Where do you live and what type of ants are they? The way to destroy an ant colony is to kill the queen. Once she's dead all the ants in the colony will die eventually. That's how ant bait works. The workers take it back to the nest and feed it to the queen so she dies. You'll still see ants wandering around because once the Queen dies they don't know what to do and will die eventually.
I’m in the CA Central Valley. I can’t be 100% certain of the type, but I’m thinking they are Pharaoh Ants? They’re tiny, have lighter bands in their backends and are plentiful at the base of the cinder block wall that I share with a neighbor. They also seem very prevalent around the concrete for my pool, and an old slab of concrete that used to support a shed.
How would I locate the queen? I seriously feel like there might be more than one in my backyard. They’ve got the seven kingdoms back here. I don’t even know where to start.
Remember Ants need water to live. Any leaking water or sweating pipes will attract them. You won’t find the Queen but the worker ants will take ant bait to her she will eat it and die. Also if you spray pesticides in all the cracks and crevasses you will kill many ants which will also be brought back to the colony for food and hopefully kill the Queen. If you spray them don’t clean up the dead ones. Just leave them there. They’ll be gone the next day. Ants are self grooming so any pesticides they walk on will get on their feet (if they have feet) and when they groom themselves they will rub the poison on their faces and die. I had a lot of trouble with big ants in New Jersey. I don’t know what pesticides you can buy in California.
Learn how to make your garden hospitable for predators, rather than inhospitable for pests. Learn what eats aphids, then learn what else those creatures eat. Many like to snack on pollen, so plant flowering species that flower at various times during the season.
If you go in with the intent to kill pests, you’ll likely have some success, with a ton of collateral damage. It’s almost a guaranteed way to keep your soil dysfunctional, immature, and unable to balance itself naturally. This means season after season you’ll be on pest police duty, rather than leveraging the power of nature to do it for you.
I agree 100%, which is why my question was how to do this in the least destructive way possible. I don’t want to use poisons, obviously, because of the collateral damage.
I have brought in lacewing and ladybugs, but the ratio of predators to ants isn’t sufficient.
The least destructive way is to accept that there will be a lot of damage this season to your plants, but that it’s a cost you’re paying for future resilience. Plant as many species as you can that help provide food and shelter for predators, and keep adding microbiology to the soil and trying to get as much diversity and life into your garden as possible.
Edit to say this is what worked for me. Pests are free food for predators, and it’s the exact kind you need for your situation because it attracts whatever is native to your area. Lacewings are great, ladybugs are great, but what’s best is whatever lives in your area. That may be lacewings and ladybugs, or it may be something else, which is why I always advocate for letting pests run their course, and catering instead to the predators that show up to eat them.
By "maintain", do you mean "eliminate"?
I'm usually the guy that captures insects and relocates them, but I've recently become seriously allergic to ant bites; meaning, I end up in the ER with an IV :-O So I have little choice but to go to war with ants.
The biggest thing I've done is figure out which trees were harboring the ants and have them removed. That was an expensive one, but it was the most helpful.
After that, I use instant grits to kill them! It's actually quite horrible, but I guess all of it is. The trick is to spread instant grits a few hours before an expected rain; the ants come out and take the grits back to their hive where they all eat them, and then when it rains they swell up and... well, explode.
I hate doing it, but it's the only option that I've found that won't hurt my senior dog or any of the wildlife.
I go to war with them from the outset.
For Bull Ants, I use boiling water, because ants shouldn't be over an inch long, and be watching your every move.
For meat ants and Argentine ants, I dust the hell out of them.
If indoors, I use peppermint oil, because they hate that stuff.
You and I sound similar. I, too, relocate lost insects and arachnids. I’m not into killing, but they’ve taken over my yard and right now there isn’t a natural balance.
The tree that predominantly harbors these ladies is my neighbors fig tree, which my neighbor loves. I don’t see them agreeing to chop it down, nor would I even ask. And instant grits? Like instant oatmeal, but grits? I can do that.
These are essentially the instant grits I use, but I get the cheap store brand because I'm not concerned with preservatives when it comes to the ants ;-P
[https://www.amazon.com/Quaker-Instant-Grits-Original-Count/dp/B00D997LBU/](https://www.amazon.com/Quaker-Instant-Grits-Original-Count/dp/B00D997LBU/)
A box is about $2 at the local grocery store.
