t work.

 

[jaxs]

As a kid in the early 70’s I remember being on the school playground and watching a plane fly back and forth. When it passed directly overhead we got pelted by fire ant bait granules. (Mirex) It was one of the gov’t’s attempts to eradicate the red fire ant. It didn’t work.

You are 100% correct but what they did accomplish was almost wiping out Red Harvester ants and countless other creatures. Horned Lizard diet relys on Red Hearvesters so they were nearly destroyed along with Hearvesters. The only reason some escaped is because Fire Ants weren't in Rolling plains so bombers didn't dump as many tons of Mirex out there. In pockets where landowners have acted responsibly Hearvesters and Horned Lizards are slowly reappearing. If you notice a Red Harvester mound protect it because they are natural predators of Fire Ants. When a Fire Ant queen nests near a harvester colony the Hearvesters usually find and kill her before she can establish a colony. In your travels if you come across Red Hs,search the area and you will not see Fire Ants. After government wasted money destroying eco-system they pulled up their drawers and moved out taking funds with them. No study has been done on whether Horned Lizards prey on Fire Ants but it's very possible. I was appalled when EPA first pulled chemicals off shelves. I've come to realized had they not banned Chlordane and other effective products indiscriminate use would have done a lot of harm. If truth be known I'd wager demise of Bob Whites was in part result of the Mirex fiasco.

 

[Torvy]

Possums eat ticks and armadillos eat fire ants, I have to problems with either.

Armadillos eat fire ants like I eat sushi. While technically true, it is not something they typically eat and will eat many other things before ants, especially fire ants.

 

[bmg88201]

You are 100% correct but what they did accomplish was almost wiping out Red Harvester ants and countless other creatures. Horned Lizard diet relys on Red Hearvesters so they were nearly destroyed along with Hearvesters. The only reason some escaped is because Fire Ants weren't in Rolling plains so bombers didn't dump as many tons of Mirex out there. In pockets where landowners have acted responsibly Hearvesters and Horned Lizards are slowly reappearing. If you notice a Red Harvester mound protect it because they are natural predators of Fire Ants. When a Fire Ant queen nests near a harvester colony the Hearvesters usually find and kill her before she can establish a colony. In your travels if you come across Red Hs,search the area and you will not see Fire Ants. After government wasted money destroying eco-system they pulled up their drawers and moved out taking funds with them. No study has been done on whether Horned Lizards prey on Fire Ants but it's very possible. I was appalled when EPA first pulled chemicals off shelves. I've come to realized had they not banned Chlordane and other effective products indiscriminate use would have done a lot of harm. If truth be known I'd wager demise of Bob Whites was in part result of the Mirex fiasco.

When I was a kid growing up in Roswell NM, horned lizards (horny toads) were everywhere. We used to pick‘‘em up and play with them. And there were so many Bob Whites it looked like the ground was moving when a covey moved through the brush. Not any more.

 

[Spike56]

I have used surrender and it worked like a champ. So, no advice really. All other products were too expensive for the number of mounds I have.
Now it COULD be you the product got wet ? I think the directions (long time since I read) said to just sprinkle on top without disturbing the mound. Then I saw comments from others saying to disturb the mound- which I did and got about 100% kill ? Wish I could offer more help….

 

[bmg88201]

Well. I’ll try disturbing the mound and see the effect it has. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Hughman]

My brother showed me how he would stir the mound with a stick, then pour in some gas and throw a match on it. Not sure if it was effective but it was fun to watch.

 

[Baker9713]

We use Orthene with pretty good results

 

[bmg88201]

I have used surrender and it worked like a champ. So, no advice really. All other products were too expensive for the number of mounds I have.
Now it COULD be you the product got wet ? I think the directions (long time since I read) said to just sprinkle on top without disturbing the mound. Then I saw comments from others saying to disturb the mound- which I did and got about 100% kill ? Wish I could offer more help….

I did in fact disturb the mound nd got better kill rate. It did seem to help. Dang fire ants !!!! Geez they hurt like the dickens too.

 

[Rockbadchild]

poor gas on the nest but don’t light it up the fumes will kill them

 

[workinonit]

I spray 3/10 oz per acre of Regent. I spray about 10 acres and haven't seen a fire ant on the whole place in 12 years. If I spray a 1/2 oz i can skip a year maybe 2.

 

[garry1p]

Since they can't take the cold I tried digging into a mound when it was freezing temps to see if that would kill them.

Didn't work, the mound like is concrete. I might try it again now that I have a stump bucket for the tractor.
I would love to freeze them to death as payback.

 

[jyoutz]

poor gas on the nest but don’t light it up the fumes will kill them

Pour a 50/50 mix of diesel and gas down the mound, then light it. The oily diesel keeps the fuel from flashing up all at once, then burning out fast. The mix will burn slower and for a longer period of time. And it will just burn, not explosively flash up when you light it, so it’s much safer to use.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Pour a 50/50 mix of diesel and gas down the mound, then light it. The oily diesel keeps the fuel from flashing up all at once, then burning out fast. The mix will burn slower and for a longer period of time. And it will just burn, not explosively flash up when you light it, so it’s much safer to use.

yes i have done that but it seem like not light it up at all works even better … the fire is superficial above the nest surface since it need oxygen to burn … burning pulls the fume away … not burning it keeps the fumes in longer

 

[lman]

yes i have done that but it seem like not light it up at all works even better … the fire is superficial above the nest surface since it need oxygen to burn … burning pulls the fume away … not burning it keeps the fumes in longer

We don't have any fire ants around here. I always thought it was because we were far enough north. I'm surprised there would be any in northern Ontario.

 

[jyoutz]

We don't have any fire ants around here. I always thought it was because we were far enough north. I'm surprised there would be any in northern Ontario.

I don’t have them either at my 6800’ elevation. But I have used the same technique to get rid of native ants making mounds near buildings.

 

[Rockbadchild]

We don't have any fire ants around here. I always thought it was because we were far enough north. I'm surprised there would be any in northern Ontario.

I don't know if we do, probably not, we do have red ants that bites whether or not they are part of the genus Solenopsis I don't know but probably not... but fire ants or not, none are immune to gas fumes...

 

[oosik]

I still have an old bag of Diazanon. Thin ring around the ant hill does the trick.

 

[EddieWalker]

From what I understand about fire ants, you have to kill the queen to destroy the colony. Just killing a bunch of ants accomplishes nothing. Same thing with termites.

I personally like Orthene from the box stores. https://www.lowes.com/pd/ORTHO-Orthene-12-oz-Fire-Ant-Killer/5013597781

It's a very fine white powder that you just barely sprinkle on the mound. They say the best time is early morning or late evening, when the ants are most active. But it really doesn't seem to matter when you do it, the mound is always dead the next day. The biggest issue with Orthene is the smell. It's horrible!!!!

Usually I do my walk through the yard the day after I mow it. I just deal with areas that I keep mowed. When I see a mound forming, I sprinkle a little Orthene it and it's done. The bright white color of the powder makes it easy to see what mounds I've treated and what mounds are new. Usually in the Spring, there are a lot of them, but by Summer, there will only be a few of them. By the end of Summer, it's rare to see any new mounds.

My wife is finishing up the Master Gardener program with Texas A&M, and they recommend sprinkling Diatomaceous Earth on the mounds. I haven't done that yet, but plan on giving it a try in the Spring when the mounds start to show up.

When I've been bit by fire ants, I've found that for me, Hand Sanitizer works great. I think the alcohol dries out the bite, and that stops the inflammation. I used it during Covid because that's all I had at the time, and I was surprised by the results.