This thread is about fire ants not ants in your house. That is like comparing a house cat to a lion in the Serengeti. If you lived in the South you would understand.
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This is a great article and I appreciate you sharing it. We just got our place and have already spent dollars and time on trying to get rid of the fire ants. Now I have a plan! Thanks so much!
Deep cold is forecast for the next few days and I’m going to try an experiment. I’m going take 5 gal. jerry can of water; use a garden trowel (or similar shovel) to scoop out an small depression in the mound; and then thoroughly wet it. Air does not conduct heat well; water does. I don’t know if I’ll kill anything but I can’t see any downside.
There are a dozen mounds I can easily get to from the driveway. When we get the next warmup I’ll see what the result was and report back.
G.
Well I tried something like that a few winters ago. I had a small mound that I emptied a cold 5 gallon bucket on. Glug,glug,glug. Water disappeared into the earth - it sounded like it was going down a drain. Emptied second 5 gallon bucket. Did the same thing - water disappeared into a subterrianiun ( sp) tunnel. I don’t know how deep the underground beds were but no water ran out onto the surface. So I kept emptying water buckets on it every day. Ants just moved the bed over ten feet. I am sure there are extensive tunnels at my place that must run forever deep down under the surface. It would be interesting ( or horrifying) to see how big they are.
I hate the damn things!
I’ve forgotten what program it was but somebody poured molten aluminum down into a mound and then excavated the result. The depth and complexity of the tunnels was impressive. I doubt anyone was left in THAT mound to move on!!! 
A fellow I know a few years ago in a similar cold snap used a 3" auger and just augered every mound he could. He said it made a big difference in the following year. It also left a bunch of 3" in diameter, 3 foot deep holes to be filled. I don’t think water would be as effective as an auger but would not leave holes, either. So maybe it’s worth a try?
About the worst I can think of is that pouring water when it’s 20 degrees F might be really unpleasant for the pourer!!!
G.
Ortho Orthene DOES work, might have to sprinkle twice but it has been banned and no longer made. I’ve found it on Ebay. I would not use it in pastures unless I can remove horses for several weeks. It killed a chicken that ate it at my place.
