Fire ant control

geneP · May 21, 2001

I saw in a post in the "attachments" forum where someone hit a fire ant bed and bent a brush hog blade. I realized that I have been reading this site for more than a year and don't remember seeing any threads on control of the rascals. I did a search and didn't find much, either.

What are tried and true methods and or poisons? I've used several brands of baits and mixed poisons with water to control them in the yard around the house, but have not made any efforts on the other parts of the acreage because of the expense and time required to take on the task.

If anyone has had success in controling these pests, please share your method with the rest of us.

fishman · May 21, 2001

GeneP,

I have had my best success with Amdro. It is a targeted bait that doesn't kill a lot of other beneficial insects. It is very easy to put out, and, unlike some other fire ant poisons, it doesn't have that funky smell. It kind of depends on what scale you are wanting control. I have been fairly successful at keeping a couple acres around my house ant-free, but the other 8 has to look out for itself /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. One other thing, I think Amdro has a warning to watch your pets, as they are sometimes attracted to the stuff.

dmccarty · May 21, 2001

I have read the Amdro is one of the best controls to use on fireants. So far we don't have them in my county yet but they are only one county to the south and I'm sure they will be here soon.

To keep pets out of certain areas I have found that looped wire fence works real well. I have bought the 4-5 foot tall fence in whatever length I thought I needed. I cut off a 5-10 feet to make a circle of fence if that makes sense. It usually will stand up on its own by a metal fence post or two pounded into the ground and some wire ties would keep the loop in place and the pets out.

Hope this helps.....
Dan WhoHasBeenBittenManyTimesByFireAnts McCarty

roysallis · May 22, 2001

Try this site, it has a lot of good info on insect and pest control. http://www.bugspray.com/article/fireants.html

TxBilly · May 22, 2001

Gene
Read this article from Texas A&M.
http://entowww.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/b-1536.html
Good luck -- I am in the same situation!
Bill

Bird · May 22, 2001

geneP, when I bought my place, the fire ants had control; the guy who owned it before never did any kind of maintenance. I've tried a wide variety of stuff and most of them work to some extent, but the best thing I've found is to broadcast Logic once or twice a year; stuff costs me $9 a pound, but you only spread it at the rate of one pound per acre. Then every time I see a new mound starting, I pour a gallon of water on it with 2 ounces of either diazinon or malathion.

Bird

geneP · May 22, 2001

Thanks, guys, for the info and links. It sounds like broadcasting bait and spot treating mounds is about all you can do. I've used Amdro and gotten pretty good results with it.

Bird, I assume the Logic is available at farm stores?

Thanks again for all the comments

Gene

Bird · May 22, 2001

Gene, I buy the Logic at the local "ag chemical" place (3 pound containers - about $11 a pound in the one pound containers). They sell all kinds of agricultural chemicals. Of course, for the big boys they also have the big equipment to deliver and apply the chemicals, but that part's out of my league./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

And Gene, just for your information, Logic also has another name and right now I can't remember what it was. It's yellow cornmeal soaked with the poison so you can imagine how thin it's spread for one pound to cover an acre. The instructions say if you can see it, you're getting it too thick. The instructions also say to not apply it to pasture being grazed by cattle, but OK for horse pasture but only if the horses will not be used for human consumption./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Naturally my curiosity got me to doing some checking and it seems there's no indication that it ever hurt an animal, but the manufacturers have not "proven" that it can't get into the meat supply. I checked with my county agent and asked how long after applying it should you keep cattle off the pature and he said he thought 2 weeks was plenty, but that he also knew people are applying it to pastures without removing the cattle at all.

Bird

geneP · May 23, 2001

Thanks, Bird, I'll see if I can find it.

I'm not running any livestock.

jinman · May 26, 2001

Gene, for a totally organic approach to fire ant control, try this link:
http://www.dirtdoctor.com
He has at least two formulas which works on fire ants. One of them uses a citrus concentrate and soap. The citrus melts the external skeleton of the fire ants and you put about a gallon of mixture on each mound (large mound) so you get the queen. The soap is a wetting agent.
The second method is a cocktail of citrus extract, compost tea, molasses, and vinegar. This bait melts the fire ant skeleton and the organic agents in the compost tea (mad from manure) attack the fire ants. The molasses and vinegar actually are biostimulants which will attract biological activity to the location of the mound. Fire ants hate competition and will not return to the same spot. Ever notice how fire ants seem to always come back to the the same places? That's because when we poison the previous ants, we kill off all the additional beneficial bugs. By using poison, when its toxicity is depleted, we have a perfect place for fire ants to return.

