Somewhere on Daves,(I think), I read about a fire ant trap using light to kill them . It showed a pint jar full of ants . They weren't trying to sell the traps , only telling about it and showing the picture . Any clues out there? digger
Fire ant trap, help me find it
How about this one. http://www.antcharmer.com/
I don't know how to make a link.
EDIT: I did. I did make a link.
This message was edited Apr 12, 2009 9:06 AM
I read somewhere if you spread uncooked grits around a fire ant hill the ants will carry it in as food for the group. After eating a grit the grit absorbs moisture and swells in size killing the ant. I've never tried it (no fire ants locally) but it sounds like a cheap solution if it works. If it doesn't work you can always eat the rest of the grits.
I love grits and eggs. the ant charmer is the closest thing so far .It is on both tex.rg and wildcats post and I thank you . Instead of soapy water , the one I saw used a halogen light. the heat killed them . I will definitely mess around with stuff and try out both ideas .See if I can come up with something. The grits was another thing I'd heard about . When those suckers come out this year , there's going to be war . thanks again ,andgk , be glad they haven't reached you yet .digger
This one was invented by a man living right here in Goldthwaite, TX. I don't have one yet, but I've heard it works very well. http://www.antagonizer.com/
Patrob, I'm so glad you saw my post , thats the one I heard about .I remember the name now .The ants have been showing up on my place for three yrs. now and I've fought them back but now that they have shone up in N . Georgia , and I see mounds all over, I know it's time to get serious . I don't want to use poison if I can help it.I'm going to order one, and thy the other,(soap trap and grits also ).
maybe I can keep them at bay , I know I'll never get rid of them , they'll just keep moving in . Thank you all for helping me with this problem digger
The grits thing has been around at least 20 years and I have yet to see it work. That one is as bad as forbidding throwing rice at weddings because the birds will eat it, drink water and swell up and die. Just doesn't happen. Boiling water, vinegar and other home remedies may appear to work but the mounds just become abandoned and and reappear a few feet away. The best things are bait from the feed store or a good nursery and sometimes they don't work. Since I am dreadfully allergic to any kind of "bug" bite I stay away from the ants as much as I can. Sorry if using chemicals bothers you. To me using chemicals is better than suffering in/out of the hospital from the bites.
Ann
Yeh, I know what you mean Plantlady, about the bites and chemicals . I've always used chemicals , and spent a lot of money on them . But because I've gotten such limited results, I was hoping to get rid of a few hills without just moving them around . It isn't chemicals I don't like , it's the limited results. Grits keep them fairly close to the mound for a few days . Don't have to forage so far except for meat. I drop crickets and grasshoppers , sometimes a small meat scrap close to the mounds to keep them closer . Then, I zap them with various fire ant killers that do a better job of getting more of them. One mound is only an extension of the whole community. Could be eight or ten mounds for that one queen .A wide broadcast is fairly effective ,but I can find nothing 100%.Maybe the traps will do a decent job with out me spending a bunch again on chemicals.btw, my lower legs have ugly brown scars from bites ,thank goodness I don't have an allergic reaction to them. digger
I tried the grits...they didn't work. Perhaps we have too dang many fire ants in the back pasture?
~ Cat
Cat, I lived down your way in the 60's. My apt. was still there when I visited 10 yrs ago . digger
Digger...wow...that's a long time for an apartment building to remain standing :o)
This area has grown by leaps and bounds the past few years. So many new businesses and subdivisions.
~ Cat
Yeh I know , Used to be grapefruit trees all the way up N.10 th street . now just shop after shop.I lived for awhile at 1010 n.10th , then moved further up to a garage apt across from that hugh white, 2 story house on left side that belonged to a border patrolman . My landlord was a real estate man and offered to sponser me for my license , but I had to have a steady check , had a 10 yr old boy to support and his dad only made the min. support.
My little dog , the love of my life came from a mobile home on the river south of Mission . I had her 14 1/2 years.
My son went to school in McAllen and Edinburg both. digger
Grits don't kill fire ants. That's an "old wive's tale" and a waste of good grits!
You need to get the queen - that way the whole colony dies out. Amdro is a bait that does this, and a new one is Green Light Fire Ant Control with Conserve (Spinosad is the organic ingredient and can be used with veggie crops). Using anything that just kills the worker ants is useless.
North 10th is pretty much busy from 107 to Mexico :o) New malls in the north part of town which I like since they are closer to where I live :o)
Yeah, a waste of grits indeed! I've read and heard about Green Light with Conserve but haven't tried it yet. We have a patch of fire ant mounds that cover a good twelve foot radius ( above ground) No telling what lies beneath! We've had some 'sink holes' occur when it rains (which is a rare occurance) - you know they are cause by the ant tunnels!
~ Cat
Ouch!
I guess I'll try the Green light , I've used Amdro for a coupla years and it knocks them down but another hill becomes active within few days .There is one place that I wipe out a hill and it reappears again the next year .MY yard is pretty bare for the most part , and I can find the secondary hills pretty easy . I treat them all ,and find dead ants at each one, but like I said,another big one appears .It's deep woods all around me with shade and so far haven't found any in the shade. I can't give up,just at the point now of trying anything .When I'm in Tx. I have trouble with cut ants also, and the bait only makes them fatter .lol digger