The North Carolina ag extension agents have been giving classes in fire ant removal for a year or so. The gist of the class is the following. The effective way to remove fire ants is to poison the ants with any of the slow acting types that slowly get carried to the whole colony including the queen. This completely removes the colony AFTER A FEW WEEKS. Generally these are distributed around but not on the hill on a warm day when the ants are foraging. Put a potato chip near the mound if in doubt; if the ants don't show up in 30 minutes they won't be around to pick up the poison until it gets damp and unappatising. Also important; one should not indiscriminately poison all ants. Other ants are teritorial and will fight to keep fire ants away. They are your friends!

Go to your local garden center and purchase a canister of Amdro Fire Ant Bait granules. Read all of the directions carefully. Apply the granules according to the directions to a T. Do not disturb the mounds before or after or the ant will be less willing to take the bait. Stop using other poisons. Amdro works on the entire colony population but only if you follow the directions. Look for other mounds in the yard and sprinkle a small amount on any that you see. How many times have you been stung?

I had ants take up residence in a flower pot next to my pepper plants in pots, I noticed dirt piling on the outside from underneath, I slowly tip the pot over and used a broom and swept them away and kept tapping the broom at the bottom as more kept coming out. Sprinkled cinnimon powder all over the ground under where the pot sits. Also a little bit of windex sprayed on the bottom of the pot. No ants to be seen now. Mark

I live in SW Florida and we have no shortage of these pest! I've used many of the ant killers you get from Home Depot and other retailers with very little success! I hired a pest control who came out and liquid sprayed the entire yard but no clue what they used. In about two or three hours you couldn't find a fire ant and it stayed that way about three months..............then reinvestation! The pest control rep told me you CANNOT get rid of fire ants in the southern US because it is over infested and they move from location to location sometimes several times a day! Rain alone will force them to relocate to drier conditions but it doesn't kill them. You also have neighbors who could care less or are oblivious to their existance in which their ants will relocate to your property! The best you can hope for is CONTROL but you will NEVER achieve EXTERMINATION! I just read numerous articles where ORTHO has a great product and also ELIMINATOR had many recommendations. The pest control method isn't bad...........about $45-$80 a shot. Here's what I think............get the pest control and spray which will show 99% improvement within hours. Then make your way to Walmart and grab a couple bags of eliminator and broadcast the yard on a regular schedule which you'll have to determine by trial and error. Once you know about how often you need to broadcast, you should be able to get a pretty good grip on the situation however, keep in mind you will have to continue the process as long as you live in the southern US.........it's part of life here in the swamp!