Texas Fall/Winter thread!

[jinman]

Ron, I have not tried orange oil and soap, but I have tried the orange oil-molasses-compost tea mixture. The problem is that it costs about $8 per mound drench because orange oil is very expensive. I can tell you that I had success, but $40 mix only treated about 10 mounds of small to medium size. Supposedly, compost tea and sugar water alone can do the trick because "bugs" in the compost tea will attack the fireants and they don't like competition. The orange oil just makes the ant's exoskeleton soft so the bugs can get to their good parts easier.

 

[Western]

Jim, if you could figure out a way to convince Asians that fire ants are an aphrodisiac, we'd be RICH!!!

 

[pacerron]

Ron, I have not tried orange oil and soap, but I have tried the orange oil-molasses-compost tea mixture. The problem is that it costs about $8 per mound drench because orange oil is very expensive. I can tell you that I had success, but $40 mix only treated about 10 mounds of small to medium size. Supposedly, compost tea and sugar water alone can do the trick because "bugs" in the compost tea will attack the fireants and they don't like competition. The orange oil just makes the ant's exoskeleton soft so the bugs can get to their good parts easier.

Jim,
You have probably read this article, but for those that haven't, it is very interesting about the life cycle and the Queen.
It clarifies the importance of timing in using the bait and other methods to get the best results for your money.

Fire Ant Management In The Home Lawn : College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences : Clemson University : South Carolina

I used to have, probably still do, a weed burner that was a pump up pressure tank, hose, and burner element that was a spiral tube about 3" in diameter by 6" long. We used kerosene and lit a big wick in the base. When it got going it sounded like a jet engine and put out a flame blast like a super blow torch. I think in later years the torches were fueled by propane. You might cook-em with something like that in the areas where you don't want to use chemicals.
If you have any fire crackers left you might blow up the hills and scare the fertility out of the queen..:laughing:

 

[bindian]

Has anyone else noticed the sudden appearance of fireants?

No Jim, I was raised with them. Dad:thumbsup: always, back in the day, gave them a generous drink of gasoline and then gave them a bar-be-que. I seem to have less fireants mounds here now then we did back then in our yard, back then.
hugs, Brandi

 

[pacerron]

Jim, if you could figure out a way to convince Asians that fire ants are an aphrodisiac, we'd be RICH!!!

Chocolate covered fire ants. "Sweet going down, like fire coming out"

 

[robbyr]

Jinman, check this out. How To Make an All-Natural Ant Killer Apartment Therapy Tutorials | Apartment Therapy

 

[jinman]

Robby, I've used several methods for keeping ants out of my house, but those don't work on fireants. Boric acid and sugar water in a bottle cap is a good inside ant killer. The problem is you only want to use about 1% boric acid with the sugar. If you use too much boric acid, the ants are repelled by the bait and don't eat it. Many people mix too much boric acid in and see the ants are gone. They think their mixture has worked to kill the ants when it has just caused them to build a new out-of-sight trail. Boric acid is also good for repelling roaches in problem areas, but there are better treatments.

Ron, I have one of those propane torches, but it is primarily a surface treatment. The heat won't penetrate more than a few inches. I've heard that hot water pressure washers with boilers can be used effectively to deliver scalding water deep within a mound because the water will bore a hole ahead of the nozzle. Of course, who wants to spend thousands on a boiler equipped pressure washer to kill fireants? Compared to that, the orange oil based compounds are a bargain. Where I used to live in Grand Prairie, TX, there was a feed store that stocked the molasses, compost tea, and orange oil. I can find the orange oil around here, but I've not been so lucky at finding the rest of recipe. There was a small backyard business that sold the stuff here, but he couldn't stay in business. It's hard to compete with the Bayer, Scotts, and Amdro when you are a little guy selling solutions that cost two to three times as much.

Brandi: My dad used to buy cheap dollar store bleach and pour it on the mounds. I'm sure he sterilized the soil for a 10' radius around the mound, but it sure kicked buttocks on those fire ants.

Dennis: Isn't it wacky? Shark fin soup, tiger parts, monkey parts are all deeply ingrained in some Asian cultures. I read on Yahoo! the other day that Yao Ming was actually making headway to reduce the demand for sharkfin soup in China. More power to him.:thumbsup:

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Just thinking out loud. Alcohol vapor has the specific gravity of 1.6 which means it is heavier than air. So if we all build a still and make corn squeezings (only to pour on ant mounds), what would that cost? If you pour enough on a mound it will displace the oxygen and maybe the ants will die?

Lou, you ever tried this?

