I have used boiling water and it worked for me. I was consistent -- kept watching the entire lawn for about three days, and kept applying boiling water to any new spots I saw. I haven't seen any this year. This is pretty environmentally friendly, while also being very satisfying ;-) I'm only on a 1/4 acre, so the problem was manageable.

When I lived in Texas and had a fire ant problem, I put my coffee grounds out on the mound. Seems that they don't much care for coffee.

I've heard some folks use Ortho Max successfully, but it is a strong chemical. As for toxicity to beneficials, it is toxic to bees if it is around the plants they are visiting. It shouldn't be allowed to get into the water of any animals and livestock shouldn't graze on grass treated with it.

BTW, please be careful swapping plants so that fire ants aren't passed along with the plants.

I tried the granules that you put down with a spreader....didn't work AT ALL. In fact, it seemed the mounds increased after that particular treatment.

What works best for me is ant bait products, like Amdro. You need to sprinkle the ant bait granules on and around the mound when the ants are most active, but try not to disturb the mound too much while doing it. You don't have to water this product in...just sprinkle it on and leave it alone. The ants will take the bait into the mounds to share with the rest of the ants, including the queen, and they'll die. As long as the queen lives she only needs 4 workers to start another colony...that's why contact poisons often fail. The queen is hidden deep inside the mound and contact poisons can't touch her.

Any product you have to water in will almost always fail when it comes to fire ants...those products only kill ants near the surface, leaving the queen and the workers she needs to start over. The surviving ants will move the queen and her eggs to another fresh mound in another location on your property.

The bait products won't poison any other insects because they only target fire ants, so it's safer to use than broad-spectrum granular products that you have to water in. You aren't going to kill any "good" bugs with an ant bait product, just fire ants.

HTH~
Renee

I used "over and out" and it has really done a great job for me this year. I think it is expensive but it does the job........glad I used it.....

Thank you all for so many good tips. I am trying a combination of things right now so I can see what will help me most. One thing I was doing was the sprinkle on water in powder--but the problem is I don't see the nests that are under the mulch in my flower beds. So I can only kind of 'hit and miss' that way. Yesterday I was outside and ran into ants in 4 more new locations that they weren't in last week. I did what I could to deal with those areas but then I was standing deadheading some flowers and looked down to see that my feet were again being bitten! I have 9 new bites, just when my feet were starting to feel better from the last round of attacks. Sheesh!

So I woke at about 4 am with hot itchy feet that I have to work on today. AARGH!
I put some bait traps in the mulched beds in hopes that if there are nests I can't see perhaps the antys will find the traps at least. I have alot of bees and earthworms in my garden and I want that to continue so I am proceeding with caution but also with a bit of vengeance in mind. Mary t

Mary T: I use Petaseptic Lotion on my bug bites. Knocks the itch right out. It is supposed to be for the dog, but since the ingredients are natural, I figure it is safe for humans too.

Are you sure what you have are fire ants??? Are they making mounds up and above the mulch and turf? It is very hard to tell which is which by just looking at the ants, but the tall mounds are pretty much a giveaway.

Everyone I've known who has received multiple bites (you actually get stung) by fire ants has been sent to the hospital. Some have had wounds that lasted longer than a year after being treated by a doctor. I've lived around them but have never been stung so I don't know how much it hurts. I just know that getting stung by many at one time really does a number on a person.

Ants and bees are close relatives. An ant clamps down with her jaws to hold onto you (this hurts) while she stings with a hind-end stinger just like a bees (hurts more). Because the stinger is so small you won't see all this happening with the naked human eye. So it looks like they are biting you only. The queen and workers are all female, the drones are male and they don't do much.

No fire ants here - yet - thank goodness, but for regular ants I slowly pour white vinegar into the mound (using a indoor watering can w/a skinny spout) and that seems to stop 'em cold.

I also use this method on weeds between flagstones on the front of my house - two or three dousings covers most of the weed season. Straight vinegar will harm plants, so be careful not to get it on any. I did burn some monkey grass once, but flushed it w/water fast and the grass recovered fine.

Coorscat's itch remedy above reminded me - in the dog world Listerine is also widely used for various skin irritations (hot spots, etc) very effectively. The original brown Listerine is preferable. I'm a bug magnet apparently - while I'm not bothered by bites while I'm outdoors, come evening the itch and welts blossom so they're obviously feasting w/out my noticing. Anyway, I just tried Listerine - only have the minty stuff in the house - and amazingly, the itching is gone! Am heading straight for the local pharmacy tomorrow for the brown stuff - suspect it might be more healing and won't leave me smelling like a candy cane.

