Thanks, I missed that one and I'll (well my husband will) try
that idea. So I didn't try EVERYTHING, did I?
if it works. Yesterday was a bad day. The whole day as I'm
being bitten by ants (which left marks up and down my arms like
chickenpox) I had to listen to the whine/hum of my neighbor's
pool pump (which is only 20 feet from my garden. It runs all
day and all night all summer and unfortunately, its beginning
to break so its LOUD and miserable. I would love to be able
to hear a bird again! Maybe a pool owner can answer; do you
have to have the pump on 24 hours a day every day all summer?
Date: Wednesday, June 16, 1999 2:53 PM
Subject: Re: Ants (again!!)
hundred
> ants (rough estimate but no exageration) attack my arms.
>
> Did you try the trick someone sent in months ago - peeing on
them? Don't
> know if it works, but it should relieve your mind at least. He
swore (in
> Spanish) that it drives away ants.
> I did try pouring a cup or two of pee on an ants' nest here,
and it went. - JTT
Laura,
I had the same situation with my next door neighbor, only it was
year round. It was miserable to listen to that noise constantly. I
love listening to their children laugh & scream & play in the pool,
but that pump was driving me nuts. Luckily, their pump went out
this spring and they replaced it with an almost silent one. It is
heaven. I don't know if you could suggest it to them--that might be
a bit nervy--but maybe you can plant a seed with them that there
are new, quieter models on the market. Now if my other neighbor's
20-year-old air conditioner that sounds like a 747 reving up would
only get replaced with a newer quiet one!
Regarding the ants: I'm having a lot more ants this year in Dallas,
too. They get in my greenhouse, raised beds, compost. Mine are
mostly fire ants. I've mostly ignored them so far except that I
used a citrus oil mixture in the compost which worked well. I
didn't want to, but I couldn't go near it without being stung like
crazy. For those of you up north who haven't experienced fire ants,
you can't imagine how painful those stings are. They sting for
hours afterward and then develop into nasty blisters which continue
to itch and often leave a scar.
Anyway, Laura, last year I saved up a bunch of citrus peels in the
freezer intending to make a citrus tea for ants. The fire ant
mounds were everywhere and I didn't know how to make the tea so I
just chopped up the peels finely in the food processor and
sprinkled them around the mounds. The next day the ants were
gone--probably not far but they didn't make new mounds for at least
a couple of months so I considered it a success. The peels worked
better than any of the chemicals I've tried (in a previous life).
Maybe if you could somehow get enough citrus (spoiled citrus from
the grocery store?) to do a light broadcast around your yard you
could encourage them to go over to your noisy neighbor's house.
Dallas author Howard Garrett also recommends dried molasses or
fertilizers containing molasses which is supposed to repel them,
surprisingly. Fifty pound bags of dried molasses are available at
feed stores at a pretty reasonable price. (I paid $16 and only used
about 2/3 bag to cover slightly less than 1/2 acre.)
Wait a minute! Now that I think about it, I spread molasses
everywhere EXCEPT the greenhouse, raised beds & compost, and I'm
NOT seeing any fire ant mounds in the yard yet this year so maybe
it does repel them! I also don't have near the problem in the
house as I had last year. Oh, I hope you try this and tell us if it
works.
Good luck.
Ruth
Laura McKenzie wrote:
You wrote:
> Regarding the ants: I'm having a lot more ants this year in
Dallas,
> too. They get in my greenhouse, raised beds, compost. Mine are
> mostly fire ants. I've mostly ignored them so far except that
I
> used a citrus oil mixture in the compost which worked well
I have some dried peel around here somewhere. I'll blend it
up..
> For those of you up north who haven't experienced fire ants,
> you can't imagine how painful those stings are. They sting for
> hours afterward and then develop into nasty blisters which
continue
> to itch and often leave a scar.
And those of us who are allergic to them can get welts
larger than golfballs. My son had three bites on his foot last
year and couldn't walk for three days. I do think that maybe
these ants (whose bites are not as bad) are keeping the fire
ants across the street at bay. I just wish they wouldn't pick
my garden and be in every inch of it... thousands. It only
bothers me when I pull weeds but I'm attacked by the hundreds
when I do.
> Anyway, Laura, last year I saved up a bunch of citrus peels in
the
> freezer intending to make a citrus tea for ants. The fire ant
> mounds were everywhere and I didn't know how to make the tea
so I
> just chopped up the peels finely in the food processor and
> sprinkled them around the mounds. The next day the ants were
> gone--probably not far but they didn't make new mounds for at
least
> a couple of months so I considered it a success. The peels
worked
> better than any of the chemicals I've tried (in a previous
life).
