# Fire ants



## streetneons (Jan 7, 2013)

Any tips or tricks to get rid of them. I have bought everything possible I can think of to buy at lowes. I have bought the powder, the sprays, the lawn sprays, the pellets... Ortho, spectracide the off brands. And yet the mound dies and they just move a few feet over. Any ideas on what to do.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Those who have read my pesticide posts know I am not convinced pest control is a DIY endeavor. I think, thanks to too many people abusing chemicals, the stuff availed consumers is usually expensive and of minimal effectiveness. I further have found it was cheaper for me to use an independent pest control specialist than the over-the-counter consumer products. And I could call the people back until problems were resolved. My projects and personal properties were on contract for routine pest control issues too. 

I have known people to burn out fire ant nests but again, would not recommend you race to pour gasoline into cavities in your landscape and then igniting them. 

Wyoming's solution to any pest control issues is dynamite. It was interesting living there for a short time and amusing as well. You can probably still get explosive there easier than pest control chemicals?


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## DavidSeon (Jan 28, 2013)

Forget the surface methods.

Use Concentrated Liquid Sevin diluted and applied according to the instructions for _Liquid Mound Drench Treatments_ in the article below. You will see dramatic results within about 15 minutes; they won't even have time to get the queen out.

http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2429.pdf


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## gobug (Jul 13, 2012)

Ants own the earth. We fool ourselves with paper and lawyers.

If you think you can get rid of ants, you have a never ending job.

Eliminate one ant colony and the other ants see a vacancy and move in.

Fire ants have very deep "hives". Their territories overlap with other neighboring fire ants. If you do succeed in eliminating an entire colony, you have barely dented the fire ant population around your home.

Any contact poison must get into the "hive" and to the whole population because the ants you see are the elderly foragers. Ant baits are my suggestion. The foragers carry the bait home and share it with the whole colony. Only bugs that eat the bait are effected. 

If you want longer term reduction in ants, increase the area baited. It does not take a lot of bait to kill a single nest. You just have to make sure the bait is what they want. That changes depending on what the ant colony needs. It can switch back and forth between sugar and protein several times in a season.

Ant baits are cheaper than contact poisons. Amdro is a common fire ant bait. One container (~1#) will cover a large area. If a couple neighbors join in, it really can have a longer impact on the fire ants in your immediate area.

I have to chuckle when I see people say to make your own bait with boraxo. Boraxo is not pure boric acid. The percentage of active ingredient on a pesticide label is by weight, not volume. Boric acid is heavy. Eight ounces of ant food only needs about a quarter teaspoon of boric acid to be about 0.5% concentration. Some of the DIY recipes say use 50/50 Boraxo to food. Just how much boric acid is that? 

It is not that expensive to purchase good baits. It is a lot easier, though, to just pay an exterminator to do the job. A good exterminator uses only about 10% of what the typical DIY'er uses.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

I don't know where you live but if it's in Florida you almost need to get used to them. I don't use irrigation and seem to have more fire ants than my neighbor who has irrigation, but don't know for sure.

In Florida I've read about 'crazy ants' and ppl who have them miss the fire ants. Fire ants stick to their little mounds and don't bother anyone, unless of course you bother them. Crazy ants, on the other hand, are invading everything and everywhere. I've read they can get into cars and chew the electrical wires.


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## streetneons (Jan 7, 2013)

Well I bought some Ortho powder in that black bottle, and it killed a huge mound in one day. I still have smaller mounds around the yard that I am fighting but atleast this product seems to work well and for under 10 bucks.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

I do not have recent experience, but back in the 80's I lived in Plano Tx, and with small children.

Amdro, worked great!

My one next door neighbor was less than responsible, so when he was gone, I would just broadcast his lawn also.

Once a year treatment, and we were cleaned up two weeks later.

Now maybe in 25+ years the ants have become resistant... I don't know

Or move to Colorado, we don't have fire ants.

Best


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## Blondesense (Sep 23, 2008)

streetneons said:


> Well I bought some Ortho powder in that black bottle, and it killed a huge mound in one day. I still have smaller mounds around the yard that I am fighting but atleast this product seems to work well and for under 10 bucks.


When we lived in Texas, Ortho was about the only thing that seemed to keep them at bay. We never tried to totally eradicate them, just keep them 15 or 20 feet away from the house. 
They are not totally worthless. Where we had fireants, fleas and ticks were seldom a problem.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

streetneons said:


> Please visit my website


Well... I was dumb enough to go over and look... what does your site have to do with the topic... or the price of tea in China.?:huh:


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## streetneons (Jan 7, 2013)

I am sorry, I thought it was okay to post a link to my new website here. Won't happen again.


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## noquacks (Jun 5, 2010)

gobug said:


> Ants own the earth. We fool ourselves with paper and lawyers.
> 
> If you think you can get rid of ants, you have a never ending job.
> 
> ...


I agree, mostly. But ants do not own the earth- insects do (just a slight mod of your point). No way to stop them- only temporarily kep them at bay- say, 20 -30 fet from your house, and thats all you can do/expect for successful treatment.

On the boric/boraxo issue- you dont need pure boric acid for insect control, other borates are equally effective, including boraxo. Boraxo is sodium tetraborate salt, with some waters of hydration attached , making it very water soluble, unlike boric acid. 

How is boric acid "heavy"? You mean dense? "heavy" is not a good description of a powder. 

If you have boraxo, use it with food. If you have boric acid, you can use that too- advantage is boric is available as a fine powdery dust which is picked up by the fine hairs on insects' legs, and boraxo is not a fine dusty powder. Thats all.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

The use of boron as a pesticide/herbicide---weeds or bugs---is now banned in many states because consumers do not believe in following directions. If package says use a teaspoon per gallon, half a cup in a gallon will not work better. Boron can render soil sterile if used in high concentrations.

I say again, having a pest control contractor licensed to get stuff to deal with whatever you have will work out cheaper than trying to deal with things with consumer market product labels. I never licensed to buy them since California and managing mainly turf insects at time but assure you what I was able to buy is nothing close to what you can get. What I could get was potent stuff and I promise I needed to use more minimal amounts than what you are buying.


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