Ants in my garden bed

Built a nice big box. Added leaves, compose, worms all season long. i've got a teepee to keep the chickens out and I see they are in there scraping up ants and ant eggs. I got Diatomaceous Earth but I'm afraid I'll kill my worms. It is food grade and the company says it's OK for invertbrays, which is worms, right? But then it says it will kill worms in dogs and cats. I've found alot of info but one says you can, the other says you can't. I can't have ants in my garden, and I can't just go and kill my worms. Anyone?

If they're fire ants ya gotta get rid of 'em. I've seen the local ordinary ants in the flowers of our squash, melons, and sunflowers - I'm thinking pollination. They LOVE sunflower blooms. Several years ago one ant bed developed a taste for Black Krim fruits. I could have led to that by throwing pulled up plants and green fruit on top of their bed. In a week or so it was gone except for the woody stems. That was the only problem we've had.

Frank

Given your location, my guess would be fire ants too. They love to get in my compost (it's in a compost bin raised off the ground). I have to put a line of fire ant poison around the entire compost bin and make sure I redo it if it rains. That keeps the pesky little beggars out. You might try surrounding your raised bed with fire ant poison. You could put it out away from it to keep it from getting into your raised bed.

naturelover..Okay, so you hit on a subject very close to me right now. I just started my composter that is on the ground last weekend and by Monday, fire ants have already taken up residence. Since they are already in there, I am trying to figure out the best way to get them and out and then keep them out. I bought the Green Light Fire Ant Killer with Conserve and I was planning on putting it around the composter and now my raised bed too, just to be safe, but since they are already in the composter, I am concerned that the bait that they bring into the composter and hopefully die from with make the compost unusable for veggies. How have you gotten them out of the composter to start with and what ant poison do you use around your composter to keep them out. I did pour molasses diluted in water and they did move, but only a foot away in the composter. I also went out there again yesterday and stirred them up really well, hoping that if I keep disrupting them maybe they will move out. Once I get them out, then I will take care of them.....TIA

Shuggins,
My compost box was 3/4 full when the ants got in it. The only thing I knew to do was put a thin layer of ant poison on top and let it sit for three day to give it time to work. After it had killed them, I carefully scraped the top layer off and threw it away. We just recently moved my compost box and did things a little differently than we had been doing. Hubby cut a piece of welded wire big enough to cover the bottom with a couple inches extra all the way around. We set some bricks down at the corners, put the welded wire on top, and then the compost box on top of that. This allows me to put fire ant poison on the ground under the whole setup. I use Surrender Brand fire ant poison but the important thing is the main ingredient:

O.S. Dimethyl acetylphosphoramidothioate (whew, I can type that but can't pronounce it!)

It states on the can that it's 75% acephate

It only takes a teaspoon in the middle of a mound to kill it. Hubby and I think it's the really awful smell that does the ants in :-} One of our local nurseries sells it but I've found it cheaper at our Co Op.

So your composter no longer makes contact with the ground? How do the worms get in? Hope that isn't a stupid question. I will look for that poison or at least one with that ingredient (although I don't know how anything with that many letters can actually be a word LOL)

Worms can't get in my compost but it doesn't matter--it works up just fine. All the worms in my garden sure do love that compost when I add it to the soil though :-} I figure it's a trade-out--no worms but no ants either! You're right about that "word" LOL. As long as it says it has acephate, it will work.

http://www.earthworkshealth.com/ This was the question. If you view this video you will not use that awful smelling POISON ever again. I got the 10 lb bag and it wiped out whatever it was that was eating my plants from the roots. I'm concerned it will kill my worms. I sprinkled a little on the ants, they are gone. I put this stuff in my coffee in the morning.

If anyone is interested I got the answer I wanted. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/961480/ It's good stuff, and I'm not a representative or related in any way. Just spreading the word.