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club soda to kill fire ants??

16 years ago

I just received the following email. Does anyone know if this works or have you heard of it before?

FIRE ANTS

an environmentally friendly cure for fire ants has been announced by Walter Reeves on his Georgia Gardener radio program. Testimonial that it REALLY WORKS are coming in.

Simply pour two cups of CLUB SODA (carbonated water) directly in the center of a fire ant mound. The carbon dioxide in the water is heavier than air and displaces the oxygen which suffocates the queen and the other ants. The whole colony will be dead within about two days.

Here's the good side: club soda leaves no poisonous residue, does not contaminate the ground water, and does not indiscriminately kill other insects. Each mound must be treated individually and a one liter bottle of club soda will kill 2 to 3 mounds.

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Comments (5)

Kimmsr
16 years ago
This is one of those "boy, that sounds to good to be true" stories. This kind od sounds similar to feeding ants dry grits that will cause them to them swell up and explode, a nice story but something that does not happen.
What is the feeling about this from the people at your Texas A & M USDA Cooperative Extension Service office? These people have done considerable research in control of Fire Ants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fire Ants
southlatropical
16 years ago
In no way am I saying this is true but............My uncle told me that if you have two seperate mounds of fire ants. You and another person, each of you with shovals, scoop out about halfway down through the nests and then swap them. Supposedly the ants from the opposing nests will kill each other. Sounds far fetched but I may try it one day when I'm bored.
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One homemade remedy you might try: mix icing sugar half and half with baking soda. The sugar attracts the ants, the baking soda kills them. Apparently they cannot expel the gas it creates... Place the mixture in a narrow-ncked bottle (like a ketchup bottle or milk jug) on its side in the yard. Chickens should not be able to get the bait and I doubt it would harm them it they did. The ants will carry the bait back to the nest and it should wipe out the whole colony. If you do try this, please let me know how it works. It was some kid's science fair project and I have had good results using it... but would like to hear how it works for others.
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I think they dislike mints and tansy planted around the house. Ecosmart worked well for me. I have a cat and I refuse to spray chemicals especially in the kitchen. The bait to get to feed and kill the queen is called Terro. It is a liquid chemical that they drink and take back to the queen.You put a tiny amount on a piece of foil ( Ifind that is easier for the ants to walk on then the cardboard pieces that come on the back of the package. We get ants every spring. I only use it on the kitchen window sill or behind the kitchen sink. It works in about 3 days. Also I heard that they don't like hot peppers. Maybe you could put that around the mounds. I had an old lady friend that would pour boiling water on the mounds. That will kill some of them and just get them to move. Also they were biting my feet while I was sitting at the computer. I sprinkled baby powder down and that discouraged them. I had to reapply a few times and tehn they gave up. Good luck!
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I found a large colony of fire ants in my tomato bed. I thought at first it was localized then realized it follows the soaker hose I have lying in the bed. I'm trying the mint tea solution. I used 4 or 5 stalks of mint, chopped it an boiled it. I'll see if the ants even care. I just don't want to put poison in my vegetable area although by te time the plants grow enough to bear, the poison may be gone. Not sure how long it really lasts.. I'll put some poison out in the next day or 2 if the mint doesn;t do anything.
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I second the motion for Over N Out. We have used it for five years now. We apply it, according to package directions, in the early spring and will literally not see a single fireant until late fall. They always move back in during the winter. This early spring, we had mounds all over the place. We applied the Over n Out and within a week there was not a single one left. I got sick to death of getting eaten up every blessed time I was working in my gardens. This is the one and only product I have ever used that worked. It's not cheap, but it truly does work.
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ronalawn82
16 years ago
clinda62, the sting of the fire ant is probably due to formic acid and the soda is carbonic acid. It is feasible that some biochemical reaction between the two acids in the bodies of the ants will result in death.
If one accepts the proposition that the survival unit is the HIVE and not the individual BEE and extend this to the fire ant mound, the second control method is also credible.
The "transplants" will be treated as invaders and battle it out. There is bound to be a lot of casualties from such a skirmish.
Aside: Long ago and far away, an old farmer warned me to 'watch for caterpillars whenever there is lightning and thunder with no rain'. Over the years I observed this to be the case on the few occasions when the conditions occured. Of course caterpillar outbreaks happened in other and different conditions but 'the observation often precedes the science'.
shot
16 years ago
From his website Walter Reeves states he did not endorse this method, but was curious to see if it works.
Read link below.
Shot

Here is a link that might be useful: Walter Reeves Website
sweetolyve
16 years ago
Hi,

I happen to know that they definitely do not like mint. In the past, I have actually taken a shovel to them, dug into them until I found the larvae and killed them. So far this year, I haven't had a problem with them in my yard, but if they do show up, I'm going to make a "mint tea" to treat any mounds.

Hope this helps,

Olyveoil...(O:
>

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