Natural Ant Removal?

[Jenifae]

We have Fire Ants all over out here and I got bite tonight. I got my leg up w/ice. It's Frickin' Burnin'!

I got bit last year, too. We have to find a way to rid of these horrible guys naturally somehow.

Does anyone know of any good natural remedies to get rid of the?

[luckitri]

"Mix 1/4 cup of sugar, 3/4 cup water and 1 tablespoon of borax in a small jar. Stir and let it sit until dissolved. Soak a piece of bread crust about 1" square in the liquid until it is saturated. Place the dripping bread crust in the path of where the ants are coming in. In a few minutes, the crust is completely covered by ants. You may need to place a couple more pieces of bread in the area to satisfy the amount of ants you have. The next day, the ants are gone and they don't come back!"

From Lamoille Regional Solid Waste Management District.

This worked great for me with regular ants. Then my dogs ate the bread and they did not get sick. Worth trying with the fire ants.

There used to be a non-toxic Chinese chalk that was great for deterring ants but some kid in California ate some and became ill and so it was declared illegal. Since then I have seen many people make claims that putting regular chalk around the entry points works well. Some people make claims for bay leaves, cinnamon, cayenne, mint etc. I know bay leaves are good for discouraging roaches but expect ants to just walk around them - who knows - maybe they all work.

Personally I would rather rent a chicken - or a flock! They are great for bug control and they give you fertilizer too! Been reading that they will eat fire ants.

[Jenifae]

Thank you so much for all the info. I sure wish I could do the chickens. I'd need to do fencing.

Do you think the sugar/borax could hurt my horses?

Man, my knee aches and burns. :(

[luckitri]

People used to feed sugar cubes to the horses. Borax, I doubt it but I'm no expert. I don't know what is in it that would aggravate ants but it used to be used as an eyewash. Have the ants bothered your horses at all - bit them?

I use the Borax in my laundry so have it around anyways.

[Jenifae]

The horses seem to be okay. They stop them off when they feel them and I think their hair protects them. But, I however have had them climb up my pants and bite my leg/knee. The pain was so incredibly bad last night, I couldn't believe it. My knee is still a lil' swollen and itchy today but, so much better.

[pixie_333]

you can drown them with dishwater soap *(edit) and water*. or if you don't want to kill them then you can add i think what is corn meal inside the mound... might have to google it... and it'll keep them in there and shovel it one mound at a time seperately and put in bucket and dump it somewhere. there's something about them not getting along with other mounds... i think if you add 2 mounds they kill eachother or if you put some ants onto another mound... but 3 mounds or more they will work together and be friends. something like that.

[Jenifae]

Yea, it's crazy how they multiply. Last year there was 3 mounds. This year there is 7 or 8. They are aggressive and narley! I'm not too concerned with them dying off right now. There is literally billions of them.

Thank you for all the help - gals!

[lydias]

you can put cloves and fresh lemon around which will deter them in a while

but what they hate is thieves oil spray

[Thick]

Corn Meal is good--they eat it and then it swells up in their bellies, and they feed it to the queen--this is what my mom has said anyway.

Hot water kills them--try it. I boil a kettle and kill them by the billions. The water doesn't even need to be that hot--they are very sensitive to it--even hot tap water works.

I've heard of people spraying borax and water along their baseboards or having a think line of borax around the perimeter of your house--but I haven't done this yet.

another thing I haven't tried (and is this natural haha)--I had an old neighbor who told me to pour some oil or gasoline down thier beds.

[Jenifae]

I've heard of the gasoline thing before but, that's illegal now especially in Calif. ;) Is borax harmful to dogs and horses? I found a poisin too. BUt, not to thrilled about that. I also read that DE could maybe kill them off. I obviously haven't tried anything yet.