Fire Ant Colony Destruction

I did something similar to get rid of yellow jackets. My wife is allergic so they had to go.

1. Wait until nightfall.
2. Put some liquid soap in a bucket of water.
3. Cover up any bare skin showing.
4. Put on a good set of running shoes.
5. Dump the soapy water into their hole.
6. RUN into the house!

The advantage of using soapy water is that it doesn't destroy vegitation like gasoline does. The soap reduces the water surface tension which causes the insects to drown, with less colateral damage.

https://www.medicinenet.com/how_do_you_kill_fire_ants_without_chemicals/article.htm

Molten aluminum produces interesting results.

https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=4431484fc6731ca5JmltdHM9MTcwOTA3ODQwMCZpZ3VpZD0wZWY0MGI5ZS1mMjE4LTZmM2UtMGUyMy0xOTQ1ZjNhMjZlZGMmaW5zaWQ9NTI4Mw&ptn=3&ver=2&hsh=3&fclid=0ef40b9e-f218-6f3e-0e23-1945f3a26edc&psq=aluminum+anthill+casting&u=a1aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cueW91dHViZS5jb20vd2F0Y2g_dj1JR0oyak1aLWdhSQ&ntb=1

Very nice. It might make a unique Christmas tree. And I bet it killed the ants!

WD40 is the best ant killer I've seen.....death is instantaneous...

A small thermonuclear device might work too...

I have heard that a tablespoon of gasoline down the center of the hole will do a nice job. Worker ants try to carry out the gasoline covered grains of sand & they die. Other workers carry out the dead worker ants, put them in a pile about 2" from the hole and they end up dying too. This goes on until there are no more worker ants. I have heard that it is kind of satisfying to see a single pile of dead ants the next day.

For wasps and hornets, either wasp spray or tape the end of the shop vac hose to a broom stick. Prop the broom stick up (or tape it to ladder legs) such that the nozzle is at the opening to the nest. The wasps find that the shop vac makes a flight navigation hazard that really sucks.

I have heard a lot about Murder Hornets [MH] having invaded the western US and killing US beehive hives. I also have learned that MH do not bother the Japanese beekeepers who raise normal honeybees. MH came from Japan.

Murder hornets are larger than normal honeybees, so the Japanese beekeepers started making hives that have smaller entranceways [made out of metal, because the MH could chew through wood].

Additionally, the honeybees can kill any MH that enter the hive by surrounding them closely which raises their body temperature. MH expire at a slightly lower body temperature than normal honeybees. So he bees aid in their own survival.

MH are known in Japan to attack people who bother them and have attacked and killed humans when they attack in force. Must be similar to African Killer bees in that regard.

A friend of mine was plagued by fire ants all over his yard,so he poured gasoline down every mound.His intent was to light each mound and burn them out.

What he did not realize is the all of the mounds are interconnected below the surface,and when he ignited the first one,his whole yard exploded.He was lucky he did not get hurt.He was standing beside a half full can of gasoline.

Lesson learned:RedNek Engineering 101,chapter 1, page 1.Subject:Unintended consequences.

Gasoline vapor is heavier than air,so it will penetrate the soil.EPA regs discourage using gasoline because of possible ground water contamination.

I have,in the past,poured a small amount of gasoline on a rag and placed it over a mound,then covered it with plastic and soil.This works pretty good without any soil contamination,but not as good as the vinegar/baking soda combination.

Many years ago we had large ants in the yard. My dad had tried some white powder that cost over a dollar per container. It got rid of most of them but they came back. I dug a funnel shape at the top of the ant bed then poured a gallon of gas down the hole (about 30 cents then). I lit it on fire. It burned for 4 hours then blew a hole about 2 feet deep and 5 feet in diameter. No more ants were seen there. I like your solution better though.

I'm glad I have never had to deal with fire ants.

Eventually,you will.They are expanding their range in all directions,and are cooperating as one massive colony,but with many queens that coordinate with each other.

Years ago,if you took a fire ant from one colony and put it in another colony,it would be killed as a threat.Now,however,they are all one big family.Remote colonies can unite without problems.Eventually,they will cover most of the United States,limited only by climate.As things warm up,they will advance.

I have driven down I40 and seen hundreds of miles of mounds,side by side,continuously beside the breakdown lane..And the scary part is they are all cooperating.The barrier seems to be the interstate itself,but if some are blown into the center median,they will exploit that also.

There is one natural enemy: The Phoric Fly(wasp.)It lays eggs in the head of fire ants,and destroys them from within.Fire ants will not leave the colony if they see one near by.

Video of the Phoric Fly at work:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrNa1WSsuFleKMD_i8PxQt.;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3BpdnM-?p=Phoric+wasp+enemy+of+fire+ants&type=ud-c-us--s-p-mpxvq5bq--exp-none--subid-fk6j226i&hsimp=yhs-076&hspart=infospace&ei=UTF-8&fr=yhs-infospace-076#id=5&vid=81edb848678b78b1ba337666acd35daf&action=view

There is still hope on the horizon.

Some lizards have adapted a"vaccine" of sorts after eating fire ants.This makes them immune from their venom.

Now the lizards have an almost unlimited food source.

(Must kinda like Tabasco sauce).

Nature is very adaptable.

Not being a greenie I use an insecticide called Fipronil for ants and termites, dosed at the rate of 5gm per L of water. The mix is poured down the holes and kills the inhabitants on contact. The good part is that when the rains come the poison is reactivated. Works wonderfully on the Australian meat ant which can invade homes and make life miserable.

Ants are not always destructive.In Costa Rico they simply let the army ants clean out their buildings and houses,nothing edible left behind,including other pests,roaches,termites, food crumbs, nothing.The people simply leave and come back after they have moved on.Natural pest control at it's best.

https://youtu.be/4-xLIfjrtFo

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-infospace-076&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs-076&hspart=infospace&p=soldier+ants+in+south+america+cleaning+a+building+video&type=ud-c-us--s-p-mpxvq5bq--exp-none--subid-fk6j226i#id=1&vid=f9a643e25b9f7297c1c07bdad9fc2b0e&action=click

Anyone hear of the 80/20 rule?

A study revealed that 20% of the workers do 80% of the work,across all sectors...even in ant colonies.Ants were tagged and filmed and 20% were doing most of the work,while the rest were making empty trips, to give the appearance of working.

When army ants are on the move,Soldier ants are spaced periodically above the path to defend from enemies, but I think also they are intimidating the goof offs to work as hard as the others.Any ant not carrying a load may be eliminated.

Of course,this is just my opinion,based on empirical evidence, and further study might reveal the value or not.I would like a couple of million dollars to do a government study to prove or disprove my observations.$$$!