I was wondering if anyone else has had a problem with ants this summer? I have never had a problem before really but this year I have all kinds of ants scurrying all over my yard, big ants , little ants, medium sized ants. What's up with this?
Ants
It's all the rain we've had this summer....
Yes, we have had a lot more and different species too. I did spread some cedar mulch around the borders of flower beds and the fence and seemed to run a few off.
More ants and scorpins too.
Thank goodness I have never seen a scorpion here. Saw a lot of them when I lived out in West Texas though. I can remember my Daddy shedding his pants in the front yard one time when one got up the leg of those pants.
Way too much information! LOL
Ha That reminds me of when my mother ran into the house naked from the garage after a mouse ran up her pants while she was cleaning. Had not thought of that event in years...thanks to the scorpion image.
C
When I mentioed scorpins I never thought I would get so many responses back about naked people! I think that's a very good reason not to clean.
Ditto! But aren't those images special! :O)
we have lots of the little black ones I call fruit ants any scrap of fruit left out will attract them in hordes so far no FIRE ANTS
Someone called the tiny black ones Argentina ants once, also said they don't bite; not sure if that is true.
I had a waitress that got stung on her leg three times by a scorpion that fell out of the a/c vent and landed in the cuff of her pant leg before getting it out. She didn't strip in the dining room but she sure danced a jig!
If something got in my clothes I think I would strip first and ask questions later!!
Someone had a thread once on DG about being outside in the garden and having to shed clothes...it was so funny. Old brain can't remember now who it was. But when it happened she looked over toward her neighbors house and there were people starring back. The house was up for sale and a realtor was showing it! Bet they didn't put an offer on that one!
We call the little black ants sugar ants,and we have them in droves here.They can even get in your house, but I haven't had that happen in years. Fire Ants will come to the top of the soil when the soil beneath gets too wet, and that's why we're all seeing more of them, but TG for the rain!!..LOL
To the off topic, I'll tell off on myself. I was the beelady in TN where we had 4 hives. Sweet..NOT... hubby decided we needed to go get a swarm that some how settled in a neighbors old hive, and it's up to the bee lady and the hired hand to do the manual labor, while the hubby "supervises" . We waited till dark,like you're supposed to do, so all the bees will be in the hive.Lyle, the hubby is telling us what to do, but he said we had all the hive... and we didn't.... we didn't get the bottom board, and bees were everywhere. I had my hat and veil on............BUT I was bent over from the weight of the hive trying to carry it to the truck, and LOTS got under the veil... imagine the buzzing, and imagine my wanting to panic...LOL We got the hive to the truck.... now you can let your imagine stop there, lol cause I didn't care who saw what I had to do
Becky...since I know you this is double funny!! I am sure it wasn't at the time.
Back to ants....guess that is why they are worse around my pond. It doesn't get hit by the sprinkler and around the edges they can get in the rocks and under the liner. Grrrr!
Sheila... I knew I might be setting myself up, since I knew some of my friends might read it, but it was so funny for the ones watching me at the time, and similar to the other stories, I thought oh heck..LOL I am always calm around bees, but with so many buzzing in my ear, I panicked, and i sure paid for it in bee stings around my head and neck. Course now it's even funny to me too!!
I am wondering if it might be a different kind of ants wanting the extra moisture around your pond? I have some that get into my pots, and I assume they are wanting the moisture, but I don't stick around to let them bite me to see if they are fire ants or not
Huge black ants, Carpenter ants, turn a tree to sawdust, ummm, your house, too. Fire ants, hives to 80' below ground, they are visible because of the rains, can climb into the walls of your house and be almost impossible to remove, over and over, and over. Heard one lady say she wasn't sure if she were blessed or cursed, ants ran off the cockroaches, but are just one more enemy to kill, and then the cockroaches return when the ants leave. Sigh. Never seen little mounds of tiny antholes chasing the roots of your trees? and then the tree dies because it was literally eaten up, and I AM NOT speaking of termites, guys.
We left the ceiling out of one bedroom we were remodeling for several months when we discovered our leak problem was due to fire ants. We sprayed weekly and would sweep up piles of them on the floor. Finally they quit hatching out. The roof was repaired and the ceiling replaced. We decided to get steel siding after that, some of the exterior had been wood. No they weren't termites we verified that with the exterminator.
