Killing Ants

[Rat Rod Mac]

The ants are getting out of hand on my place. I have one mound that is 4' x 3' x 20" high. What is the cheapest stuff you guys dump on them that works? Thanks RRM

 

[Willl]

Need a little more info.

Your approx location and what kind of ant ?

 

[Bird]

My first choice was Diazinon, but since I can't get that anymore, I use Malathion. I usually find the fire ant mounds when they're small and mix up a gallon of insecticide to pour slowly on the mound to give it time to run down inside through their tunnels. For one the size you're talking about, I'd probably use about 5 gallons, mixed at about 2 oz. of Ortho Malathion Plus per gallon of water. Home Depot has the Malathion Plus and Walmart usually has it a dollar a quart cheaper.

 

[slowrev]

From the size of the mound, probably fire ants. You can fight em back but it does not seem to last long. I think they have little ant subways under the ground and the suvivors just evacuate for a while and then move back when the poison wears off...

Just keep poisioning the mounds as Bird says every couple of months...
There are other products out there, but none seem to work for any length of time.

 

[heehaw]

i was reading the directions on some insecticide i got from the farmers supply: yeah i know, who reads directions! anyway, it brought up a good point: basicly it says apply the insecticide in a way that will not distrub the ants, or they will just move and you haven't accomplished anything. i can't spell the active ingredient (par-rith-eons?) or anything else for that matter, but you get a quart of the stuff for about $16 and it mixes an ounce per 3 gallons for some types of ants: i didn't notice the ratio for those mean ones.
heehaw
heehaw

 

[Soundguy]

if there's no rain in site.. I like the dusts like permethrin.. though 'sevin' also works.. I put a ring of it around the hole, and they track it in and out every time an ant comes and goes. this usually kills that hole in a day or so...

Soundguy

 

[dmccarty]

I have used Amdro to get rid of fireants. It took two applications but I suspect the first one did the job. I spread the Amdro per the instructions around the nest and the ants took it inside. The nest was right where we park so it had to go.

I have seen a few other nests on our land and I'm sure there are more. There have been some who have said that they don't have ticks anymore and that they think the fireants have gotten to them. I'll take fireants over ticks and chiggers. At least the fireants I can see for the most part....

Later,
Dan

 

[Highbeam]

I used the baits like Amdro(I think that's the name) with zero success. I even tolerated the ants for the 4 weeks since the directions tell you that it may take time for the bait to kill the nest. These were carpenter ants and showed no interest in baits. The little metal cans with a hole nor the granular.

I used to love diazinon and still have a few jugs of it just in case I need to get serious. I also used a lot of granular diazinon but that is also no longer sold. For these ants I had to go and buy the replacement which was an insecticide granular mix in a bag. Once around the house with a whirlybird and no more ants the very next day.

They haven't been back for a couple of weeks now.

 

[Bird]

Texas A&M has always recommended a two step program for fire ants. The first step is to broadcast a bait once or twice a year. I believe Amdro is the oldest, best known, and most available, although I used Logic from an ag chemical place. It was a yellow cornmeal impregnated with the poison and it was spread at the rate of one pound per acre. It does take several days, if not a week or more, for baits to work. The second step is a drench, as I mentioned; a liquid poured very slowly on the mound to disturb it as little as possible and let it run down into the tunnels.

 

[heehaw]

i spray around the house regularly, and it still hasn't got rid of the ants completely: i tried several bags of granules, several different brands and active ingredients: with absolutely no luck at all: yesterday i had ants all over the front porch: so i sprayed all around the house again: its only been a little over a week since i sprayed last: but we did have a pretty good rain last friday? i bought 2 quarts of the permeathins last week and plan on keeping up the battle: the bad thing with the carpenter ants: if they get behind your siding, i don't think they ever need to come back to the ground: i have board and bat siding, and i know they are behind it, i am just trying to figure out how to get to them with the least amount of damage to the house.
heehaw

 

[Highbeam]

Supposedly, carpenter ants do NOT eat the wood. They carve out tunnels to live in and have to leave the nest to get food.

There comes a time when an exterminator along with his extra special good chemicals becomes necessary.

 

[dmccarty]

In our old house in town we had Carpenter ants in the exterior bathroom wall. Every so often we would see them in the bathroom but not often. We only knew they where living in the wall when I ripped the bath tub surround down to the studs. The tile job was done wrong and water from the shower would leak into the wall cavity. No obvious damage from the water but the insulation was wet. The ants where in the insulation. No damage in the wall from the water or the ants.

