FIRE ANTS

[jyoutz]

We don’t have fire ants where I live. But we do get black ants that build mounds. I like to mix gasoline and diesel with a little used motor oil. Pour this into the mounds and light. The diesel and motor oil prolongs the burn time so it cooks them all. It also prevents the gasoline from exploding in a quick whoomf.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I'm in fire ant country. Know people that they've killed.
They don't like mixing the colonies with a shovel. So, I do it. Just a small scoop will do.

Get a bucket or bag you can wear over your shoulder. Get a walking stick. Put some plain old Tide washing detergent. Tap the mound with stick to get them stirred up. Sprinkle hand full of Tide on mound. Just plain old washing powder, the cheapest in the box.

 

[workinonit]

Fire ants here in the Pee Dee of SC are terrible. I haven't had fire ants on my place for 12 years or more. I spray Regent. I treat about 6 acres. I apply 1 oz per acre and it will last at least 2 years and sometimes up to 5. I just keep watch on the perimeters and when I start seeing invasion I spray again that year. The stuff is expensive but worth 5 times ever penny. The thing about Regent is it's labeled as a potato herbicide.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Fire ants here in the Pee Dee of SC are terrible. I haven't had fire ants on my place for 12 years or more. I spray Regent. I treat about 6 acres. I apply 1 oz per acre and it will last at least 2 years and sometimes up to 5. I just keep watch on the perimeters and when I start seeing invasion I spray again that year. The stuff is expensive but worth 5 times ever penny. The thing about Regent is it's labeled as a potato herbicide.

Regent insecticide is a brand name of 'Fipronil', which is one of the products I mentioned in my earlier post. It does work well for fire ants.

 

[workinonit]

Yep. That I know. Most people don't relate to chemical names. Give them a product name and they can find it.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Fire ants here in the Pee Dee of SC are terrible. I haven't had fire ants on my place for 12 years or more. I spray Regent. I treat about 6 acres. I apply 1 oz per acre and it will last at least 2 years and sometimes up to 5. I just keep watch on the perimeters and when I start seeing invasion I spray again that year. The stuff is expensive but worth 5 times ever penny. The thing about Regent is it's labeled as a potato herbicide.

Sorry everyone... Workinonit, your reference to Pee Dee caught my attention. My people come from Hemmingway not too far from you, I've been in the Pee Dee river. That area is a special place to me. Just had to interject and say hi.

Also, I hate fire ants. Now this post fits . Continue on.

 

[RalphVa]

Anyone have good ideas on what to do about fire ants. I think I have a mound every 6 feet in my pasture. You hay guys in the south have to have something.

In Louisiana we used to buy this fine pellet stuff and sprinkle it onto the mounds. Think it was yellow.

 

[Username Taken]

We use Amdro down here. Sprinkle it around the hill and they'll start taking it down into the nest where it poisons the Queen and her evil spawn. Be careful not to sprinkle it ON the nest, they'll think they're being attacked and move it away and ignore it.

It's not perfect, it doesn't work all the time every time. They'll eventually come back. But it can choke them down for a while and if you keep it up, they'll move to a better neighborhood.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
4. Some treatment options will last longer than others. Fipronil will last longer (up to a year) is more expensive, and is more specific to certain species. Bifenthrin won't last as long, but will kill many more insects, such as mosquitoes, and army worms, and is less expensive.

I usually use bifenthrin because I like that it gets mosquitoes. There are other options.

Please always read and follow the label on any pesticides you use.

Both fipronil and bifenthrin are on the list of Restricted Use Product. Which means you may need a LICENSE to buy or use, depending on your state.
Licenses for this stuff may be easy or difficult to get.
But due to "the virus that must not be named" at least one state offers licensing via an online course, Mississippi.
I took the course last year.
Fairly easy, cost was about $20(?), took me a few hours at the laptop in my easy chair.
I is now a licensed "Mississippi Private Pesticide Applicator" and it has reciprocity with many states.

 

[Spike56]

Anyone have good ideas on what to do about fire ants. I think I have a mound every 6 feet in my pasture. You hay guys in the south have to have something.

