Killing Fire Ants

[Guilherme]

These little buggers are a genuine scourge in our area and I’ve got them all over my place and all of the remedies I’ve used to date have been less than effective.

I noted in another thread I just bought a Chapin backpack sprayer. One mission for that sprayer was to apply liquid insecticide to fire ant mounds. But what was I going to apply? I spent some time researching what was available and decided to try this: https://www.domyown.com/talstar-professional-insecticide-p-97.html

The weather was not favorable for a couple of days but I got out on Wed. last and used it on one nest. On Thu. there was no further activity. So I did five more nests. One was VERY large, one was medium, three were small. I checked on Friday p.m. before it started to rain and there was no activity. I checked today and no activity. My preliminary conclusion is that this stuff works. It’s been really wet and cold and I want to see if the nest get active when it gets dry and warm. That may not be for a few days.

The Book says use one ounce per nest. If the ground is dry you have to break the dry, soil “cap” and then thoroughly douse the nest with 1-2 gals. of water so that the material gets down to the queen. These nests can easily be three feet deep.

My preliminary conclusion is that this is going to work. I’ll try a new round of application as soon as the current rain stops. Maybe tomorrow. If, in fact, I’ve killed the nests then I’ll expand my use. The next step in application will be to use the 50 gal. spray rig on my small tractor with the “gun” that allows point spraying. If that works then I can kill the nests from my tractor seat and life will be good!!!

Next step will be to purchase a four gallon case and really go after the little devils. I’ll have the ability to kill more than 500 nests. And I’ve easily go that many. If I need more, I’ll get more!!!

G.

[clanter]

I have not had great success with liquids to kill fire ants but Orthene granules sprinkled on the mounds seems to work. fairly well… have not any activity yet this year

[4LeafCloverFarm]

I have always worried about using poisons on fire ant nests in my horse pastures. The last thing I tried was the molasses and orange oil + dishsoap and water in a handheld sprayer. It did work, but took two applications - as I didn’t use enough the first time.

[walkinthewalk]

I sense a man determined to eradicate, lol

this is what my pest control guy told me some years back:

We can use anything and everything to successfully kill the nest BUT it’s the QUEEN who must be found and killed in order to win the war.

According to him, the queen is deep in the bowels of the nest and “soldiers” will hurry to move her to safety the millisecond they sense danger – which is why ant hills keep popping up where there were none before.

if you can “behead the queen”, you will have success and no more ant hills will appear – at least according to my pest control guy:)

wishing you 200% success on your mission – I am subbing this thread on the off chance you really do win:)

[clanter]

@4LeafCloverFarm

I have always worried about using poisons on fire ant nests in my horse pastures. The last thing I tried was the molasses and orange oil + dishsoap and water in a handheld sprayer. It did work, but took two applications - as I didn’t use enough the first time.

Orthene is nearly harmless to manuals … acephate is a targeted insecticide

Acephate can kill target insects when they touch it or eat it. When insects eat acephate, their bodies turn it into a chemical called methamidophos, which is another, stronger insecticide. Acephate is less toxic in mammals because mammal bodies do not turn it into methamidophos very well.

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/acephagen.html

[wildlifer]

I hate fire ants like the plague but you are wasting your time with a spray. You have to use something the workers will feed to the queen. Killing individuals is worthless. I have only had success with Amdro, but it does work. It’s hard to be patient bc it takes 2-3 weeks for it to knock out a mound, but I usually see reduction in activity before that. Follow the directions, there is a protocol for a reason.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹
I’ve found I’m also more effective if I treat mounds early before they get huge. It’s impossible to eradicate the things, but I am succeeding in keeping it down to a minimum.

[cloudyandcallie]

G, call
336–288-8868
ask if they “do” Tennessee
keep horses off treated area until a soaking rain after treatment
I recommend them

[lorilu]

Amdro bait is the only thing that works. You may think you have killed the mound for a while, but unless you get the queen, it will be back. The workers carry it to the queen and feed it to her.

[Wanderosa]

And here I am all annoyed about the army of sugar ants invading my house! Fire Ants? Yikes. I’d see if I could adopt an Anteater. Failing that, I’d probably lob a grenade into the field. Y’all are braver than I.

[walkinthewalk]

@Wanderosa

And here I am all annoyed about the army of sugar ants invading my house! Fire Ants? Yikes. I’d see if I could adopt an Anteater. Failing that, I’d probably lob a grenade into the field. Y’all are braver than I.

