Killed Me Some Ants!

August 13, 2008 6:16 PM

I set fire to a colony of tiny red ants. Now they have gone away. Why/how did this work?

So I had a dead spot in my yard, went to check it out, and there a colony of the smallest red ants you could imagine.

I threw some little wood chips and some yard waste in-and-amongst them, and set this on fire.

Now, this was no bonfire we're talking about. You couldn't have even roasted a hotdog over this fire (well, maybe one). Now I have a bare spot in my yard (was pretty much already there), two holes you could put a pencil down, and no ants.

I really wasn't expecting this to do anything. I remember as a kid a neighbor did this to a beehive, of ground living yellow jackets, using a gallon of gasoline. This caused a huge explosion! A deep hole in his yard, and the bees buzzed around the fire and died, but the next day they were rebuilding.

Mine wasn't nearly as intense.

I've had problems with ants before, tried using poison (to limited success), but this is like they packed up and moved on!

Any ideas why? I really doubt it did more than scorch the surface and kill the ones currently outside. So why did they pack up? Is this a solution for other kinds of ants?

Yeah, I know, I am evil. PETA is outside my door right now asking if my cat is ok. I can live with killing them. Just amazed this worked.

posted by cjorgensen to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

It's possible the ants underground below the fire were asphyxiated as the oxygen from their habitat was drawn into the conflagration.
posted by chudmonkey at 6:32 PM on August 13, 2008

One theory is that you got the queen, though I'm skeptical the heat would conducted underground very well. I'm inclined to think you destroyed the worker force or disrupted the approaches into the nest, and basically eliminating the infrastructure.

Back in "tha day" (1980s) my cousin and I managed to eradicate fire ant nests with gasoline and a match, so I'm not surprised this works.
posted by crapmatic at 6:33 PM on August 13, 2008

Ants always have several exits to the nest. They may have grabbed their eggs and left the spot. If that's the case, they'll be back.
posted by reflecked at 7:48 PM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: hal_c_on, serious question, not bragging.

Not sure I see a difference between poison and fire, but last year I had huge black ants that created a much bigger dead spot in my lawn. I bought little poison discs to put down. The first failed to kill them after a month passed, so I put down the other five (it was a six pack). Those bastards didn't die until winter.

They also didn't come back in the spring, so the discs may have worked. Honestly though, if a bit of fire would have done it, I'm firing up the brush next time.

And crapmatic nailed why I am even asking. I figure the queen would be safe.

I figured I'd go to bed after a pretty fire and still have ants. But they are gone. Thus the impetus for the question. You know, so what I know what to do next time.

Or more seriously, just to satisfy my curiosity.

Oh, and I guess if killing a few hundred ants is worth bragging about...Damn, I've done that! Cross that one off the list.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:49 PM on August 13, 2008

AFAIK The gasoline wasp thing is an common error - people hear that you pour gasoline into a hive to get rid of wasps, so they do that, light it, and get a big explosion, a lot of angry wasps, and a nest being rebuilt the next day. The idea is to pour in gasoline and let the fumes kill the wasps (and the queen) - you don't light it, that would be dangerous and ineffective.

So I can't answer your question, but I figure it might help to understand why your neighbour did that - people hear about the gasoline method and assume that you're supposed to light it.
posted by -harlequin- at 12:27 AM on August 14, 2008

I would bet that whatever accelerant you used to start the fire was what prevented the ants return. Gasoline, lighter fluid, oil, etc. are all highly toxic and ground spoiling for nests. I doubt you would even need to light them except for the satisfaction.
posted by mrmojoflying at 7:07 AM on August 14, 2008

Oh, and in my experience poison discs are worthless. If you go the poison route, get the spreadable granules that you wet down, pretty much the same effect as gasoline - a little slower, more expensive, but less damaging to landscaping.
posted by mrmojoflying at 7:10 AM on August 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

Could the fire have depleted the oxygen throughout the nest?
posted by -harlequin- at 10:35 AM on August 14, 2008

The ants made a new exit for their nest.

Your neighbor now has ants in their yard.
posted by yohko at 1:26 PM on August 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: No accelerant was used. It wasn't a planned fire. I was doing a woodworking project on my front pouch, had a little pile of wood left over, grabbed some leaves, and dropped it all on top. It only burned off the already dead grass, and made a fire that lasted for a short time.

I think the best theory is I didn't kill them, but they packed up and moved.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:42 AM on August 15, 2008

Response by poster: It could have been worse.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:45 AM on November 14, 2008