Experts share tips on how to dispel fire ants
Last Modified: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 11:20 p.m.
FLORENCE - Alabamians spend about $6 million annually on pesticides they sprinkle, pour and scatter on fire ant mounds in an attempt to eradicate the tiny insects that are known for their painful bite.
Sources: Kathy Flanders, entomologist for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, and Randall Armstrong, Lauderdale County coordinator for the extension system
Kathy Flanders, an entomologist for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, said much of that money is wasted because the chemicals are used improperly or are ineffective for controlling the ants.
"People spend too much money trying to control fire ants," Flanders said Wednesday as she prepared for a workshop about controlling the pests. "They buy either the wrong products or use them at the wrong time of the year."
Randall Armstrong, Lauderdale County coordinator for the extension system, said homeowners are often influenced by the packaging of fire ant control products rather than the active ingredients of the pesticide.
"The prettiest package is not always the best product," Armstrong said. "The chemical companies are going all out trying to cash in the $6 billion spent in the United States each year on fire ant control, and they are coming up with some fancy packaging to get people to buy their products."
Flanders said the cost of the product is not an indication of its ability to control fire ants.
"A lot of times, the most expensive product is not the best choice," Flanders said. "The more economical product is often the best one to use."
Armstrong recommends homeowners and farmers consult with an extension agent or other trained professional when choosing chemicals for controlling fire ants.
Flanders recommends using baits that are scattered on the ground for general fire ant control. She said worker ants gather the bait and take it back into the mound where it is eaten by the queen. When the queen dies, the ant colony collapses.
A key to controlling fire ants is when the pesticide is applied. Flanders said many homeowners begin applying pesticides in late winter or early spring when the first fire ant mounds appear in their lawn.
While the pesticides can kill the ants in those early appearing mounds, it leaves the lawn vulnerable to flying fire ant queens that begin arriving in early May to start a new colony. When fire ant mounds are present in a lawn, the worker ants in those mounds will attack and kill any queens that land nearby. When no worker ants are present, multiple queens can begin new colonies in lawns that will soon become covered with fire ant mounds.
"Sometimes the best control is no control at all," Flanders said. "If they will wait until late May, early June to begin using chemicals, they can obtain better control of the ants."
For homeowners looking to control fire ants without using chemicals, Flanders said pouring 2 to 3 gallons of boiling water onto a mound often works.
In addition to causing problems when they build their mounds - which can be up to 3-feet tall and contain more than 400,000 insects - fire ants are problematic for farmers, Armstrong said. The ants can kill newborn calves and other farm animals by stinging them to death. The mounds can damage hay mowers and other farm equipment that strikes them.
Armstrong said fire ants reached problematic levels in the Shoals in the early 1980s.
Fire ants, a native of South America, arrived in the United States in the early 1900s on ships docking in the Port of Mobile. They have since spread throughout the South.
Tips for controlling fire ants are available at extension system offices throughout Alabama and on the Internet at aces.edu/dept/fireants/.
Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@TimesDaily.com.
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Comments
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July 24, 2008 8:37:31 am
RE: http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20.../NEWS/807240326/1011
This is one of the most useless articles I have ever read. I was hoping to glean some information on controlling the critters, and all it said was to check the chemicals in what you purchase , but didn't tell us what chemicals are effective, and to contact someone else.
Why the hell can't the TD just publish an article that will have some useful information ! Why not tell us what brands, or at least what chemicals are useful.
It did say you could pour boiling water on a mound and that sometimes works, but what they failed to say was that it takes a LOT of boiling water ( I know, I used to try this)
Sorry I wasted my time reading the article and then complaining on this forum, and sorry if you feel like I wasted your time reading my rant.
July 24, 2008 8:55:01 am
You are saying what a lot of people are thinking! I wondered myself why they only said don't be fooled by the "pretty packaging" but failed to tell us what chemicals to avoid or to use. And, I wondered about the boiling water..it didn't work for you?
July 24, 2008 8:59:24 am
Try borax and sugar but watch out for the kiddies and pets.
July 24, 2008 9:45:26 am
Try Amdro (you can get it at Lowe's). Broadcasting bait is better than just spot (contact) treating individual mounds because the ants think the bait is food and actually take it back to the mound and spread it to the other ants, where they ingest it and die. Spot treating only kills the ants that are actually exposed to the poison, leaving the ones that are not exposed to relocate. This is according to a close family member who used to work for a pest control company.
July 24, 2008 12:07:04 pm
Boiling water does work but you have to use a lot of it. I used to use it , but I've found that Ortho makes a poision for fire ants that works good and a $7 bag of it will last me a whole summer, and is a lot easier to use than the boiling water,
When I used the boiling water, I have a "pot" I made out of an old freon bottle, holds about 5 gallons. Then I used the burner from an outdoor fish fryer/ or turkey fryer. Take the whole thing out to around the mound, and heat up the 5 gal of water to boiling, and pour it on the mound and around. Works pretty good, but takes a LOT of water , like I said, which is fairly heavy, making it somewhat likely that you will spill some on yourself (I have) .
Just a lot of trouble, but it also kills all the grass around where it is poured and then there is a bald spot for the rest of the summer.
What I have found that seems to work the best is to get that Ortho stuff, and a can of Raid ant and roach spray. Using a small garden digger, scratch up as much of the hill as you can while spraying to keep the ants from attacking you. Then spray the hill real good, and put the Ortho stuff on it. Take a hose and wet (not soak) where you put the poison . Way less trouble than fooling with the boiling water, and not near so much chance of getting scalded.
This article just seemed to be completely useless in information. Kinda reminds me of once I burned the back of my leg real bad on a motorcycle muffler. My daughter-in-law gave me some salve with silver in it, to put on the place. However, the place on my leg had had the skin completely seared off, and I was unsure if I could use the salve on an open wound. Fortunantly, my insurance company had a nurse hotline that I could call 24/7, and I called them to find out. The nurse told me that I should consult my doctor ! Since it was about 5:30 on a Friday afternoon I ask her if she thought I would just run into him at WalMart.
That service is a waste of money for my company to be using, if all the advise they can give is to "consult my doctor".
If all a newspaper article can say is to "consult the Farm Extension office" then it is a waste of ink.
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