Fire Ant Report

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Peanut

Peanut

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Here is the State Fire Ant Report sent to me by the county extension office. It's a PDF file which I scanned with Norton Internet Security.

I hope no one else has a fire ant problem like me but if you do this report might help.
 

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I've got them here, of course. South Alabama and all.

They had a very similar article here in the paper about broadcast treatment in pastures.
 
Sentry18 said:
And now this is the 3rd time I have decided this week that snow is not so bad. Great White North = 0 fire ants.
Click to expand...
Don't get too comfortable, they are gradually moving North. Same as Kudzu is doing.
 
Since this is a tip on dealing with nasty little fire ants I thought I'd put it here...

Rain can be your friend in dealing with them. When there has been big rains... as in more than 4 inches in 24hrs...

At such times even big and deep nests have a moisture problem they must deal with. Even the deepest part where they keep larva gets damp.

The ants bring their queen and all their larva to the surface once the sun comes out. It'll dry the top of the nest and warm them. They'll keep them there until the rest of the nest dries out.

This is the time to strike! I just rake the top to expose the larva and dump on poison. It'll kill millions of them, all their larva and if I'm lucky I'll get the queen too. The nest is now dead!!!

Most fire ant nests are 18 inches in diameter. This one is small maybe 6 inches. I took out about 50 nests today in less than an hour.

All the white dots are larva I just exposed...

Fire Ants 5a.JPG
 
I took night classes, some years ago & was told there are two red fire ant species.
And two species of black fire ants..
I only know of red fire ants.
I read about a species that tunnel under concrete slabs up North, can not remember where or where they came from.
 
This very morning, I was talking to my nice elderly widow neighbor through the chain-link fence which separates our property... we were both doing yard work, and I stopped to tell her about my goathead eradication program. While we were talking, I noticed a HUGE anthill just SWARMING with those big black & red ants we get in New Mexico... I offered to give the gal some liquid poison to pour down the hole, which was enormous, but she said she had plenty of poison for this purpose, and she went to get it so the problem could be addressed. In the high desert of the Southwest, ants are a REAL PROBLEM, so I'm quite happy she went ahead and nuked the nest, as those ants were also swarming all over the northern end of my property. Ants & goatheads are the bane of my existence here in the high desert, gimme rattlers & scorpions any day of the week, lol... :oops:
 
I've been dealing with fire ants for over 40 years.
They are a very common problem in Florida.
If you don't kill the queen, you have not killed the mound no matter how many of the little devils you kill. The queen is deep inside, boiling water, etc will not do the job.
Amdro works, but takes too long - up to a week.
Bengal Fire Ant Killer works much faster. That's all we use.

Fire ants are attracted to electricity for some reason. A constant battle for us is our well pumps - they get into the contact points of the pressure switch, get fried, and their bodies coat the points preventing the pump from kicking on.
Our septic tank sump pump is another issue. It plugs into an outlet mounted to a 4X4 stob right next to the tank. They are constantly building mounds right there.
 
rice paddy daddy said:
I've been dealing with fire ants for over 40 years.
They are a very common problem in Florida.
If you don't kill the queen, you have not killed the mound no matter how many of the little devils you kill. The queen is deep inside, boiling water, etc will not do the job.
Amdro works, but takes too long - up to a week.
Bengal Fire Ant Killer works much faster. That's all we use.

Fire ants are attracted to electricity for some reason. A constant battle for us is our well pumps - they get into the contact points of the pressure switch, get fried, and their bodies coat the points preventing the pump from kicking on.
Our septic tank sump pump is another issue. It plugs into an outlet mounted to a 4X4 stob right next to the tank. They are constantly building mounds right there.
Click to expand...
I use orthene powder!
 
Rice Paddy Daddy is right, if you don't kill the queen the blasted ants will always come back... they're a real pest here in the Southwest! Dunno about boiling water, I pour poison directly down the holes, it breaks up the party for awhile but the ants will be back in 2-3 weeks. :oops:
 
I got an idea, if you got a sharpened pipe and rammed it in deep and shot pressurized toxins down in there with an air tank, I'll bet queenie would get her a good dose!
 
Wingnut said:
Rice Paddy Daddy is right, if you don't kill the queen the blasted ants will always come back... they're a real pest here in the Southwest! Dunno about boiling water, I pour poison directly down the holes, it breaks up the party for awhile but the ants will be back in 2-3 weeks. :oops:
Click to expand...
Southeast,too.
 
These ants need a speaker for the dead.
 
rice paddy daddy said:
I've been dealing with fire ants for over 40 years.

Fire ants are attracted to electricity for some reason. A constant battle for us is our well pumps - they get into the contact points of the pressure switch, get fried, and their bodies coat the points preventing the pump from kicking on.
Our septic tank sump pump is another issue. It plugs into an outlet mounted to a 4X4 stob right next to the tank. They are constantly building mounds right there.
Click to expand...

You've noticed it too? I run a power cord from the shop to the corral for the fence charger. Fire ants swarm the power cord from the ground up to the charger, especially at the connection. They don't mess with the charger. But if I need to unplug it I have to fight the ants.

I've wondered about their attraction to a/c. They don't mess with electric fences either (dc). They only seem interested in alternating current.
 
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