A New Fire Ant Killer ???

T_Bone · Jul 16, 2008

Hi All,

Well I think were onto something here. We just had our first outbreak of fire ants inside the house this year. They come inside when the humidity raises up. Gees I hate them fire ants.

Anyway we heavely sprayed white vinegar on them and the surrounding area and no more fire ants for 3 days now. This sure beats Ortho ant & roach spray that I can't stand the smell of and vinegar is safe for our food where the ant spray isn't.

You might want to try this and see what results you get.

T_Bone

1936 · Jul 16, 2008

I have been told Tide soap the dry king sprinkled on the hill does the trick so spread it around the edge of your house. Mirex was king until the tree huggers got it banded.

Gun guru · Jul 16, 2008

The best stuff for ants that I know of is
Tempo SC, kills em good. Carpenter ants is what I used to have until I sprayed Tempo SC.

Red1 · Jul 16, 2008

(quoted from post at 12:11:56 07/16/08) I have been told Tide soap the dry king sprinkled on the hill does the trick so spread it around the edge of your house. Mirex was king until the tree huggers got it banded.

Mirex is toxic by mouth, by skin contact (especially liquid
formulations), and by inhalation of dust from powder concentrates. It
acts as a stimulant of the central nervous system.

Following accidental ingestion or over-exposure, symptoms may include
headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, weakness in the legs, and
convulsions.

Organochlorines can cause respiratory depression. They also sensitize
the heart to endogenous catecholamines leading to ventricular
fibrillation and cardiac arrest in severe cases.

Respiratory depression may lead to metabolic acidosis and, if
necessary, blood gases should be checked. The use of an ECG monitor
is recommended if the symptoms are severe.

tree hugger here

NCWayne · Jul 16, 2008

Look at the warning lable for just about any really good, "toxic" insect poison and I guarantee you it will read something similar to what you just wrote. Poison is designed to kill and it generally doesn't care what it kills, that's why the containers also contain instructions for humans to safely handle it. If someone is too stupid to wear the proper safety gear then they deserve whatever they get. On that note take a look throughout history at all the poisons, etc that actually worked and were "safe" to use for awhile only to be considered harmful later on. This always makes me wonder what's gonna happen in a few years when all the new "safe" products are found to be bad for us too.....

Stan in Oly, WA · Jul 16, 2008

Hi Wayne,

I think you're exactly right when you say that today's safe products replacing yesterday's toxic products will be tomorrow's toxic products and need to be replaced by new, "safe" products. It usually isn't that the information hasn't been there all along. It's that public safety is subordinate to private profit until the record of disaster becomes overwhelming.

I do think that your statement that anyone who is too stupid to read and follow safety directions deserves whatever they get is too harsh. Small children and animals can't read and follow safety instructions and I'm sure we've all failed at one time or another to be 100% vigilant about what children or animals in our care have managed to get into. Even if you want to characterize such adult behavior as stupid or negligent, wouldn't it be better if the innocent didn't have to suffer for it? The best situation would be if the products would do what they were primarily intended to do without posing substantial risk of unintended harm.

All the best, Stan

kito169 · Jul 16, 2008

I spread dry molasses that I buy from the feed store. It doesn't kill but they are gone within 15 minutes of application. Just sprinkle it around. It will last about a month unless it rains.

T_Bone · Jul 17, 2008

Well vinegar doesn't stop them from coming back over the same spot that others were killed at and will walk thru the liquid vinegar without any apparent immediate harm to them.

It still looks to be effective if you spray it directly on the ants, so maybe vinegar is a good ant spray for the yard around the house.

We mixed in some soap with the vinegar so we'll see how that does.

T_Bone

Red1 · Jul 17, 2008

(quoted from post at 14:41:28 07/16/08) Hi Wayne,

I think you're exactly right when you say that today's safe products replacing yesterday's toxic products will be tomorrow's toxic products and need to be replaced by new, "safe" products. It usually isn't that the information hasn't been there all along. It's that public safety is subordinate to private profit until the record of disaster becomes overwhelming.

I do think that your statement that anyone who is too stupid to read and follow safety directions deserves whatever they get is too harsh. Small children and animals can't read and follow safety instructions and I'm sure we've all failed at one time or another to be 100% vigilant about what children or animals in our care have managed to get into. Even if you want to characterize such adult behavior as stupid or negligent, wouldn't it be better if the innocent didn't have to suffer for it? The best situation would be if the products would do what they were primarily intended to do without posing substantial risk of unintended harm.

All the best, Stan

Wayne, the stuff stays around in the envirnment too long..

Mirex is one of the most stable and environmentally persistent
pesticides in use today. It is not biodegraded by microorganisms,
except occasionally under aerobic conditions, and hydrolysis is very
slow. Although general environmental levels are low, it is widespread
in the biotic and abiotic environment. [b:d9855883bf]Mirex is both accumulated and
biomagnified. It is strongly adsorbed on sediments and has a low
water solubility.[/b:d9855883bf]

The delayed onset of toxic effects and mortality is typical of mirex
poisoning. The long-term toxicity of mirex is uniformly high. It is
toxic for a range of aquatic organisms, crustacea being particularly
sensitive. Mirex induces pervasive long-term physiological and
biological disorders in vertebrates.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 17, 2008

Not saying it's the best, just that it's the best that has worked for me. The AMDRO works quite well. I'll have to try the white vineagar in the house. Haven't notice any fire ants, but have seen numerous ants in the house in the past. Also, the "Green Light" brand dust works real well when spread around the house or building from keeping the ants and etc. out.

Sunspot · Jul 17, 2008

(quoted from post at 13:16:43 07/17/08) The AMDRO works quite well.

saw birds eating it and then dieing. I quit using Amdro.

hay · Jul 18, 2008

many years ago, someone invented a 100% surefire fire ant killer. 2 blocks of short 2x4 wood. let ant crawl onto block "A" and then slam block "B" onto block "A" with a lot of force. 100% kill. i hink the gubberment took it off the market because of some silly rule. no poisons, no lingering smell, no residues and 100% safe around children.

Sean McDonnell · Jul 19, 2008

Not sure how well it works with fireants but a bleach/water mix does a good job with most insects. I've had trouble with wasps building nests in my boat and I heard about the bleach trick. Really pisses them off the first couple of days but it does send them packing in a week or so and they won't come back as long as the bleach smell is around.

A New Fire Ant Killer ???

T_Bone

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1936

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Gun guru

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Red1

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NCWayne

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Stan in Oly, WA

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kito169

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T_Bone

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Red1

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Anonymous-0

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Sunspot

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hay

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Sean McDonnell

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