I have used these organic approaches around my pond dams and they work. I'm not one of those persons who is strictly against poisons, but I believe we should give the non-toxic way a chance to work. I'm always afraid of strong poisons because all the fireflys (lightning bugs) have disappeared and many lizards as well. I'm just not sure what the long-term effects of using toxic pesticides and herbicides are.

Good luck.

JimIEdited by jinman on 05/26/01 06:08 PM (server time).

FarmerBob · May 29, 2001

If you've ever been stung by those pesky lil critters, then you'll understand how they came to be known as "fire" ants /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif. I've been stung enough times in my life that now I look for pure revenge when a mound appears on my property. Luckily, Central Arkansas hasn't become heavily infested, but the numbers seem to increase annually. I guess some people would call me cruel or inhumane, but when it comes to fire ants... MERCY is not in my vocabulary /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. When I find a mound, I run for my shop and grab my propane blowtorch... stir the nest with a stick to get the lil ***** aggrevated 'n swarm'n... then hit 'em with the flamethrower /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif. They are now transformed from "pesky critters" to "crispy critters" /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif. I then give 'em a few hours to bury the dead (or whatever they do to get rid of the bodies of their fallen comrads) then I repeat the process /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif. Although I know I'm not get'n to the queen, it gives me great pleasure to know that I'm giving them a taste of their own medicine. And... actually... after a couple of "treatments" with the torch... they abandon the nest and don't return /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. I just hope the good Lord don't hold it against me come judgement day /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif.

FarmerBob

geneP · May 30, 2001

FarmerBob, I guess if you kill enough of the worker ants there won't be enough left to feed the queen and she'll die, too.

Maybe you can use the argument that God gave us "......dominion....... over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth".

ERNIEB · May 31, 2001

Imported fire ants are a big problem down in this part of the country, and I've studied up on them. How to control them has been well covered, so I won't rehash that. I just had to put in my two cents.
When I was a kid in the fifties, screw worms were a big problem for livestock producers. A decision was made to eradicate screw worms. Goverment and the private sector went to work and today screw worms are all but gone.
I don't see why the same can't be done for the fire ant. It is far worse than just a pest. It is not native. Why not eradicate it? The way I see it, what is lacking is the commitment.

Ernie

geneP · May 31, 2001

We had a former Agriculture Commissioner who was going to eridicate them in our state. He had a state owned plant to produce bait using Myrex (sp?) as the killing agent. The county agent would give the stuff away to landowners, and the commissioner was broadcasting it out of airplanes.

The government outlawed the Myrex and he had to shut his plant down. He didn't eradicate them, but he slowed 'em down.

I don't think the government will do anything about them until they affect more than just a few southern states.

Anonymous Poster · Jun 24, 2001

Two options I use since I prefer to use as little poison as possible. 1) Diatomacous Earth (DE) available from your local garden/landscape store will clear them out with a couple of applications. I stir the hill up, sprinkle the DE around the perimeter of the hill and on the mass of attackers erupting from my stirring. 2) Hot water will clean them out. I read somewhere, Oganic Gardening(?), that the water needs to reach 180 degrees. Don't ask me why so hot unless to penetrate down to the queen. BE CARFULL WITH THE HOT WATER METHOD, YOUR TISSUE DIES AS EASILY AS THE ANTS!!!

heehaw · Jun 25, 2001

that DE is also available at most locations that sell swimming pool supplies. Its one method of filtering the water. I've been trying it a little lately to see how it does, so far i have found it does nothing about spiders. I put a "bunch" in my well house to try to get rid of the spiders/webs, but i clean the webs out an they come right back.
heehaw

RJohnson · Jun 25, 2001

heehaw
You might try moth balls in your well house, other than that I can think of nothing to control spiders, unless you kill all of the insects the spiders eat/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

Randy

TBone · Jun 25, 2001

Gene, I use Diazinon liquid in a sprayer. Mix it a little stronger than recommend. Pump the sprayer up with as much pressure as possible and (with the nozzle open and spraying), push it down into the mound to the handle. If you push it down in the mound before starting the spray, it'll stop up your nozzle. It seems to get the queen too. Good luck with them buggers. What part of Mississippi are you from? I live in Clarke county and work in Jones County. TBone

geneP · Jun 26, 2001

TBone, I'm in Star (Rankin County)

Thanks for the idea... I've been drenching the mounds, but hadn't thought of "supercharging" the drench!

jinman · Jun 26, 2001

Heehaw, the DE you buy at the pool supply store is different from the DE at the landscaping store. You won't get the desired control if you use it as you noted your lack of results in your post. Ask any organic garden center about the difference, but I'm sure the pool DE is meant to be a filter/treatment.

JimI