Triacicide. Of course they will return next year, in spite of that.

Spinosad in a bait form. There are different brands out there, but it's labeled for the veggie garden.

Sally

I'd take an oral antihistamine right away and use hydrcortisone on the bites. That was all that helped me when I knelt down on a bed of the buggers for a picture (I didn't see them or feel them until they all bit in unison..how do they do that?)

Pam

Suzi, you poor thing
Spinosad has worked well in the past
I picked up some Anti Fuego, it's a Garden-ville product
Seems to be working.

As for the bites, hugs to you. I can't do Benedryl(sp) but use Gold Bond Medicated cream

Here it is

Here is a link that might be useful: Anti Fuego

I am also very allergic to ants and mosquitos. Even after using the cremes they continue to itch. I recently found that Burts Bees Poison Ivy soap is absolutely miraculous. If I wash the bite with that stuff the swelling goes away within minutes and does not return. Try that for your bites.

Wonder what the three "waste products" are ---- anybody know????

I don't know what thier sting has in it. I am SO allergic to ants(ended up in the ER one fine time...)that even one bite can turn serious. Fortunatly, I respond well to benedril and a vingager compress. I was kind of afraid of coming to TX because my reaction to fire ants might prove more than my body could take. Especially with the "sneak attack" they have. Here's the good news! They can't sneak up on me. I'm so sentitive to whatever chemicals they have floating around I react to their feet! The minute a fire ant steps on my skin I welt up and start to burn. I haven't had more than 3 bites where a couple got past my sock at the same time. The bad news is if they ever like fall on me or something else awful I'm gonna be in sorry shape! PJ

Thanks Y'ALL!!!!!!

Instead of buying ant killer. Purchase a box of saltine crackers. Crumble the cracker and sprinkle over the ant pile. The salt in the cracker will make the ant explode.

I've been told that putting listerine onf the bit will help, some people say bleach also - but that must be done immediatly. I even heard toothpaste? Worth a try I guess!

~Angie~

The brand of spinosad I get from the nearby farm store is called, "Come 'n Get It."

As far as your ant bites go, any kind of anti-itch ointment/cream should help the itching, but for the allergic reaction - Benadryl cream.

I have used Crest toothpast for bull nettle, but never tired it for ant bites. Thank goodness I am not allergic, or I would be in the hospital right now. I know I have over 50 bites on my hands, arms, feet and legs. We have been using beneficial nemetodes to control the ants, this seemed to work. After all the rains, ant mounds popped up everywhere in our yard, and beds. I waited 3 days, before I got some ortho ant killer, and put on top of each mound. The ants were making mounds on top of my daylily plants, I did not know what else to do, I wanted something that would kill them fast. I did not know about the hugh mound that formed overnight in the middle of the yard, I was standing on top of it when I was putting out the ortho, that is how I got so many bites. I sure hoped it worked and did not kill the nemetodes. Barbra

I know how you feel - several sprang up in my yard the day the ran stopped! I think I preferred the rain!
~Angie~

I've used baking soda for bites & stings.

To get rid of fireant mounds, I mix an ounce of orange oil & a squirt of liquid dish soap into a gallon of water & pour the entire gallon over an undisturbed mound.

(If the mound has been disturbed, worker ants can carry eggs away & make new queens & new mounds.)

It kills them within an hour or so.

Be sure to get orange *oil*, not an "orange oil product";
you want the concentrated stuff.

It costs about $8 to $11 a bottle, but the bottle lasts a long time, since you're using it by the ounce.

For the bites, I use "Skeeter Stik". It takes the sting out right away. Its in a white tube with black writing on it, a little bigger than a common glue stick. I got mine at WALMART. I keep them everywhere.
Fire ants & other bad bugs don't like dried molasses. Keep it spread in your garden. It's good food for your soil too. I spread it on my grass monthly in the hot months too.

My husband went to Turners nursery in Corpus and bought the orange oil, but he poured it directly on top of the mound, and it did not do anything, I checked the next day and they were still alive. I hated to put down the ortho, especially after my husband had just sprayed all those nematodes. My husband feels that using chemicals in our yard, was the reason our dogs got cancer, and heart failure, so he is totally against chemicals, but I felt I had no other choice. I put it out right before we left to go home. I will check this weekend to see if it even worked. Barbra,

honneybun,How strange!! I used sylvia's method and they are deader n' ****. I did the happy dance. I mixed the whole mess in a bucket and poured it right on the mounds. Maybe the straight oil can't penetrate the nest very well???? The water,dishsoap and ounce of orange oil worked great.PJ

PJ, we just got back from the coast, and we do not have ants, I think maybe its a combination of everything we did. I will pass on the mixing instructions to my husband, so he can do it the correct way. The good news is we found the orange oil is $2 cheaper at Turners nursery in Corpus Christi, than what we pay at Lock Hill Feed store, in San Antonio. They also had the double purple duranta, and I was lucky enought to get 3 of them. Barbra,

For skeeter bites and ant bites, I apply tea tree oil. Stops the itching almost immediately and the welp is gone in about 2 hours. You can get tea tree oil in a little bottle in the vitamin/supplement section at Wal-Mart or at a health food store.