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!

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'.

I don't see a material data sheet (didn't spend long searching) for that product online. Most products like that do have such information readily available. Maybe it's just a little harder to find than some others. What does it say on the product label? In any event, I can't imagine that the product would have any negative effect on crops located outside the area where you applied it. As long as the plant isn't in the immediate area of application, there's no need to avoid eating it.

Orange oil, horticultural molasses and coffee ground work here too. Grasses and small bird sized berries have kept birds off my fruit. If you think about it a grape or a tomatoe is HUGE to a bird. In my garden birds prefer pokeberries,pigeon berries,sunflowers and grasses to the larger fruits. PJ