Years ago I had good luck with Terro to kill sugar ants. http://www.terro.com/terro-liquid-ant-killer

not sure if the formula is still the same but for $3.99, I would give it a go – just be sure to keep it well away from the cats and dogs:)

[suzyq]

The best luck I had was using extinguish plus, I ordered a big bag online and broadcast it over the entire property. It’s a pain to broadcast though, you have to use a hand broadcaster as the application rate is so low.

[NoSuchPerson]

I first encountered fire ants when I moved to Texas in 1979. I fought them in Texas, I fought them in Florida, and now I’m fighting them in North Carolina.

The best online resource for information, IMO, is the Texas A&M site: https://fireant.tamu.edu/

Broadcasting a bait is the only way to truly get rid of them. But, it’s expensive and a pain in the neck to do and in my experience, ants just come back in from the surrounding property. Plus, it totally lacks any kind of instant gratification. :lol:

Drenching individual mounds is a temporary solution and you will have to repeat the process as the ants relocate the queen and start a new mound. I often joke that I don’t kill fire ants, I just chase them around the property. But, this does indeed keep the mounds and ants under semi-control and provides that instant gratification of “Death to Fire Ants Now!”

These days I have only a couple of acres and about half is heavily wooded, so I just treat individual mounds with Amdro.

[crosscreeksh]

Food grade, Diatomaesous Earth!!! 100% kill!! I knock the top off the nest with the lawn mower and douse the nest with DE dust and the next day they are DEAD and gone!! Cheap, safe, easy!! Available at most feed stores. I bought 50 pounds 10 years ago and still have about 40 pounds!! It goes a long way and excellent treatment for dog fleas/ticks and you can worm horses and dogs with it!!

[wildlifer]

@NoSuchPerson

Broadcasting a bait is the only way to truly get rid of them. But, it’s expensive and a pain in the neck to do and in my experience, ants just come back in from the surrounding property. Plus, it totally lacks any kind of instant gratification. :lol:
.

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹LOL, yes, my one amdro gripe is no gratification. I admit to minor rule breaking - I poke the top of the mound & scatter a little there so I can see ants pick it up right away. Then I tell them to take it to their mistress. Yes, I have issues.

[lorilu]

Wildlifer, I do that too.
About DE: A friend did a trial of it on her farm. Seemed to kill some of the workers but the mounds came back because the queen was not killed. (Remember, she doesnt wander around much - workers bring her food - that’s why Amdro works). She DID find, however, that the flea population went way down.

[demidq]

Again re DE- it does NOT work as a dewormer. There are several threads about this- and it can be injurious if inhaled by any animal.
We have no fire ants here but do have large mounds of tiny red ants that bite. I keep finding nests the hard way when I garden. Hate them!

[Guilherme]

Progress check: All the mounds treated so far are dead. We’ve had two dry days and the rest of today is expected to be warm. I used my soil sampler to get a sample from the core of the nest, about 9" down. Dead as Julius Caesar.

Did I get the queen? Unknown. So far no new nests in the treated area. But to get the queen out the workers would have had to swim through a fairly strong stream of poison. As noted I was VERY generous with the water. I’ll report again in two days when the ground has really dried out.

G.

[NoSuchPerson]

@crosscreeksh

you can worm horses and dogs with it!!

There have been scientific studies done to investigate DE’s effectiveness as a wormer. These studies have shown that it’s ineffective for that purpose.

[Guilherme]

@NoSuchPerson

There have been scientific studies done to investigate DE’s effectiveness as a wormer. These studies have shown that it’s ineffective for that purpose.

AFAIK the effectiveness of DE for roaches and other “dry” pests is that the DE is in fact quite “sharp” and when ingested by the insects causes them internal bleeding and death. Roaches ingest it because it gets on their feet and they clean them by eating the DE (sort of like a cat grooming itself). If you get it wet it’s no long sharp and no longer effective. This is what I’ve read in multiple sources discussing DE and why it won’t work as a de-wormer in horses. If this is true it would explain why it might work with ants but would the ants ingest it as food or as part of a cleaning practice? This I don’t know.

G.

[Jarpur]

Agree on Amdro working, and you might also consider the IGR Logic.

If it’s any consolation, when the fire ants move in, the ticks disappear (at least in this area).