Maryt, I've also heard that fire ant bites constitute a medical intervention, so hopefully you don't have them. But no bites are pleasant - now, go soak your feet in Listerine!

I control fire ants on my 26 acre property without use of pesticides. This time of year, my favorite method of murdering fire ants on mounds located near asphalt pavement is to dig out the nest in the middle of a hot sunny day and scatter the ants across the hot pavement where they quickly cook. If the nest is within shovel throwing distance of a hot sunny roof, it can also do double duty as an ant cooker. Nests located near the lake get scattered across the lake's surface where they will eventually drown or get eaten by various aquatic critters. For nests not located close to any convenient killing fields, I simply scatter the ants as far as I can throw them. The ants of the single queen colonies that I have around here only venture 50 to 100 feet from their mound, so any ants that get tossed beyond their territorial limits fall of land bereft of scent trails to lead them back to their mound, so most die a lonely death out in the wilderness.

But my all-time favorite method for murdering fire ants occurs in the winter on sunny late afternoons where the temps are expected to go below freezing that night. I will dig out and scatter any mounds that I find, then fill in the hole that I dug with firmly packed fresh soil. Any ants that can't make it back below ground by nightfall get frozen to death. One visit is all that it usually takes to kill out even the largest mound.

At this point, fire ants aren't a major problem on my property and are mainly limited to small nests that get started over the summer and a few mature colonies that migrate in from adjoining properties where they aren't controlled.

Over and out has done wonders for me. Was a major problem with mounds every few yards just a year ago, now I can walk barefoot on my lawn! I spread over and out mid summer last year although I was told it had to be in spring. And then again this spring.

My neighbor spread Over and Out on his whole lawn in May. I haven't seen a fire ant mound on our property yet this year nor has the neighbor on the other side of his house. Last summer we had a yard full of ant mounds. So, it would appear that this treatment has a far reaching effect. Interesting. Wonder how long it will last?

Over n out lasts about 6 months. Another good benefit with it is you will not have any mole cricket problems if you use it. That is what I have found. I'm able to kill two critters with one product.

Can you please tell me where you get the Over n out? I too hate the fire ants. I use a cotton ball or band aid soaked in cider vinegar and taped over the bite to help control the pain and itch.
Thanks for any info!

Killing fire ants is harder than you would think because the queen and the bulk of the colony can be feet underground. Contact poisons, boiling water, etc. rarely reach the whole colony. Bait type poisons have to be used exactly as directed because the adults and queen don't eat the bait - they feed the food that they forage to the larvae and the adults live off an exudate (excreted substance) from the larvae. For the baits (Amdro and Over and Out) to work they have to be eaten by the larvae, then the poison has to be exuded and eaten by the adults and queen. You can see that it can't kill the larvae right away or the adults and queen would just make a new batch of larvae.
In my opinion the baits work very well, but more slowly than you might hope for. THey are intended to be broadcast - not dumped around the mound - during the periods that the ants are actively foraging. That would be when the temperatures are in the 70's. Spring seems like it would be a good time here. Also, the baits that are in a meal go rancid and should be used as soon as they are opened.

I learned about this as a master gardener in Houston, TX where fire ants were a BIG issue.

Eliz.

The active ingredient in Over 'n Out fire ant killer is toxic to birds, worms, other insects, etc.

Amdro Bait granules have always worked exceptionally well for me but you must read and follow the directions.

There is also the organic product Spinosad, which is marketed as an ant bait. I've heard that it is very effective, as well.

The vast majority of people who are stung by fire ants suffer no more than the fiery after effects, the itch, and the pustules. No medical attention required...or the hospitals would be packed with people, lol!! I was bitten over a 100 times while changing a flat tire in the dark. No medical attention was needed, but I was sure glad that I had some benadryl on hand.

I also use Adolph's meat tenderizer on the bites. When applied promptly, it neutralizes the venom. Works for mosquitoes, too.

Over n out is sold most anywhere like Walmart and Lowes.

Only had the problem once, years ago. I was told by a nursery operator to take a shovel of dirt from two mounds and spread them onto the top of the other mound. Each mound has a queen (as talked about before) and they ants you displace from the one mound to the next will fight each other. You have to take a large shovel of dirt for this to work or several shovels full. I worked for me with a very large problem at the time. Took several weeks to take affect.

Here in Texas we feel like we are in the Fire Ant capitol of the world.

A friend, and older lady told me years ago: If you want to kill fire ants get a shovel full of ants from one hill and put dump it on another hill and they will kill each other. For the lady who hates them, there you go, a little pay back for your toes! Ant wars! and they fight to the death!!!!

