Ants

[Harbo]

We have had quite a number of swarms of ants for the past month, but yesterday was complete black out on my back lawn - it was absolutely covered in them.

I emptied a can of Raid on them and managed to cut the grass today, but is there any long term solution?


Rod

 

[Paul Chapman]

is there any long term solution?

Don't think so In my experience, however much you try to kill them off, they seem to come back in the same place each year.

Maybe they never learn...... :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[mike-reid]

boiling hot water down into the nest, zippo fuel or get a wallpaper steamer and put the pipe into the hole n cook 'em!

i apologise to anyone this may cause offence to in advance but it works. oh, those that escape will go bonkers tho n be EVERYWHERE!

 

[RogerS]

I have heard about a biological approach. Take dry semolina and sprinkle it near the nest. The ants think 'Yummy..nice food' and take it to the queen. Semolina expands in contact with water ie the queens stomach. End of. Then the ants hatch out a new queen and feed it with the new yummy food....

I have no idea if it works or not but sounds feasible.

 

[matt]

Are ants a pest? Surely they must be food for something good or eat something bad?

I have some nests in my lawn and the compost bin but never noticed that they do any real damage etc?

 

[philandrew22]

based on my own extensive experience in lawns, you can locate a mound by following trails of ants if you intentionally drop food on the lawn. drop food in different areas around your house, to see if there are more mounds or passages. now if you have located the mounds, dig up around it, put in water or irrigation pipes on it to put in water on the pipes and on the soil.

then blast the hell out of that mound. use flammable gasoline, in that case if they try to escape, the water will trap them. they will then try to re locate the queen, by then, you can exterminate it in anyway you want.

brutal! lol.

 

[studders]

use flammable gasoline,.

brutal! lol.

Is there another sort that's not?

 

[RogerS]

Are ants a pest? Surely they must be food for something good or eat something bad?

I have some nests in my lawn and the compost bin but never noticed that they do any real damage etc?

Not directly although there are unconfirmed stories that they inject formic acid into plants. What they can do is disturb the soil structure sufficiently to prevent the roots of plants from getting adequate water and nutrients.

 

[devonwoody]

Polycell wallpaper paste can persuade them to go next door.