I need some ants to temporarily move out of their home.
May 31, 2010 8:37 AM Subscribe
I need to put a railroad tie post exactly where a red ant colony is. I don't mind that they are there, except that when I stand there, in seconds my shoes are covered with red ants, and a couple minutes, they'd be all over me and the bites hurt. I need them gone for a couple days. I don't want to use insecticide because I don't like such things in general and because it is very near an irrigation ditch. Ant suggestions?
Seconding the boiling water. It won't destroy the colony permanently (it or another colony will pop up in the same place or nearby), but it should give you a couple of days.
posted by zabuni at 8:51 AM on May 31, 2010
posted by zabuni at 8:51 AM on May 31, 2010
Two thoughts:
(1) boiling water
(2) coat your shoes in a stick substance like tar or molasses (assuming you can ruin the shoes).
posted by dfriedman at 8:59 AM on May 31, 2010
(1) boiling water
(2) coat your shoes in a stick substance like tar or molasses (assuming you can ruin the shoes).
posted by dfriedman at 8:59 AM on May 31, 2010
Supposedly, SPINOSAD, an organic ant bait.
Though, I read some suggestions of creating a deep hole with a stick and using gasoline to burn them out, which seems both fun and effective?
posted by mhuckaba at 9:13 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Though, I read some suggestions of creating a deep hole with a stick and using gasoline to burn them out, which seems both fun and effective?
posted by mhuckaba at 9:13 AM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
I've heard of putting uncooked grits on an anthill. Supposedly, the ants eat the grit, drink water, and the grit expands so much in their stomach that they explode. Just don't combine this method with the boiling water method, or the grits won't work :)
posted by wwartorff at 9:31 AM on May 31, 2010
posted by wwartorff at 9:31 AM on May 31, 2010
Just stand on a small footstool with vaseline or grease slathered all over its base.
posted by randomstriker at 10:06 AM on May 31, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by randomstriker at 10:06 AM on May 31, 2010 [2 favorites]
Buy a gallon of citrus oil. (No affiliation, other than having purchased from them in the past...)
Get the food-grade, if you are worried about any of the chemicals used in the purification and distillation process.
Put 6-8 ounces in a large (3-5 gallon) watering can. Squirt in some dishwashing liquid like Dawn or Palmolive. Spray in water to mix.
The resulting great-smelling, slightly blue-white mixture is a fantastic ant killer.
Slowly pour this into the hive, until it's saturated to the point it won't accept any more.
If you don't saturate the whole hive, small hives will appear within a few feet. Douse them too, when they appear.
I had many tens of large fire ant piles on my property in Florida, and after I did this, I had no more fire ants.
This is much more successful than baits or poisons, because it is a physical spot treatment.
Also, don't treat native ants piles with this. Fire ants will attack any threat. Most native black and red ants won't immediately attack, say, a finger put in front of them.
posted by tomierna at 10:15 AM on May 31, 2010 [4 favorites]
Get the food-grade, if you are worried about any of the chemicals used in the purification and distillation process.
Put 6-8 ounces in a large (3-5 gallon) watering can. Squirt in some dishwashing liquid like Dawn or Palmolive. Spray in water to mix.
The resulting great-smelling, slightly blue-white mixture is a fantastic ant killer.
Slowly pour this into the hive, until it's saturated to the point it won't accept any more.
If you don't saturate the whole hive, small hives will appear within a few feet. Douse them too, when they appear.
I had many tens of large fire ant piles on my property in Florida, and after I did this, I had no more fire ants.
This is much more successful than baits or poisons, because it is a physical spot treatment.
Also, don't treat native ants piles with this. Fire ants will attack any threat. Most native black and red ants won't immediately attack, say, a finger put in front of them.
posted by tomierna at 10:15 AM on May 31, 2010 [4 favorites]
Grits don't work, it's a myth. The boiling water's a better idea.
posted by The otter lady at 4:08 PM on May 31, 2010
posted by The otter lady at 4:08 PM on May 31, 2010
I don't know if this will work for you but If you don't want to kill them, you could try peppermint oil. Try mixing up some peppermint oil with water in a spray bottle and mist around the nest. Spray for a few days in a row and see if they decide it's worth moving.
We had tiny ants on the kitchen counter and tried wiping it down with 4 or 5 drops of oil with a wet sponge. The ants retreated that night but a few came back over the next day or two. We ended up having to spray the edge of the counter with some non-toxic (to people) ant spray which funnily enough had as it's main ingredient mint oil. I guess it will kill them if it's strong enough.
posted by stray thoughts at 7:13 PM on May 31, 2010
We had tiny ants on the kitchen counter and tried wiping it down with 4 or 5 drops of oil with a wet sponge. The ants retreated that night but a few came back over the next day or two. We ended up having to spray the edge of the counter with some non-toxic (to people) ant spray which funnily enough had as it's main ingredient mint oil. I guess it will kill them if it's strong enough.
posted by stray thoughts at 7:13 PM on May 31, 2010
I have eliminated ant hills using boiling water as described but with cinnamon and cayenne pepper added. My mother taught me this citing that as ants communicate and organize through their sense of smell these ingredients confuse them and prevent their swarm respnse.
posted by No Shmoobles at 8:13 PM on May 31, 2010
posted by No Shmoobles at 8:13 PM on May 31, 2010
I've convinced fire ants to move by just setting a garden hose to point at the colony, and turning it on for a few minutes a couple of times a day. It won't kill the colony (neither will the boiling water), but eventually, as with the boiling water, they'll pick up and move. It's an extremely mild effort method.
posted by galadriel at 8:53 AM on June 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by galadriel at 8:53 AM on June 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
I have tried quick grits. Pour the grits over the colony, wait 12 - 24 hours and pour cold water on the colony. It was worked for me but I haven't tried it on red ants.
posted by cellar at 1:38 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by cellar at 1:38 PM on June 3, 2010
Response by poster: We ended up just washing them away with a hose, that worked well enough for the couple hours we needed.
Next time, I will try tomierna's suggestion.
posted by allelopath at 8:32 AM on July 1, 2010
Next time, I will try tomierna's suggestion.
posted by allelopath at 8:32 AM on July 1, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
When I took a gardening class, however, the bug guy told us you get one ant colony every 300 square feet (where I live -- I don't know if it varies) so when you kill an ant colony you should expect a new one to pop up nearby.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:43 AM on May 31, 2010