Controlling fire ants in your yard is not always an easy task. It can be done with insecticides in the form of powders, liquids or bait traps. But if you want to remove fire ants naturally to avoid using chemicals in your yard, the experts at Organic Life offer the following solution to get rid of fire ants in your yard: BUCKETING.
Here’s what you need:
- Several large buckets
- Cornstarch baby powder or box of cornstarch
- Shovel
- Water (have a garden hose handy!)
- Dish soap
Wearing long pants tucked into your socks to help avoid any immediate contact with stinging fire ants, rapidly dig out the mound and about a foot of soil around and under the mound, dumping the soil with the ants into one or several large buckets. Only fill the buckets to half or 3/4ths full. You can sprinkle the bucket and shovel with a cornstarch-based baby powder or raw cornstarch to help keep the ants from climbing up the shovel and out of the bucket (but keep your Fire-Out handy, just in case you get a few stings!).
It is advised to dig up the mound when most of the ants are inside. In springtime, that will usually be mid-late morning, while in summer that is early morning. Be prepared to encounter a lot of fire ants once you start digging.
Once the mound is completely dug out and in the buckets (with the ants!), you can either drown the ants, or move the mound via the buckets to an area that will not be disturbed (just dump out the soil and ants at the new location). If you choose to drown the ants, add water from a hose, along with a generous squirt of dish soap, and stir to mix the soap throughout the mud in the bucket. It will typically take up to 24 hours for the ants to die.
For more ways to control fire ants, visit the Organic Life website.