Stepped in an ant hill in my bed this morning as I was trying to corral the sweet potato vine. Danced all over the yard. Glad the neighbors on that side work and didn't get to see. Have not used and exterminator for 6-7 years as was determined to be organic. Well, tomorrow he coming with the chemicals for the 5th time in 6 weeks. The black ants are in the master shower, tub, and lavatory. He has done everything. I'm afraid we maybe one of those that they have settled in the wall. This is not even on an outside wall. The last winter weakened the St. Augustine in a particular area and bermuda grass moved in......bringing chiggers for the first time since I was a child. I have had bites the size of quarters. Another reason for calling for help. I have already used everything I could find that is touted as organic. DOES NOT WORK!
I think the critters from the insect world are trying to take over this summer!!!!!
You do know to use fingernail paint as a chigger getter? one swipe where they bury in and they die. I think they have done studies on the organic vs poisons thing and found that most of Texas believes in the use of both together at all times, just always in moderation and cooperation in action?
Isn't funny to battle the fire ants, or bees that take over whole rooms for their hives. You visit the museums-like Sam Houston in Huntsville, you also see huge paper hives from the ground wasps that thrive here. Unless, of course, you happened to meet the hive while prowling the woods...
My Mom says putting Off on her chigger bites takes the fire out.
I got some stuff at the pharmacy that is OTC called Chiggerex it seems to really work. I don't think chiggers like me but they love my kids. This stuff takes the itch away.
Did major research on "chiggers". They do not burrow under the skin. Have a very long needle like device that is put into the skin. The chemical makes the cells liquify so they may.....ugh...eat.
Much like a tick they then fall off. Takes sometimes weeks for the spot to heal. Nail polish has no effect as the damage is done before you know they have been there. Apparently, I have developed a severe allergy to insect bites. I look like I have had the "big red measles". (Only those of a certain age will remember that).
Well, i was having ants coming into my kitchen through the window frame which is level with the counter and very close to my sink. They kept coming and getting on everything and I had to keep wiping and washing and removing them because I hate to use insecticides especially in my kitchen.
Then I thought, what would happen if I put on the counter a dab of something they like?
So I put a dab of honey on the counter and they all came and stayed in one place, they just loved it.
I waited and watched and when I had a large group, maybe two or three hundred, I took a wet paper towel dropped it on them and scooped them up very quickly. The towel with the ants went in a bowl with water which I then put in the microwave and cooked them for three minutes.
I did this three or four times a day, then it occurred to me that I could put the bait on the shelf outside the kitchen window and that way they would stay outside.
It worked great now they don't come in because they have the food outside.
I have been scooping and cooking ants for over a week now, four times a day, I figure that if I keep this up for a month I will eliminate all the ants in my yard with no poisons.
What do you think?
Josephine.
chuckl, red bugs, chiggers, can bury under, so do sand fleas we get really bad here, chiggerex is good stuff, its just younger than fingernail polish, and they move around toward the tender skin. The fingernail polish kills. Chiggerex relieves itch, but the bug can be dining in a new location. As far as the ants go, in the dairy business the flies were so bad they made a sugar bait we would sprinkle outside the barn on window ledges. Powerful stuff. Haven't used any recently, wonder if it would do any good on ants? they might possibly carry it back to the queen....if they didnt die first, got to kill the queen ant, then prevent somebody else from moving in to her house.
Funny Josephine, but whatever works! I use the Flytraps and replace them about every two to three weeks. They stink so I usually put them behind the shop. It is in the sun part of the day so gets stinky. If I don't have it out and one of the dogs deposits a fresh "pile" in two minutes it is covered. So I try to hose or pick up the poop but keep the traps out all spring and summer. Each trap will have about three cups of flies when it is full! That is a lot.
But on a negative the same company puts out a wasp trap that has caught nothing but gnats in a week. I see them flying around, and there is a nest building on the eave of my house, and no takers on the trap. I think it is a dud.
I tried the ant traps that they crawl in and can't get out, one year. They just made a new trail to go around the trap.
Well, I intend to reduce their number greatly, I figure that if they don't get back to the nest to feed the queen she might just starve, I can hope, right?
LOL! That's right!
Some of the research I have done says there can be more than a dozen queens in one nest. Not what we taught in the old days.
Well I hope they all starve!
At last I am lowering their numbers, we shall see how long I can keep this up.