I UNDERSTAND ! I buy AMDRO ant BAIT and use. Right now, in Texas is a great time to feed them. They get active but don't have a lot of other bugs to eat. I find the best price I can, think right NOW, 2 lbs best price is at Tractor Supply ? I hate even buying a 2 LB container though. I find that the humidity will render it much less effective if you dont put it all out the same time. A bit more $ but I try to buy 1 lb at a time.
Good Luck !

 

[EddieWalker]

I only try to fight them in my back yard where the dogs are, and at my gazebo by my pond. I like the Ortho white powder of death. It smells like death, but it kills them all in one night. It doesn't take very much, and it's easy to see where you have put it, but it does require walking around to spread it.

My neighbor said that he has fire ant killer added to his fertilizer that he has spread on his pastures. I forget what it costs, but he says it makes a huge difference.

One of the things that has surprised me by living here is my fear of the grass. As a kid in California, I used to run around barefoot and play in the grass. Even lay down on it and relax. Here in Texas, just wearing flip flops while walking in the grass is dangerous. I would never lay down on it, or even walk barefoot through it. The grass hides all sorts of biting/stinging critters that never stop attacking!!!!

 

[chiefcook]

I resorted to walking around and sprinkling this on each mound.... I don't know of a good way. Hopefully I learn a better way on this thread....

It works. I use Amdro in the spring and fall and carry this on my mower for new colonies during the summer

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

It works. I use Amdro in the spring and fall and carry this on my mower for new colonies during the summer

Agreed, it just takes a LONG time to do on 11 acres...

 

[workinonit]

sj I'm about 20 miles from Hemingway. Lots of friends in that area.

A man will work himself to death with Amdro around here. Regent is a bit pricey at about $9/acre but 1 oz/acre can last up to 3 to 5 years.

 

[Mdumas]

What works with black ants is a mix 1/1 of borax and icing sugar in a platter by the nest. They eat and bring the poison to the queen and once the queen is dead, that's it! Now! will it work with fire ants?

 

[jyoutz]

What works with black ants is a mix 1/1 of borax and icing sugar in a platter by the nest. They eat and bring the poison to the queen and once the queen is dead, that's it! Now! will it work with fire ants?

Burning the nest is more fun and immediately gratifying.

 

[mred2]

I thank everyone for the information. Still not sure the best way to go,
At my age, I will not be walking around the pasture putting anything out. A sprayer behind my tractor may be something I could work with, but the cost of the spray?

 

[jyoutz]

I thank everyone for the information. Still not sure the best way to go,
At my age, I will not be walking around the pasture putting anything out. A sprayer behind my tractor may be something I could work with, but the cost of the spray?

Drive around the pasture and scoop the insecticide from a bucket and scatter around the mounds.

 

[KingBubba]

Amdro is the original sprinkle granuals and it is effective. The real issue is that once a mound is dead other tribes are looking to invade and when they find new ground a new queen is born and half of the hive splits and moves to the territory, Just like the Mongols.

Please be sure the mound really has ants in it. Be aware that gopher tortoises, when the create a den, will run under ground pushing dirt. When they can't push it any longer the get under it and push it up. These pushups look, for all the world, like ant mounds. They are not; so don't wast your Amdro.

As for diesel, using that is simply poisoning your property and your water. Diesel will sink through the soil until it finds water and now your wells are put in jeopardy as well as any animal that drinks the water. Don't do it.

 

[jyoutz]

Amdro is the original sprinkle granuals and it is effective. The real issue is that once a mound is dead other tribes are looking to invade and when they find new ground a new queen is born and half of the hive splits and moves to the territory, Just like the Mongols.

Please be sure the mound really has ants in it. Be aware that gopher tortoises, when the create a den, will run under ground pushing dirt. When they can't push it any longer the get under it and push it up. These pushups look, for all the world, like ant mounds. They are not; so don't wast your Amdro.

As for diesel, using that is simply poisoning your property and your water. Diesel will sink through the soil until it finds water and now your wells are put in jeopardy as well as any animal that drinks the water. Don't do it.

A cup of diesel and a cup of gasoline mixed, then ignited is going to burn off and won’t poison soil or wells. Dumping diesel everywhere would be a problem.