Shhh! Don't tell anybody, but the ants are helping you make compost. It's not just the microbes at work here. If they're not biting ants, like the nasty red ones, just leave them alone.

Permethrin dust works wonderful killing the Bull ants

Ricky,

These bull (carpenter) ants bite and I don't want to encourage bringing them into my yard to spread scale on the bamboo and crotons. God forbid they get in the house too. The composter is currently located in the alley away from my plants and house.
I don't even know how I could harvest the compost at this point without them running up the shovel, they are that prolific. I've had this problem before with leaving bags of mulch sit too long. My solution in the past was to chuck the whole bag in the dumpster.
Starryrider,
Thanks for the suggestion, I will do my homework on it. I tend to try and be chemical free in this yard but I make concessions if needed.

Okay. I've always called them carpenter ants, so I wasn't sure. If that's the case, I'd either toss the whole thing or use nasty chemicals. I was thinking you had just "regular" ants.

junglegal,

You could pick up one of these anteaters and toss them into the composter.

Very cute Lou ;)

Maybe I should just throw the compost down into the chicken run....if they can eat them fast enough not to be bitten that is.

Diatomaceous earth. That will kill the ants without leaving any toxins. It will also kill earthworms, but is safe for humans...It cuts the ectoskeleton (essentially, it's ground shell) and the bugs dry out and die!

It's also used in food storage (grains, legumes) and simply sifted out before preparation.

LOVE THE ANTEATERS!!!

Here is an idea on acquiring greens for your compost.
Ask your local market to give you some vegetables that will be thrown away.
I did that,when I had a truck. It can be nasty,but works great.I have some of the big ants too,in my tumbler compost. I have difficulties in getting the temperature higher. I have been adding weeds to increase the temperature.

Try food grade Diatomaceous earth. The food grade can be used for your chickens as well and is safe enough to eat so it shouldn't hurt your compost.

OH! Right Keiki! I didn't mention that did I? Oops...I always get the food grade, as I grind my own corn and wheat, so I use DE when I open a bucket, then sift it out before grinding the grain. Then I put the old stuff in the compost heap or the garden (sometimes I can catch the neighborhood ragamuffin cat and I rub it into his fur)

Thanks for all the replies! GW has an issue, I've been unable to log on with firefox for a couple days now! It finally dawned on me to use explorer. I just wonder how many others aren't posting because of this problem. Hopefully they update this antiquated forum soon.

I am going to try the DE as suggested. I was planning on using it in the coop anyway. Thanks all!!

For a non-toxic measure, you could try pouring a pot of boiling hot water.

Bull ants love wood. Are you putting wood chips in your composter? Ground up cassia maybe? They adore cassia. I made a bait out of coarse ground corn meal, boric acid and vegetable oil (just enough to hold it all together). They love this stuff. I had them get into my house, and I put out trays of it on the counter. It was fun watching them eat it, stagger around, and then die. You could mix some up and sprinkle it around on the inside and around the bottom of the composter, wherever the are getting in. They eat it, they die, your compost is safe for humans because the boric acid will decompose in the soil and be washed away.

Where do you buy the food grade diatomaceous earth???