Also, one guy said that in the fall using grits on the hills works. He said they give food to their babies and then a fungus grows, which they eat. But in the case of the grits, the fungus wont grow, so they starve! Another pay back.

I agree with the boiling water, works great, I did it too.

All three of these will not affect your bees, which is so important now that bees are dying like mad. The poisons cannot claim not to kill the bees, no matter who they are, since no one has proved exactly what the cause is. Personally, I think there are a variety of reasons, but we need bees to have a good diet and a good garden, so we should use all the caution we can, and avoid the pesticides as much as possible.

Although most people will recover from fire ant bites without medical assistance, please seek help for anyone having undue swelling, trouble breathing, or any of the other signs of a severe allergic response. Death from fire ant bites is extremely rare, but not unheard of.

My granddaughter was bitten by fire ants in our front yard just prior to getting into the car for a 3-hour trip home. We rushed her into the house and to the laundry room sink, where we ran cold water over her feet. I sent some Benadryl home with her parents, but called them enroute after reading about allergic reactions online. They called a family friend who is an M.D., who told them to give the Benadryl to the child, who was fortunately not having any unusual symptoms.

I don't know if it's always true that each mound contains a queen because we have a huge mound in our neighborhood common area. There are smaller mounds (7) that occur about every 12 feet in a direct line from the big mound.
Now, this area has a very high water table and floods frequently so I guess it's safe to believe each of these exit mounds are part of the main nest.

Well I can tell you that I have had the guy out to spray twic and the things keep coming back. My daughter is alrgic to bees and her doctor told me that mean fire ants too. So I have a big problem. I spend all spring through summer epipen ready. I did find that they dont like Dawn dish wasing soap and hot water or bleach. I get the teapot going on the stove then go out find the mounds get them good a upset pour dawn all over them ( I cover the heck out of them and around) then pour the hot water down the holes. make sure you leave it really soapy on the to. they cant breath and their gone. I also saw they dont like mint or marigolds in flower beds so I am going to try it. Good luck to you.

The North Carolina ag extension agents have been giving classes in fire ant removal for a year or so. The gist of the class is the following.

The effective way to remove fire ants is to poison the ants with any of the slow acting types that slowly get carried to the whole colony including the queen. This completely removes the colony AFTER A FEW WEEKS. Generally these are distributed around but not on the hill on a warm day when the ants are foraging. Put a potato chip near the mound if in doubt; if the ants don't show up in 30 minutes they won't be around to pick up the poison until it gets damp and unappatising.
Also important; one should not indiscriminately poison all ants. Other ants are teritorial and will fight to keep fire ants away. They are your friends!

rguntle...ignore the advice that 'ants don't like mint in a flower bed' or you will create a problem greater than a few ant stings..for certain!

I say this as I sit here scootching in my chair. The dammmm fireants must have hitchhiked on the cuffs of my slacks and crawled up the insides of the pants legs.
Amazing such little critters depositing a teeny bit of formic acid under the skin can cause us so much discomfort for so long.

I have a method that works well for my yard. I simply annoy the mound. Every time you walk by--if you are brave, kick it ( i do), hoe it, weed wack it.
You will come out one day and the mound will be simply--gone. We don't want to stay and raise a family where there is an antagonistic environment--and neither do they. I have managed to move an ant colony from one side of my garden, clear across 30 ft of yard until I (and they) were content to live on the property line out of the way. I took surprisingly less time than it sounds, and I relieved a lot of frustrations in the process for free!

I agree with Zenda - just mess with them and they seem to leave within a month or so. The problem mounds are the one hidden from view deep in the flowerbed or when they move into a container/pot full of soil... without the mound it can be hard to avoid them. Last year the fireants in my yard made giant mounds (it looked like scene from Africa!) this year they are still here but there are hardly any mounds.

yup- i do the same- i mess with them til they end up somewhere i can safely get them with the amdro. I read that amdro can hurt birds that take the bait, so i cover the area with reemay or a light tarp after i spread it for a day or 2 until they eat the bait.

I think in wet weather the mounds are high, and in dry weather they are closer to flush with the ground. I've noticed when we get a lot of rain they go upwards quickly. It makes a lot of sense if you think about it.

If you have land a do not mind a few small burn spots simply pour a cup or two of gas let it soak for about 20 seconds and light those suckers up! The gas drops low into there porous nest and will burn for several minutes. It is extremely rewarding and it will kill the entire nest!

I use boiling water with a bit of soap detergent and that combination works the best for me..

Good luck

Carrie

Here is a good link to info about killing fire ants, getting the queen is important and I believe it is illegal in some states to use gasoline?

Here is a link that might be useful: How to get rid of fireants