We have several ant beds in our front and back yard. I'm pretty sure they are fire ants. My husband got bit several times on his foot and is miserable! Does anyone know any way to get rid of them that really works and will last, and that is child friendly? We don't want too many chemicals around with a toddler.
Hi C.-
I went to Lowe's or can go to Home Depot. There is stuff you can use a broadcaster to spead not expensive $15.00. It will definately help.
We had the same problem in our backyard. After all of that rain they have been popping up everywhere. I also didn't want to use chemicals that were going to be toxic to our 3 year little boy. We use products from Melaleuca in our home to clean with because they don't have chemicals in them. I have a book that has other uses for them and killing ants is one of them. So I tried it last night and this morning they are gone. I was so amazed that it worked. If you have any questions about it I'll be glad to help you.
Hi C., The reason the grits works is because ants will eat the grits, drink water, and when the water combines with the grits the grits expand, which kills the ants! No chemicals, no dead lawn. Cous cous (sp?)works too. Best of luck!
K.
Hi C.,
I have gotten rid of several fire ant beds over the years using a combination of citrus oil, water and agricultural molasses. You can find the citrus oil and agricultural molasses at a feed/farm store or even Lowes, Calloways or Home Depot might have them now as organic gardening and pest management are becoming more mainstream.
This mixture or drench is very child friendly, but keep the bottles of oil and molasses away from children. The recipe and other information can be found at the link below.
It is possible that some of the ants will survive the first drench and will move the mound. Keep a watch out for new activity somewhere else in the yard and repeat the drench program until they have moved on.
http://www.nopesticides.org/alternatives-insects/fire-ant...
Good for you for thinking "green"!
N.
C.,
I am originally from the Houston area and fireants were always a huge problem for us. We used hot water mixed with beer and joy (liquid dish soap). Combine everything in one bottle. Whatever you do DON'T shake it! Just stir in with the end of a spoon. Gently poor it over the top of the bed and stand back. Your grass will not burn and it won't affect the children.
Dene'
I would look into a pest control service. They come spray every 2 months and claim that the spray isn't harmful to children or pets. We used Value Pest Control. They spray inside and out. Their number is ###-###-####. Tell them Tim Gray referred you. We had little ants in our house and a mound outside. The ants died in 24 hours inside.
Try corn meal. I used that on my ant problem and they have yet to come back and it's been 6 weeks. Hope this helps you.
A.
I know a company that has very kid friendly products and you can use them on ants also!!!! I can get you set up and see if it helps with your problem and you will be surprised how many other products can help you and your family!!!! Send me a message and I can give you all of the info!!!
~C.
Hi C.,
Try pouring boiling water on the ant beds or feed them grits. That worked for us when our children were little.
Cornmeal!! It has the same effect that cream of wheat has.
Try Diotematious Earth (sp?) It's totally chemical free and works great, but not wet. It has to be dry. It works by destroying the exo-skeleton of the ant. Also, you can get a lot of good organic tips on Howard Garrett's website:
Wait until this next weekend when it is supposed to be drier and surround the beds with malt-o-meal or cream of wheat cereal straight out of the box. They will feed this to their colony and it swells and kills them. You just want to make sure the ground is really dry around the area so that the cereal is as dry as possible when they ingest it. I will say that this may not be as deadly or fast as fire ant killer, but I have had it work and it won't harm your little one.
Jodi
Sprinkle Malt-O-Meal (cereal) on and around the beds. It works.
Melaleuca contains orange oil. Which most bugs hate; even spiders. GooGone does too. I use these if I'm out of orange oil.
I spray 1 part orange oil to 3 parts water mixture on ant mounds when I find them in the yard and the ants usually move out by the next day. You can buy a large bottle of orange oil at HomeDepot or Lowes in their organic gardening; or cleaning supplies area for about $15. One bottle will last you quite a while (probably longer than Melaleuca and GooGone).
I also lightly spray the baseboards in my home with the same mixture to deter spiders and other creepy crawlies. An application lasts about 3 months.
RPocai
My husband uses Over and Out in our yard for ants and it works very well. You can get it like at Home Depot or Lowes.
I don't know about the beds, but Absorbine Jr. works really well on the bites. I learned that from my 96 year old grampa.
