[Groop] Ants!!!!!

[Grossmann, Gary (DOR)]

Thanks to everyone for the ideas. I should explain that this GINORMUS
ant colony is in my "back 40" which is how we refer to the back half of
the one (1) acre I live on that has never been landscaped and is all
wild and surrounded on three sides with similar property.  Our concern
is that the colony will expand towards humble Grossmann Manor.  
 
I decided not to go with Terro because the grits and borax/sugar is
supposed to do basically the same thing:  Kill the workers, but not
before they feed it to the queen and kill her  And Eric's article
notwithstanding, Borax sounded safer, and my understanding is that Grits
are only poisonous if you were born in New York City.  I'll let you know
if it works.  
 
By the way, I dumped one of the 55 gallon drums of ants on another ant
hill located on public property because I had read that if you mix two
ant hills, they will kill each other.  So I was hoping for a major Ant
Fray, but I was disappointed.  They just started working together.
Bummer.  
 
 
 
 

________________________________

From: Alexander Durnan [mailto:alexian.emperor at earthlink.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 2:01 PM
To: Grossmann, Gary (DOR); Tone at moon-shine.net; groop at groo.com
Subject: Re: [Groop] Ants!!!!!


Try Terro. It is poison,but you only have to use a little bit.  Its a
syrup that you pour a drop on a small card, then the ants lap it up.
Within a day or two...no more ants. They feed it to the queen and she
dies.  As goes the queen, so goes the colony.  I've used this
successfully myself many times.
Alex
	----- Original Message ----- 
	From: Grossmann, Gary (DOR) <mailto:GaryG at DOR.WA.GOV>  
	To: Tone at moon-shine.net ; groop at groo.com 
	Sent: Tuesday, 17 June, 2008 11:48
	Subject: Re: [Groop] Ants!!!!!

	Hi Tone!
	 
	Thanks for the advice.  I had read about diatomaceous earth in
my Internet search for effective ant killing without complex chemical
compounds.  I was a little dubious about it working in the perpetually
moist Pacific Northwest, but that concern may be misplaced.  
	 
	btw, I did not use gasoline.  First, I dug up a lot of the hill
(and ants) and put it (them) is a 55 gallon drum I have and just carted
it off about a quarter mile.  After doing that 3 times, I had a large
flat spot with a hole in the middle and about a zillion ants going
crazy.  Then I spread a couple gallons of ammonia around, hoping that if
I hadn't already killed the queen that the ammonia would do it.  (It's
very toxic but breaks down very quickly.  Works great on underground
yellow jacket nests.)  However, it only temporarily slowed down the
ants, which started rebuilding.  So that's when I dug up even more ants,
making the hole even deeper and wider, and then sprinkled several pounds
of sugared borax and some grits.  Supposedly when they eat the grits,
the grits swell up inside and the ants blow up.  Sort of the opposite of
diatomaceous earth.  When i did the second round of digging I did not
find anymore larve, so maybe the queen is nailed and the remaining
workers are just on autopilot.  One can hope. 
	 
	Actually, Larry had the best idea.  I need to find an ant with a
tiny orange tunic and a pair of teeny tiny katana and put him in the ant
hill.  
	 
	Gary G. 
	  
	
________________________________

	From: groop-bounces at groo.com [mailto:groop-bounces at groo.com] On
Behalf Of Tone
	Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 8:37 PM
	To: groop at groo.com
	Subject: Re: [Groop] Ants!!!!!
	
	
	Gary,
	            Rather than blowing up a drum of gasoline or
whatever it is you are doing to get rid of insect pests, try something
called "diatomaceous earth." It is a white powder that is composed of
fossilized skeletons of marine and freshwater organisms that lived 20
million years ago. A protein in it attracts roaches and some other
insects while the power scratches up their waxy outer coating. Within a
day or two the bugs die of dehydration. Also, if you leave the stuff in
place and do not get it wet, it will continue working and working.
	            Any bug walking through the stuff gets scratched up
like it is glass or something to them. It is nontoxic and useful against
ants, earwigs, fleas, sow bugs, silverfish, millipedes, roaches, and
weevils. There might still be a company in Mexico, Missouri (where
Mexico is the name of the town not the country) by the name of
Brookstone, which sells the stuff under the product name "Insectigone".
This might be an old number for Brookstone, but maybe you can try your
luck at it: 800-926-7000.
	 
	Sometime environmentally friendly non-toxic solutions to
problems are the best solutions. :-)
	_TONE_
	
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