> Maybe if you could somehow get enough citrus (spoiled citrus
from
> the grocery store?) to do a light broadcast around your yard
you
> could encourage them to go over to your noisy neighbor's
house.
I think they are all here because their lawn service sprays
insecticide over there. The nieghbors don't have anything but
lawn and I understand that most ants prefer not to live in
grass. (Except my crabgrass
idea too. I'll try it! If I could drive all the ants to my
apple trees instead, we'd both live happily. Hopefully I won't
have to pull as many weeds next year (I'm mulching like crazy
this year.)
> Dallas author Howard Garrett also recommends dried molasses or
> fertilizers containing molasses which is supposed to repel
them,
> surprisingly. Fifty pound bags of dried molasses are available
at
> feed stores at a pretty reasonable price. (I paid $16 and only
used
> about 2/3 bag to cover slightly less than 1/2 acre.)
> Wait a minute! Now that I think about it, I spread molasses
> everywhere EXCEPT the greenhouse, raised beds & compost, and
I'm
> NOT seeing any fire ant mounds in the yard yet this year so
maybe
> it does repel them! I also don't have near the problem in the
> house as I had last year. Oh, I hope you try this and tell us
if it
> works.
> Good luck.
> Ruth
Ruth, thanks for the sweet note!!!
Just had the same situation with my neighbor. I politely mentioned
the horrible noise. They hadn't noticed because they're never home
during the day. Can't imagine how they'd miss that clamor in the
evening, but anyhow, they called a pool service who came out and
diagnosed the noise as originating from bearings that were burning
out. He fixed it that day and life is blissful again.
Maybe you could politely inquire?
Good Luck!
@. .@ kitt@kaboodle.com
(\- -/) Scenic Calhoun Georgia.....
(.>__<.) .....it's not near anything
^^^ ^^^
He who can laugh at himself has an endless source of amusement
Laura:
I haven't found anything that fire ants won't live in! When I first
moved to Central Florida (from up north), I saw what I thought must be
armadillo mounds (about 12-15" high) in the beautifully manicured lawn of
the University of South Florida. I came to discover this these were fire
ant nests which are rife throughout that area. Nicely planted grass (all
types from Soyzia through Bluegrass and St. Augustine) doesn't seem to deter
them at all.
Your best bet is to encourage them to move to your neighbor's
property. I've found that nothing really gets rid of them, they will just
move. If you concentrate your efforts on one side of the nest (away from
you neighbor's) they should progressively move across the property line
until they become their problem.
Walker Bennett
wbennett@caldwellspartin.com
wabennett@gw.total-web.net
w_bennett@msn.com
Doing a job RIGHT the first time gets the job done. Doing the job WRONG
fourteen times gives you job security.
You wrote:
> Regarding the ants: I'm having a lot more ants this year in
Dallas,
> too. They get in my greenhouse, raised beds, compost. Mine are
> mostly fire ants. I've mostly ignored them so far except that
I
> used a citrus oil mixture in the compost which worked well
I have some dried peel around here somewhere. I'll blend it
up..
> For those of you up north who haven't experienced fire ants,
> you can't imagine how painful those stings are. They sting for
> hours afterward and then develop into nasty blisters which
continue
> to itch and often leave a scar.
And those of us who are allergic to them can get welts
larger than golfballs. My son had three bites on his foot last
year and couldn't walk for three days. I do think that maybe
these ants (whose bites are not as bad) are keeping the fire
ants across the street at bay. I just wish they wouldn't pick
my garden and be in every inch of it... thousands. It only
bothers me when I pull weeds but I'm attacked by the hundreds
when I do.
> Anyway, Laura, last year I saved up a bunch of citrus peels in
the
> freezer intending to make a citrus tea for ants. The fire ant
> mounds were everywhere and I didn't know how to make the tea
so I
> just chopped up the peels finely in the food processor and
> sprinkled them around the mounds. The next day the ants were
> gone--probably not far but they didn't make new mounds for at
least
> a couple of months so I considered it a success. The peels
worked
> better than any of the chemicals I've tried (in a previous
life).
> Maybe if you could somehow get enough citrus (spoiled citrus
from
> the grocery store?) to do a light broadcast around your yard
you
> could encourage them to go over to your noisy neighbor's
house.
I think they are all here because their lawn service sprays
insecticide over there. The nieghbors don't have anything but
lawn and I understand that most ants prefer not to live in
grass. (Except my crabgrass
idea too. I'll try it! If I could drive all the ants to my
apple trees instead, we'd both live happily. Hopefully I won't
have to pull as many weeds next year (I'm mulching like crazy
this year.)
