Invasion of the Ants!

I have had a compost going for two years now with no problems. This year, I went to turn it for the first time, and was welcomed by some uninvited guests. A colony of ants decided to take residence in my compost! Is there a safe way to remove them without using any chemicals (I would really hate to destroy such valuable fertilizer)?

sprinkle grits around....they eat it, but cannot pass gas, so they expand till they blow....:(
I did a google search on how to get rid of them, and there were some other ideas that I cant remember, but yeast comest to mind mixed with sugar maybe...

Can you make your compost pile heat up? That would eliminate the ant problem, as well as getting the compost faster. They would re-locate elsewhere that you could get to, or maybe to someone else's property.

I do mostly cold composting, but have plenty of centipedes and other predators around who keep the other insect populations under control.

Thanks for the advice. I'll have to try the grits theory because I really don't have an un-natural way to heat up my compost. I actually compost inside a closed, but ventilated container. Maybe if I relocate the container into the sun more?

I copied and pasted this for you from a site, there are a couple of suggestions that sound good.


If you want to repel ants, you've got a number of alternatives including vinegar, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, cream of tartar, salt and perfume. Place any of these along their path and keep trying until you find one that works.

You can kill the ants by dehydrating them with instant grits, which you'll find in the cereal section of most grocery stores.

We live in the country and occasionally have an ant problem as well, the solution I use is as follows:
Take 8oz. of clear Karo style syrup and 1/2 cup of water and boil them together on the stove for about a minute.
Remove them from heat and add 2 TBS of Boric Acid Powder, stir it together.
Let this cool and then put it in shallow containers, like a milk jug lid, in a place where pets or small children will not get to it. You can also store it (well labeled) for later in an air-tight container.
In the first day or so, the ants will swarm over this and you have to resist the urge to kill them then, because they are taking all this back to their nest - after about 3 days I hardly ever see an ant. I am not sure about the smell, but I think it is minimal, you can give it a try.
Hope this helps, Laura, Irvine, KY


I use a mixture of small equal amounts of borax and powdered sugar. The sugar draws the ants. They eat this mixture then take it back to their nests and die. Supposedly ants are carnivores and when they die the alive ones eat the dead ones and then they die. I have used this mixture for years. Hope it helps your reader, and by the way Keep up the good work with the newsletter, and especially enjoy your beautiful daughters. They grow up so fast. My baby just turned 19 years young and it seems like just yesterday!!
Here's what we did when we had the same problem: Take your used coffee grounds and spread them across doorways, entrances, etc. around the outside of your house, and anywhere inside that is a problem area. Ants dislike the coffee very much and won't cross the line! It worked for us - and it smells good.




This message was edited Monday, Apr 28th 6:15 PM

When I have an ant problem in potted plants I just water everyday for about a week and they get so tired of moving their eggs in and out of the soil they move on to better grounds. This might work OK in your compost pile.

Dunno how true this is, but the other day a friend told me that Germany is passing a law forbidding the killing of ants! LOL????!!!! Anyone else heard about this?

The only grits we could find was the kind you have to cook for 5 minutes--will this kind work as well as instant?

I've been using commercial baits with borax and yes, they gobble it up and it has no effect that I can see. Ditto regular baits. HELP!!!!

I have a small pond. Around the pond are trees,and on my chain link fence are trellises where I have feeders for hummingbirds, oreoies, woodpeckers,cactus wrens and quail. Now I have a "million" tiny tiny red ants that I just cannot get rid of. I don't want to use anything that will harm my birds. Do I dare use grits? I also have morning dove that feed on the ground. I am at a loss because these tiny ants climb onto the trellises and get into the feeders, especially the hummingbird and orieo feeders because of the nectar? Help!Somebody also suggested using ajax powder.

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions! I took the grits route, and voila, no more ants in my compost! I also take my coffee grounds and add them to my compst anymore. My dad used to mix dried coffee grounds in his planting mix, and he always had beautiful, large tomato plants. I guess they add acid to the soil. I used some of my prepared compost (with the grits and grounds) in my veggie garden this year, and all my neighbors are envious over the size of my plants! They all have been asking me what I did that was so special. If I continue to use my current compost, I'll have to buy bigger tomato cages for next year. Once again, thanks to everyone for your suggestions!

Did a little search on the German law about ants and found a transcript from "The View" that mentioned it, and then I found:
GERMANS BANNED FROM KILLING ANTS
(Ananova) - Germany has introduced new laws making it illegal to kill ants and appointed 85 ant protection officers to protect the insects. Homeowners and gardeners who attempt to destroy an anthill or nest will face hefty fines if caught. They must now apply for a permit from their local forestry office to have the ants carefully moved to local woods. "People with an ant hill in their garden must not resort to the use of poison," said ant protection officer Dieter Kraemer. "This is a violation of federal nature protection laws and punishable with fines." He added that ants were highly valued by German foresters for eating insects that attack trees. A high ant population can prevent costly and environmentally unfriendly woodland spraying aimed at pests such as the Nun moth.
This was posted with more "wierd news" at http://www.dribbleglass.com/news/news21.htm

I should send them some of mine, I've got plenty to go around. =/

Cheri'

I oughtta send them some of mine, too! wanna apply for permits to ship 'em to Wintermoor? Bet he would appreciate a box of ants ;D

Yes, him being so sweet and all....

Ants would not bother me if they would just

1. not bite

2. stay out of my house!

They are good little tillers.

Another way to keep them from your bird feeders is to spread vicks vaporub or tanglefoot arund the place where they access the feeders.

I still have fire ant bites on my arms from more than one month ago! aaarrrggghhhhhhhh

I had trouble with ants getting in the hummingbird feeder which hangs from a shephards crook pole. I put a bit of petroleum jelly about half way up the pole and no more ants in the feeder. They can't get past the petroleum jelly.