I realize it's probably not "organic", but straight ammonia and boiling water has killed many fire ant hills. They can't develop immunity to boiling water and ammonia.

This is embarrasing, but my husband pees on them (we are very isolated). It gives him great satisfaction, but I think all they do is move the mound/bed.

I think that's all the other stuff does too. We put it on a mound and usually find another one a few weeks later.

I wonder about that too. We have regular ants, and some fire ants, but not as bad yet as many of you have them.

I use a bait called Max Force, and another called InTice. I do sprinkle the Max Force on the ground or walk. THe other one goes into packets.

They do seem to keep them away, but we always have some ants, and I am not sure how well it works. I do not find it acceptable to have them in my house.

Sammy

I use borax bait against the ants in the house. Would it work on fire ants? (we don't have them here yet.)

Connie

I successfully rid my yard of them by using the following:
2 oz of Garrett Juice (sold in Dallas, it's mostly molasses from the smell) and 2 oz of orange oil to 1 gallon of water. Pour it on the mound, kind of slowly so that it doesn't run off but seeps into the holes of the colony. Use the water to keep the keep the ants from coming to you.
Within a few hours you can tell if there's activity on the mound. Slow, dying ants aren't a problem, but vigorous activity is. Drench it again. Big mounds might take a third application.
Caveats: orange oil will kill plant roots, so don't use more than 2 oz on any one spot. Change the mixture to only 1 oz of orange oil if you think you will need more than 1 application. Also, big colonies will start other mounds quickly, so watch for them and treat sooner rather later. Eventually, you will get control--I did and haven't had a problem for 3 years. There is usually 1 attempt to start a colony each spring, but after treating it, nothing else.
I used boiling water a couple of times and it does work, but it is hard to carry boiling water and it kills the plant roots.

Diatomeceous earth (not for swimming pool use but for garden use) will kill them (and other bugs, too, good or bad), but it takes a really long time to get the whole colony.

You can shovel the colony into a bucket and then kill them however you like. Dust the shovel handle and the bucket rim with baby powder--the ants can't crawl through it.

Hope this helps!!

I use boiling water, about 2 gal., mid-morning, just as it starts to get warm after a cool night. You've got to kill the queen, who moves up as it gets warmer. Or so the newspaper said. Boiling water kills everything it touches, though. When I don't want to do that, I pray the ants move. Sometime I poke 'em with a stick -- rather unneighborly, but if they don't like it, they can move.

That whole baby powder on the handle thing -- that'll take more bravery than I've got. I've put petroleum jelly on things to keep regular ants out. I don't know if it would work on fire ants. Experimenting on fire ants is not something I'm going to do.

I don't get fire ants as often in well amended, well mulched garden areas. They seem to go for hot, red clay. And when they have set up in the garden, they haven't stayed long, luckily. Or maybe it's the poking....

I don't think fire ants come into the house. At least I hope they don't! They just like to make mounds in the lawn or flowerbeds. I honestly don't mind them except that they bite like crazy if you accidentally step on them or touch the mound. Then you have to do the fire ant dance, which isn't fun.

Buford, they will come inside, although I have never had them. A friend found a humongous mound underneath her china cabinet when she moved it to clean.

Have you noticed how they love to build their mounds around plasic pots--really anything plastic. I have used plastic buckets to put weeds in and left them sitting overnight, only to go back and find they've started building a nest all around the bottom of it.

Gee, it never occurred to me to be organic regarding ants. I use Amdro. Is that bad?

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Oh don't get me wrong not trying point fingers say it not being organic to treat for fire ants. I found out about Talstar back when I had a nursery license because ag inspector told me I had to use it for fire ants to ship to certain states. And that summer was first summer I could sit anywhere in my yard and not get eaten alive.

Just my understanding far as I know you can't use it around food type plants, I dunno guess I should call ag office this week see what they say. But if I'm right yea that kinda puts a damper on growing strawberries with the roses.

I remembered this thread when visiting my local coffee shop yesterday. I had a conversation there with a couple whose West Highland White Terrier died last week as a result of a fire ant attack. The time interval between the dog entering the yard and its collapse: Fewer than 10 minutes.

The number of those tiny ants that occupy even a relatively small (ie, new) mound is astonishing. Even more astonishing is how rapidly they respond to the slightest disturbance.

Connie, I don't know where you are in Virginia, but fire ants are definitely a problem in your state. Here's a VA-specific link (the pic of the yellow shoe gives the best indication of the size of the ants & how they swarm).

When it comes to fire ant control, the question of whether or not the treatment is organic is of no importance to me.

Here is a link that might be useful: VA Cooperative Extension Svc