The Ants Go Marching - how to kill?

[Gooserider]

I am having a problem w/ ants in my splitting area - for some reason I am seeing large numbers of ants doing long distance marches through the yard, often carrying little white things that look like they might be grubs. I wouldn't particularly care, except that they are going through the area where I'm trying to split wood. When I'm sitting in front of the splitter, they seem to want to detour in large numbers and crawl up my legs, or up the splitter and logs then onto my hands, etc... They aren't fire ants, fortunately, but they still pack a pretty painful bite, and there are LOTS of them, to the point where I spend more time trying to keep them off of me than I spend splitting...

Is there something I can spray on the ground around the splitting area that will either make them die, or at least go elsewhere? I've tried using Savin spray, but after an hour or two they are still just as thick as ever...

I would just as soon not have to move the splitting area, as that would mean having to move all the to-be-split wood further in order to get it to the splitter.

If it matters, the ants are medium large - slightly smaller than carpenter ants, about 1/4 - 3/8" long, dark red and black...

Gooserider

 

[stejus]

Go to Home Depot or Lowes and pick up some Ortho or Bayer Insect Perimeter spray. Make sure it treats all types of ants. Spray this on the ants and they die. Some will make it back to their nest and die. Once they die, the other ants will eat them and they die, and the cycle continues. You may have to spray a few times if you see them coming back. Little white things suggest eggs or larva (baby ants)!

 

[Jags]

Get a box of borax (about 3 bucks at your local wally world or other stores). Ants take it to the nest and it kills the nest. You will need to reapply on occasion. Oh - and the stuff says its a natural product. No harming anything but the ants.

 

[Hogwildz]

Sounds to me like they might be carrying their eggs.
Anyways, I had both small sugar ants and larger ants getting in the house. I t seems worse during the rainy times.
I picked up Terro Liquid ant baits at Agway & again at Lowes this year. Works great. The get the liquid, take back to momma and kills the whole nest.

 

[billb3]

Sounds like the same ants I'm having trouble with, here in SE Ma.
They seem to thrive on piles of wood chips, so I carve up the piles of woodchips with the Deere's FEL every now and then. The nests get huge.
The granules from Home Depot/Lowes help, but they often recover after a few weeks.
Take a few days to see less activity.


Several years ago I watched little blackants carrying little whitish greyish things from under my front door, down the steps, down the sidewalk, past the garage and into the woods about 75 feet away. Hundreds and hundreds of them. The little greyish 'things' was the blown in cellulose insulation .
Liquid sprays just made them find new routes. Something they carried back to the nest is what I think eventualy worked.


I tried borax on a ant nest in the front lawn near the front door last May. The grass is still dead.
Ants are gone, though.

 

[Gooserider]

Thanks for the many suggestions, I think I may try getting some of the granules or barrier sprays, though I did end up moving the splitting area ten feet or so back onto the driveway, which has helped a great deal - it seems the ants have certain paths marked out, and if you get out of the paths, they don't bother you as much... I'm almost done with the wood in that batch of piles as well, and will be seriously moving the splitting area after that to a different pair of piles...

(Incidentally the wood I'm working on will likely be 2010-2011 or later supply)

Gooserider

 

[Delta-T]

just be thankful that they are not siafu, or jack jumpers. nasty nasty.
Boiling water poured on suspected ant mound can be effective.

 

[woodsman23]

I seen on you tube a guy that was giving the ants black powder and allowing them to store it in there nest area. Then after about a year he put black powder outside the nest and a line of it as a wick the lite it and BOOM the nest was gone and left a hole in the ground. I'll see if i can find it was very cool.

 

[Czech]

What Jags said!

 

[billb3]

I seen on you tube a guy that was giving the ants black powder and allowing them to store it in there nest area. Then after about a year he put black powder outside the nest and a line of it as a wick the lite it and BOOM the nest was gone and left a hole in the ground. I'll see if i can find it was very cool.

it didn't rain for a year ?

 

[JustWood]

Ortho makes a granular product that kicks butt on a lot of different bugs. I perimeter my house with it every spring and don't have problems.

 

[TreePapa]

I use "Victor Poison-Free Ant & Roach Killer"

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/ant-roach-killer.html

It's made from cedar oil and safe to use 'round pets and kids. Actually, safe to use in areas frequented by pets and kids - I would want either too close when sprayin' 'cuz it's still an irritant. Anyway, if it is pet and kid safe, It's prolly firewood safe too, unless you really drench the wood with it.

I dont' buy it off the 'net, tho'. Both OSH and Green Arrow (local garden chain) carry it in stock. So even if it costs a buck more, I don't have to pay shippin. Plus I don't have to wait. I hate to wait if I don't have to.

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[Gooserider]

Well I picked up a gallon jug of "Home Defense Max" which is supposed to be a decent perimiter guard type spray - it seems to be doing the job OK, at least I didn't have a big problem with the ants yesterday... I may also try using some on the wood that I split as some of it was pretty buggy.

I've now split all the wood that was in the problem area, and will be moving to a different pile this afternoon - hopefully I won't need to keep spraying.

Gooserider