We also had ants that would go for the garbage can in the kitchen that was a constant battle to kill. I would spray and spray and spray.

The fire ants where easy to kill in comparison. Much easier.

In the new house we have only had on ant trail into the house and that was a surprise. We had some mice get into the house and had to set traps. We had checked the traps in the morning and sometime after that a mouse found the peanut butter. I got home from work and found the trail of ants going to and from the dead mouse. Very impressed that the ants, in less than 10-12 hours had found the dead mouse. Threw out the mouse. Sprayed the ants and they have not returned. Nor has the mouse.

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

i bought 2 quarts of the permeathins last week and plan on keeping up the battle

I wish you luck. I've heard and read lots of good things about permethrin and maybe it's good, but the only time I ever used it, the insects seemed to really appreciate it and thrived on it. So I never bought anymore.

 

[Redbug]

I use an ant bait called "Once and Done". It works pretty good on the mounds. Just sprinkle a tablespoon amount, (give or take), on and around the hill and the cute little buggers take it inside. No watering, so it's easy to use. It seems to work faster than Amdro. Hopefully, one day a scientist will develop a disease that will devastate fire ants. That man will earn the Nobel Prize!

Down in the south, the only real method to get rid of your fire ant problem is to MOVE!

 

[Soundguy]

Around my farm I pretty much exclusively use permethrin oil mixes or dusts.

You may have got a real weak batch.. cuz the stuff I get .. you can sprinkly it on ants.. and within 30 seconds they flail around.. and are dead within the minute.

Same with the oil emulsion spray..

Soundguy

I wish you luck. I've heard and read lots of good things about permethrin and maybe it's good, but the only time I ever used it, the insects seemed to really appreciate it and thrived on it. So I never bought anymore.

 

[heehaw]

thats been my experience with it too: but it doesn't seem to have much residual killing power..
heehaw

 

[dmccarty]

Down in the south, the only real method to get rid of your fire ant problem is to MOVE!

Yeah, but the problem is that the fire ants FOLLOW!

When I first moved to NC years ago the fire ants where in the counties far to the south of me. Now the fire ants are in my back yard.

Supposedly they will stop marching north at some point maybe when they hit permafrost....

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

The odd thing about fire ants (to me) is that you can broadcast the bait, then treat individual mounds with a drench and it can appear that you have eliminated the fire ants. And then the first time you have a big rain, new mounds will pop up here and there. When I bought my 10 acres in the country, it was covered with huge fire ant mounds, but after applying Logic and liquid Diazinon, I eliminated them on the approximately 3 acres around the house and barn. Then when we had a big rain, I'd find as many as a dozen small mounds and would apply one gallon of liquid to each and I'd see no more until the next big rain, when it would be the same thing all over again.

 

[MississippiMan]

here is what i know about fireants:

-they are territorial, so you will only have so many mounds per acre and no more

-you kill the ones you have and others will move in. in that sense you will never win

-bait is more effective than poison in killing the queen

-if you don't kill the queen you have wasted your time and money

- i have had great luck using diatomaceous earth. when the nest is disturbed some of the ants will rush to the queen to see if she is okay and all they have to do is transfer a single grain of it to her to kill her. (they bleed to death) of course the others ants will all die from contact.

- but like i mention before, others just move in and take their place.

 

[Podunkadunk]

I'd say about 2 gallons of gas for that size mound. To me, nothing works better than gasoline for killing yellow jackets of fireants. (Given it's far enough away from your home or another building)

Take a piece of rebar, pipe or shovel handle, about 5-6 feet long, stick it through the middle of the mound, then jab it again next to that...repeat and keep repeating. When you have holes down to where the pipe hit's hard dirt (the mound dirt will be soft for a good couple/three feet down), pour your gas all over the top of the mound and into the holes, then pour you a trail 20-30 feet away from the mound. Let it soak in for a good minute or two, then light the gas trail (preferably with a match, as you can "toss" it).

Stand back, drink a beer and enjoy your victory.

Repeat in a couple days if necessary, but, I've never had enough survivors to rebuild the mound.

With Yellow Jackets, don't light the gas, just pour a gallon or two down the hole and walk away. The burn method doesn't work with them, I don't know why. I found that out last year, had to burn them out 3 times before I finally got them. Oh yeah, be sure and do this at NIGHT when you are gassing yellow jackets...they aren't active at night and they will all be in the hole.

Podunk