Okay, you asked, but Swiffer is not dangerous to dogs or anyone else! Here's the link. http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/swiffer.asp
My mom is a well-educated lady, nearly 80 but still very sharp. She did not email or speak to me for a week after I pointed her in the direction of Snopes on this one. "I'd rather be safe than sorry!" She received the warning from an acquaintance and passed it on to everyone she knew.
Rid Your Garden/House of FIREANTS or Sugar Ants!!!!
Hehehehe...gotta love 'Snopes'. I look at it every day for the daily feed. My email is always flooded with stuff and this is a great place to find out da truth.
BTW - be careful of those meat 'diapers' they put under your meat in the packages from the grocery store. This is really true. My old dog (since gone to the pearly gates) ate one out of the garbage can and it blocked her intestinal system. She finally passed it but not without becoming gravely ill for days.
I was told that Cheap Medicated foot powder poured on a fire ant bed would kill the pile.
You know the cheap containers that you can get at the $ stores.
I have not tried it yet but I sure need to ...my yard is getting really crazy with ant piles.
I've read if you put talc powder on you when you go outside the ants can't get a good bite on you. I've tried it, the problem is it sweats off. I'll try it on the piles.
Well,...an update on my experiment....my "treated" mound has apparently divided and moved over about 2 feet...so I'm not sure how well aspartame really works...I think it did have an adverse effect on at least some portion of the colony...judging how they were acting a few days after. I'm disappointed that I now have 2 smaller mounds near where the original mound was.
Wow,....just scrolled back thru this thread and read the spoof info on snopes....guess that explains why. Oh Well! Was hoping this would work!
try the alfalfa tea method......it works for me
Well rats, I too have "not successful" results with the aspartane. My large mound seemed to spread out to three smaller mounds nearby. I will try the alfalfa tea method..............can you fill me in on the specifics, jackieshar?
Belinda
Yes, please! What is the alfalfa tea method.
Yes,...please tell us!
I can't believe the responce to this! Also couldn't possibly read them all but if it hasn't already been said...vinegar. Plain white vinergar sends the little buggers on their way and environmentally friendly. It will also kill weeds.
alfalfa pellets can be found at any feed store, usually to feed rabbits
mix 1 part pellets to 3 parts water.......let set 24 hours....I mix in 5 gal buckets.....makes a wonderful organic tea for fertilizing existing plants, promotes blooms and works when aplied directly to the mound to rid fire ants......
I have a question about the dry molasses. We spread it last year, as a fertilizer, not ant repellent, and we liked the results. But, we didn't water it in, and the next day every fly within 200 miles was in our yard. Is it still effective against fire ants if you water it in lightly?
According to what I've heard from various organic gurus, molasses works because it stimulates the biological activity in the soil. Fire ants don't like biologically active soil. When you use poisons that kill organisms in the soil or if you don't feed the organisms that should be in the soil, you make the area fire ant friendly. We stopped using poisons on our fire ants about 6 years ago, and the problem almost disappeared. We still have a mound once in awhile now and we use Gardenville's Anti-Fuego on it. It's gone the next day. Anti-Fuego is molasses, vinegar, compost tea and orange oil. It's not cheap, but it's works. Alfalfa works for the same reason. I started Rose Glow fertilizer on the roses and now I never have fire ants near the roses.
pbtx....the point of dried mollasses is to feed the soil......watering it in is fine.......I have never had the fly problem
silver...is the anti -fuego damaging to plants?
Jackie, the anti-fuego doesn't hurt the plants at all. It's great fertilizer because of the compost tea and molasses. I don't know if it's just coincedence (sp) or not but we have three cats that spend a lot of time inside and outside and we rarely find a flee in the house. We didn't use beneficial nematodes last spring, but we did the year before. So either the flees don't like our yard or the organic gurus are right and the nematodes ate the flee larvae. Our cats do scratch, but we don't find flees in the house like we used to before we went organic. I don't use Advantage any more either like I used to. My cats really didn't like it. And I also read that it's hard on their kidneys or liver or something.