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Amity
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23 Apr 2015, 4:33 pm

I'm doing some light landscaping in the garden, in one of the raised beds that needs to be removed I unearthed a red ants nest. The suggested method for removing them involves boiling water. Are there any successful alternatives?



auntblabby
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24 Apr 2015, 12:32 am

wikihow says:
1] Locate the mound. Fence off the area.
2] Put on protective clothing. Wear long sleeves, gloves, boots, etc.
3] Pour vinegar and baking soda into the fire ant nest hole. Do this repeatedly for a matter of days, and bait and/or spray other ants that you see elsewhere.
4] Pour a sufficient amount of commercial poison into the hole. This is to kill the queen. Then spray/bait any remaining ants that you see elsewhere.
5] Flood the hole with not only water, but vinegar and other substances. Spray, bait and drown other ants by leading them into a bucket on its side with bait in it, then quickly flip the bucket up and pour water. The water can also be mixed with hot sauce.



AntDog
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24 Apr 2015, 12:57 am

Fire ants? That's gotta hurt!
Maybe you could use molten aluminum and create one of those crazy sculptures (that's also dangerous though). :roll:



Amity
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24 Apr 2015, 2:25 am

Thanks, lol, aunt/ant :)

Yeah its fire ants and they have to go, Im making a seating area beside the raised bed after I have dug it out and re sized it.

Their colony is not in soil, its in the stone drainage area under the layer of Terram.



auntblabby
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24 Apr 2015, 2:33 am

the big black ants are buggin' me also [ a pun :mrgreen: ] and I've put out poison traps all over the place and hope for the best, as I live in a leaky ol' tin can out in the woods and cannot hope to seal every little hole.



Amity
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24 Apr 2015, 3:10 am

Oh I would not like that at all, I suppose thats a downside to living close to/in a forest.



auntblabby
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24 Apr 2015, 3:18 am

it was the only thing I could afford on short notice, as my parents both passed away close together and I was their caretaker living with them, and suddenly I had to move so the house could be sold, and I could not afford their house.



Amity
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24 Apr 2015, 3:26 am

Ah, okay. That was a tough situation to be in. Do you have DIY skills or the resources needed to fix it up?



auntblabby
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24 Apr 2015, 3:28 am

^^^
it is nearly 40 years old, and would require a tear-down to the studs and a rebuild. it is at the end of its normal designed lifespan and is living on borrowed time. that is why I was able to get it for cheap enough even though I had to buy at the peak of the real estate boom in 2008. rotten timing, admittedly.



Amity
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24 Apr 2015, 3:44 am

That was bad timing. Its not a good situation to be in Blabby, I am lucky to have my homeplace to live in for now. I live beside a forest also, but I would like some day to own my own space again.



auntblabby
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24 Apr 2015, 3:58 am

Amity wrote:
That was bad timing. Its not a good situation to be in Blabby, I am lucky to have my homeplace to live in for now. I live beside a forest also, but I would like some day to own my own space again.

I wish you the best of luck in that regard :)



Amity
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24 Apr 2015, 4:15 am

And for you, I hope there will be a positive change in your situation. :)



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24 Apr 2015, 8:51 am

auntblabby wrote:
the big black ants are buggin' me also [ a pun :mrgreen: ] and I've put out poison traps all over the place and hope for the best, as I live in a leaky ol' tin can out in the woods and cannot hope to seal every little hole.


Do you OWN the land, that your trailer's on, Aunty?






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24 Apr 2015, 9:23 am

They hate copper, I put an bit of old coppertube in the nest and they'll move out to another place



Amity
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24 Apr 2015, 12:00 pm

traven wrote:
They hate copper, I put an bit of old coppertube in the nest and they'll move out to another place

That could be worth trying, I have lengths of copper piping.
They are going to have to go, I have bites on my arm today just from a few of the little buggers yesterday.



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25 Apr 2015, 12:33 am

Amity wrote:
traven wrote:
They hate copper, I put an bit of old coppertube in the nest and they'll move out to another place

That could be worth trying, I have lengths of copper piping.
They are going to have to go, I have bites on my arm today just from a few of the little buggers yesterday.
Put a steroid itch cream on them like Cortisone. I'm from south Louisiana & redants are very prolific there.


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