Eric Acosta is quite correct that chitin exoskeletons are composed of
both protein and chitin. Protease enzymes will definitely promote the
breakdown of chin substrates such as crab and shrimp shell waste, etc.
They should do the same for the chitin exoskeletons of live insects. One
cheap way of making a "soup of proteolytic enzymes" that are capable of
breaking down protein is to make the Bug Juice described in our web
site.
When you add soil microorganisms (dirt) to the Juice, you are invariably
going to add Bacillus subtilis. This organism secretes 8 different kinds
of proteolytic enzymes and is responsible for the breakdown of organic
protein in the soil. Make some Bug Juice as described or modify the
formula to meet your specs and see if it works on fire ant colonies.
Also, try orange, or grapefruit juice. I don't know what orange oil is,
but I do know that orange juice, etc. contains a chemical that is a
pesticide. It is used in dog and cat flea soaps. I had a major ant
problem in rural Washington state and I used little trays of orange
juice to kill the ants. They are attracted to the sugar, but they are
killed as soon as they consume the OJ. Pouring OJ into fire ant colonies
is an interesting biocontrol procedure. It would be incredible if it
worked.
Drowning fire ant colonies doesn't work. The queen will invariably leave
and start a new colony. This is how fire ant colonies spread.
I have boxes of info on fire ants, but I haven't seen them in years.
I'll look for them.
Dr. Stephen Martin
Milly's Organics
http://www.viaweb.com/millysorganics
Dr. Martin: The orange oil I bought for the purpose of killing fire ants
is produced by processing the orange peelings and extracting the oil. To
say the least, it is expensive---$60 for a 1-gallon jug. That's why I
wanted to know how much to put in a gallon of liquid. Howard Garrett, our
organic guru here, has a web site but his recipe doesn't tell how much to
use. He recommends a mix of manure compost tea, molasses and orange oil.
My problem is to use sufficient to kill, but not so much as to break the
bank.
Barbara zone 7/8 southwest of Fort Worth