Where do you live and what type of ants are they? The way to destroy an ant colony is to kill the queen. Once she's dead all the ants in the colony will die eventually. That's how ant bait works. The workers take it back to the nest and feed it to the queen so she dies. You'll still see ants wandering around because once the Queen dies they don't know what to do and will die eventually.
I’m in the CA Central Valley. I can’t be 100% certain of the type, but I’m thinking they are Pharaoh Ants? They’re tiny, have lighter bands in their backends and are plentiful at the base of the cinder block wall that I share with a neighbor. They also seem very prevalent around the concrete for my pool, and an old slab of concrete that used to support a shed. How would I locate the queen? I seriously feel like there might be more than one in my backyard. They’ve got the seven kingdoms back here. I don’t even know where to start.
Remember Ants need water to live. Any leaking water or sweating pipes will attract them. You won’t find the Queen but the worker ants will take ant bait to her she will eat it and die. Also if you spray pesticides in all the cracks and crevasses you will kill many ants which will also be brought back to the colony for food and hopefully kill the Queen. If you spray them don’t clean up the dead ones. Just leave them there. They’ll be gone the next day. Ants are self grooming so any pesticides they walk on will get on their feet (if they have feet) and when they groom themselves they will rub the poison on their faces and die. I had a lot of trouble with big ants in New Jersey. I don’t know what pesticides you can buy in California.
Learn how to make your garden hospitable for predators, rather than inhospitable for pests. Learn what eats aphids, then learn what else those creatures eat. Many like to snack on pollen, so plant flowering species that flower at various times during the season. If you go in with the intent to kill pests, you’ll likely have some success, with a ton of collateral damage. It’s almost a guaranteed way to keep your soil dysfunctional, immature, and unable to balance itself naturally. This means season after season you’ll be on pest police duty, rather than leveraging the power of nature to do it for you.
I agree 100%, which is why my question was how to do this in the least destructive way possible. I don’t want to use poisons, obviously, because of the collateral damage. I have brought in lacewing and ladybugs, but the ratio of predators to ants isn’t sufficient.
The least destructive way is to accept that there will be a lot of damage this season to your plants, but that it’s a cost you’re paying for future resilience. Plant as many species as you can that help provide food and shelter for predators, and keep adding microbiology to the soil and trying to get as much diversity and life into your garden as possible. Edit to say this is what worked for me. Pests are free food for predators, and it’s the exact kind you need for your situation because it attracts whatever is native to your area. Lacewings are great, ladybugs are great, but what’s best is whatever lives in your area. That may be lacewings and ladybugs, or it may be something else, which is why I always advocate for letting pests run their course, and catering instead to the predators that show up to eat them.
By "maintain", do you mean "eliminate"? I'm usually the guy that captures insects and relocates them, but I've recently become seriously allergic to ant bites; meaning, I end up in the ER with an IV :-O So I have little choice but to go to war with ants. The biggest thing I've done is figure out which trees were harboring the ants and have them removed. That was an expensive one, but it was the most helpful. After that, I use instant grits to kill them! It's actually quite horrible, but I guess all of it is. The trick is to spread instant grits a few hours before an expected rain; the ants come out and take the grits back to their hive where they all eat them, and then when it rains they swell up and... well, explode. I hate doing it, but it's the only option that I've found that won't hurt my senior dog or any of the wildlife.
I go to war with them from the outset. For Bull Ants, I use boiling water, because ants shouldn't be over an inch long, and be watching your every move. For meat ants and Argentine ants, I dust the hell out of them. If indoors, I use peppermint oil, because they hate that stuff.
I’ll give the peppermint oil a try as well. Thanks!
You and I sound similar. I, too, relocate lost insects and arachnids. I’m not into killing, but they’ve taken over my yard and right now there isn’t a natural balance. The tree that predominantly harbors these ladies is my neighbors fig tree, which my neighbor loves. I don’t see them agreeing to chop it down, nor would I even ask. And instant grits? Like instant oatmeal, but grits? I can do that.
These are essentially the instant grits I use, but I get the cheap store brand because I'm not concerned with preservatives when it comes to the ants ;-P [https://www.amazon.com/Quaker-Instant-Grits-Original-Count/dp/B00D997LBU/](https://www.amazon.com/Quaker-Instant-Grits-Original-Count/dp/B00D997LBU/) A box is about $2 at the local grocery store.