They're here, but compared to fire ants, they're a minor problem. I got in fire ants this morning and had to come out of my pants and shoes and socks out in the garden. It's good I have no neighbors.

Thonotorose, you would probably just trade one pest for another if you move, LOL. I don't think it has anything to do with the rain. I think they just like buildings. Parts of Texas are overrun with them. I understand they get into power plant machinery, sewage plants, etc, and destroy everything they get in. Unlike regular fire ants, they get on bushes and in trees. When you walk by, they drop on you and start stinging. One windy day, my sister took her dog swimming in our creek, and they were floating everywhere on the surface of the water, I guess blown by the wind. She and the dog were covered in them before they knew it. Of course, both were stung all over. She's just down the road from me, so it won't be long before they get here. Fortunately, she's downstream, so it won't be by creek. I no longer swap plants and cuttings with her since she thinks she got them by bringing them in on a plant. Give me a regular old fire ant any day. As far as the kitty litter goes, I use the cheap Special Kitty brand from Walmart. It's just pure clay, no additives. It was less than $2 for a 25 pound bag when I first started buying it, but it's gone up since, of course, and now is only 20 pounds, but it's still the cheapest I've found.

Well, I've never heard of this and I kind of doubt it works, but it wouldn't hurt your plants to try it. I believe I know where this idea originated though. Organic growers often use molasses, either liquid or dry, in soil improvement. The main reason for this is that sugar stimulates microbiological activity in the soil which improves it. Since soil that has a lot of microbiological activity in it is healthier than soil that does not, that would mean that plants grown in that soil would be healthier, and we know healthier plants attract fewer pests and survive their damage better than plants in unhealthy soil. So, to the extent this works, if it works, the reason likely would be because of the sugar's stimulating effects on the soil. You really have nothing to lose by trying it. Note the sugar in the soil may attract ants, and ants often farm aphids, so watch out for the aphids. If you have fire ant issues on your property, you might need to be extra careful about attracting ants to a specific location. However, squash bug issues vary from year to year. Last year, in our garden, we never saw a single squash bug at all, although we have them to some degree most years. So, in order to test whether it works, you'd need to plant squash plants of the same variety with sugar and without sugar and give them the exact same soil and care otherwise, so that you could see if there is any difference in plant performance. I have a feeling that if this method works, it would have been studied and reported on many university websites. I've never seen it mentioned before, so I feel like it probably won't work.....but you'll never know unless you try it. Dawn

I remember the fire ant marching North :( I was hoping that our weather would be too cold for them. Over the years that marched up this way, we where in a heat wave w/ a droughts in the summer, now I wonder how cold is too cold for the fire ants, how much more will they go north. I know the site said they are not sure how they got in Huston or where they came from... But one has to wonder, if someone didnt "plant" the little guys on our soil, hoping to kill the fire ants, but not knowing full of what the crazy ants would do. and how does a African queens escape from an South American lab (AKA; Killer bees) furthermore, why does it always seem that when I Insect gets loose, it has to be a nasty one. what happened to all the good Insects. the site, it also said that they kill out electrical meaning they also invade inside your home, and wipe out our ladybugs. But what I don't understand is that it looks like they could have been control, and still could, if the EPA would allow a stronger ant killer to be available to the Exterminators. for me it leaves too many questions and not enough answers. Like if they knew about the ants since 2002, why have they not done something about it.. If an exterminator is charging someone $1200 to kill out the ants at her parents home ( if that is true, and it really does kill the ants) then there you go..