I'm quite late to this discussion... Yet I would like to add-in my own 2 cents: The most popular reason is that lightning turns atmospheric nitrogen gas into a form of it, nitrous oxide, thatâÂÂs beneficial for plants. So when nitrogen-enriched rain falls from the skies, it gives plants a boost. My hypothesis is based on information covered in a book I'm writing on electro-horticulture (& plant electrophysiology) - that an abundance of free-floating ions from looming electrical storms creates a charge imbalance on plant cell walls. This imbalance will lead to a wide array of physiological changes within the plants ranging from increased growth rate to increased pigmentation and photosynthesis abilities. Charge imbalances induce "action potentials" within electrically active cells in plants affecting metabolism, structure, hormones, and gene expression.

It has been unseasonably cool the past couple days on and off. They seemed to come out sporadically, but few in numbers. I havn't seen over 10 total so far this year. The rain came about and it probably hatched some of the larvae, but the cooler weather bouts ultimately probably killed a lot of them off. I thought they were completely gone, but I saw one on my mini yesterday, but we dropped down to about 55 last night, so I'm sure the few remaining ones are not feeling too comfortable. Fine by me...they can fly back to Japan for all I care.

I've seen some bees, but I've never really noticed bees at this time of year in past years. I've heard that there's some sort of disease ruining their nests. Whatever is happening, I'm hoping the bees will stay because more bees = more fruits/seeds (more pollination). From what I've been told, worms will rapidly produce eggs when they feel that their lives are threatened as to keep their 'lineage' going. Praying and hoping the weather won't be too out of the ordinary. I've seed lots of birds this year...and am having regular visits from bunnies (at first they ate my tulips but now they leave even my seedlings alone and go for the weeds in the lawn instead). I have noticed lots of winged insects (flies, bees, wasps) that are flying. I saw a wasp on my iris, and wanted to sho it away so I could cut the iris, but it didn't move. It sort of eventually rolled off the flower onto the ground. Yes lots of bird eggs all over the place...I see lots of them crushed. I have an unknown white egg sitting next to my pumpkin plants but haven't touched it.

You likely are seeing more because of the drought, but they are always there. Your garden is an ecosystem and ants merely are a part of the ecosystem. I just ignore them. They have a job to do and I assume they are doing it. I try to intervene in the natural ecosystem in my garden as little as possible. In a well-balanced ecosystem, the beneficial insects help control the pest insects a lot, so I leave them all alone as much as possible and let nature work the way it is supposed to. The only time I treat for ants is if I have fire ant mounds in the veggie garden, and I use an organic fire ant product for that. I will use borax-based ant traps if they come into the house, but they haven't come into our house yet this year. They are more prone to that that in a wet year than a dry year. Before organic fire ant killers became available on the commercial market, I tried to control fire ants in the dog yard and back yard/side yard by using a non-organic ant killer, but was never comfortable using it and would use it only once every 3 or 4 years. I haven't used a chemical fire ant killer since the organic ones became available. During drought all the pests flock to the area with the best ecosystem, meaning moisture and food. Still, they are there every year even if you don't notice them as much. It is just that there's more of them concentrated in certain areas during drought. When I want to deter ants from traveling in certain spots--like right beside the faucets or hydrants where I hook up the water hose, I spray a mixture of liquid peppermint soap/water on the ground. It repels them and causes them to move their pathway away from the sprayed area. I don't use it in the garden unless I can do so without getting any of the soap spray on the foliage. In this heat, soap spray can kill foliage quite easily. In the garden where I can't spray because of potential foliar damage, I sprinkle cinnamon (which I buy in huge containers at Sam's or CostCo) along the ants' pathway and they move elsewhere. I am surprised your tomatoes are cracking. Cracking usually occurs because of uneven moisture, and I tend to see it only after a big rainstorm or if I turn on the hose to water and forget to turn it off, thereby overwatering them and causing rapid growth in which the flesh grows faster than the skin and the skin cracks. If you'll pick your tomatoes at first blush and ripen them inside on the kitchen counter, their flavor is not impacted and you'll likely see little to no cracking. Any tomato left after first blush is likely to have issues with cracking, sunscald and pests. I think virtually everything that's "wrong" this year is because of the drought, but I don't necessarily put ants in that category. We have tons and tons of ants here every year, wet or dry. I don't know if imported fire ants have made it as far north as your place yet, but we have billions of them here. We also have the less aggressive native fire ants, sugar ants and tons of Harvester ants. I love the Harvester ants because they are a food source for one of my favorite little wild things---horned toads. We also have carpenter ants and oodles of other kinds. There's no way you won't have ants if your property is a healthy ecosystem because they are a necessary part of the ecosystem.