 

[jinman]

Just thinking out loud. Alcohol vapor has the specific gravity of 1.6 which means it is heavier than air. So if we all build a still and make corn squeezings (only to pour on ant mounds), what would that cost? If you pour enough on a mound it will displace the oxygen and maybe the ants will die?

Lou, you ever tried this?

Kyle, they tried that in North Carolina. After three months, the ants built little oval trails and gathered in great numbers with coolers full of hooch and their queen all gussied up while they raced around the oval. All you could hear was them yelling, "ANTSCAR! ANTSCAR!"

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Kyle, they tried that in North Carolina. After three months, the ants built little oval trails and gathered in great numbers with coolers full of hooch and their queen all gussied up while they raced around the oval. All you could hear was them yelling, "ANTSCAR! ANTSCAR!"

LOL!

Is that what started this new crazy ant phenom? Seriously, if you weren't drinking the hooch, I wonder if it would kill the ants? Hate to waste a bottle of Everclear to find out....Maybe I have a lab quality sample at work......hummmmm?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Looks like chlorine is at 2.486 sg. How many fish would that kill if it didn't evaporate?

I'd bet it'd kill them ants fast with a small quantity.

Better idea, remember those flat, big magnifying sheets of plastic to put in front of a small TV? How about if you put one over a mound and let the sun bake each mound for a day? Solar powered ant killer. No toxins.

 

[jinman]

LOL!

Is that what started this new crazy ant phenom? Seriously, if you weren't drinking the hooch, I wonder if it would kill the ants? Hate to waste a bottle of Everclear to find out....Maybe I have a lab quality sample at work......hummmmm?

I think I'd get a bottle of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and try it. That's over 180 proof, but undrinkable. Don't waste the corn squeezin's on ants.

 

[txdon]

Ruling

Looks like Texas underground water will be treated like rain water in Texas. First to capture has all. I think it's ok for personal use and irrigation on your property, but when you sell large quantities to water districts or cities you are selling your neighbors water also and they should be compensated.

 

[Bird]

No Jim, I was raised with them. Dad:thumbsup: always, back in the day, gave them a generous drink of gasoline and then gave them a bar-be-que. I seem to have less fireants mounds here now then we did back then in our yard, back then.
hugs, Brandi

I know a fellow, who many years ago, found a mound of the big red ants in the pasture across the road from his house. So he poured gasoline on the mound and lit it; burned off 3 acres and had both the landowner and the fire department mad at him.

 

[jinman]

Ruling

Looks like Texas underground water will be treated like rain water in Texas. First to capture has all. I think it's ok for personal use and irrigation on your property, but when you sell large quantities to water districts or cities you are selling your neighbors water also and they should be compensated.

Yep, it's a case where you will not be allowed to participate in arguments against the permit and, therefore, not have redress against someone who captures water out from under you. Certainly, aquifers are widespread and their resource is felt over more than your 2-county area. This just seems to be a sneak preview of things to come with Prop. #6 of the upcoming election. With the growing metropolitan areas and their thirst for ever more water for landscaping, parks, and golf courses the near future water wars may just be heating up.

 

[bindian]

I hope prop #6 fails but I'm seeing goody goody commercials on TV for it already.

Jim, I used a table spoon of dishwashing detergent with gallon of water and all the ants are lying around dead. It was a quick kill. I'll try a few more mounds.

Whipper played a little too bit aggressively this morning with my prize coral snake. I have been seeing it off and on now for 5 years and I was trying for a record. Whipper broke him in half and after I put the halves back together he was 39" +- 1".

Don,
I voted against prop #6. Dang.............I thought coral snakes only got to be about 15 or 16 inches long. Your's sounds like a monster.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Bird]

We nearly always vote early and this year we vote for 3 of the propositions and against the other 6 (including #6) but traditionally don't nearly all proposed constitutional amendments pass in Texas? I'll be surprised if all don't pass this year.

But we all may have our posts removed for being a political discussion in this forum.

 

[farmgirl19]

Well bird, the "political" topic is STILL relevant to the TEXAS thread. So it is where it belongs, not in the politics arena that is mostly National.

That being said, Halloween is less than a week away. So, if someone believes we can't have our own discussions, I'll put a "hex" on them! And here is proof that I can do it too! :laughing:

Happy Halloween, y'all!

 

[Bird]

Well bird, the "political" topic is STILL relevant to the TEXAS thread. So it is where it belongs, not in the politics arena that is mostly National.

That being said, Halloween is less than a week away. So, if someone believes we can't have our own discussions, I'll put a "hex" on them! And here is proof that I can do it too! :laughing:

Happy Halloween, y'all!

:laughing::laughing:That just might be the best looking witch I've ever seen.