We had a nest of fire ants that almost killed a litter of blue tic hounds that were born in our barn in Louisiana. They attacked the puppies eyes, mouth and nose. It was terrible, and in just one day we lost half the litter before we found the disaster.
Thanks for this. Fire ants arrived in middle Tennessee about 15-20 years ago and they just keep getting worse. My husband uses wasp spray on them but it's not great stuff. I have gotten them to move by dumping used coffee ground on their mound. They don't like it and move - I chased them out of my old place by just dumping more grounds where ever they popped up again. Bonus: coffee grounds act as a fertilizer.
I know a man who drilled holes in a three-foot heavy-gauge steel pipe, almost like making a drip sprinkler pipe, then he turned it vertically and sledged it about halfway down into the middle of the hole. He let it sit until the ants left the pipe alone, then he poured boiling water down the pipe with a funnel and boiled/steamed the entire mound. Try any combination of water and viinegar mixed with peppermint oil, tea tree oil, orange oil, or lemon juice, or mix them all together.
Another remedy: I live in Texas as well and the best thing I have used for years is grits. The ants eat it, the grit swells up and kills them and the whole mound even the queen dies. Sometimes it might take two applications but rarely. I usually use half a box or if the mound is really big a full box. If it rains close after you applied an application it will dissolve the grits so you’ll need to do it again. This works 100% of the time is no toxic and no mixing and spraying.
I’m in Florida and I use the grits method. To hurry it along I use a long stick to carefully poke a few holes into the mound then put the raw grits on top and around the edges. This works great for me. Best of luck to everyone dealing with this.
We are in south Georgia, and yes -- fire ants in the garden beds. Last time I weeded, I disturbed a nest I did not see and got eaten up: hands were covered with fire ant bite "pimples" and were sore for days. THANK YOU for this recipe and information. Going to get these ingredients today.
Hey, just got eaten up today and found something that works amazing for the bites. Boil a little bit of water and add 2 cloves, mint, basil and rosemary mix it and let it soak. Take the liquid and add it to coconut oil, mix it really good, if you have a bottle shake it vigorously and it also works for mosquito bites and a repellant. (My bite bumps stopped itching and the bump is barely visible.
Valdosta, here. So, I feel your pain. A nurse told me she uses hair spray to cool the burning pain. Apply as needed. Bursting the bumps with a sterilized needle lessens scaring.✌️
They are a problem in Tennessee, too. I have been using boiling water, but I can't manage to get the queen as they keep coming back in the same spot. So many large mounds! I will try this. Thanks!
An exterminator told me to wet the nest down with water. Dissolve powdered tide with water and pour it down the nest. Worked every time I used it. He stressed powered tide not liquid.
Boiling water works well and goes strait down quickly plus you only need little less than 2 liters for an 2x2 ant nest. We use electric water kettle, this is Non toxic and affordable.
Borax mixture: 1/2 cup sugar, 1.5 tablespoons borax, 1.5 cup warm water. Mix until blended. Place small amounts a water bottles with holes to allow the ants to enter. Refresh the treatment weekly until there is no activity. Non toxic and can be treated in gardens.
@@chetmcevers807450/50 doesn't work well..the ants will not eat it because they can tell there is to much borax..added small amounts of borax "sneaks" it into there food supply..what this guy is doing only kills the ants it's touching..killing the queen does the most damage the fastest
Michigan here. I have several kinds of ants. The ones I'm talking about are a smaller kind of red ant. I've never been bitten, but they have killed two really nice roses, and are trying for a third. They tunnel under the rosebush and excavate a big room right under the bush. This causes the rose roots to hang down into space and dry out. I've learned that if I see my rose looking "poorly" that I should poke around. There isn't much above ground to clue me in, and the rose leaves obscure the little entrance hole next to the trunk. I don't know what they're trying to accomplish. I've tried to drown them and I've tried diatomaceous earth. They just set up shop a few feet away. Eventually they come back. I'm a committed organic gardener but admit to losing it and using a can of Raid. I swear the D.E. doesn't kill them. I have another really mean big dark brown ant who waits on a sunflower leaf next to the garden path, and grabs onto me and bites fast. Only one of them but he got the Raid. I figure the little red ants hired him to be the enforcer!
I have found borax mixed at 1 tablespoon to 5 granulated sugar ratio and 1/4 cup of water mix well spread over ant mound and they will be gone✌️ I am going to try your recipe too!
Fire ants eat meat, and here's what works for me: 1/4 tsp boric acid mixed with a can of potted meat, spoonfuls tossed around the mound. It took care of a mound 18" high in just a couple weeks. I had to use 2 or 3 cans but they are completely gone.
@@tressastanton1300 No, I tried a sweet mixture and they rejected it. My method worked, because fire ants eat protein, and there was no smell because it was outside!
I could try the gelatin mixture, but my neighbor (who alerted me to the presence of the mounds in my raised beds) has outdoor cats who would probably get into the treated meat, and I don't want to hurt his cats. I think I'll try the water/Dawn/Orange oil mix. There aren't any food plants growing right now, and by the time I'm planting seedlings in spring the treatment will be broken down in the soil enough to be harmless to them.
Pete try using ground cinnamon, spread it over the ground and in the pots and you can water it in as the cinnamon disorientates their senses and they will disappear and won't come back
I have many times done this to fire ant bites and the pustules don’t form. As quickly wet the area and generously sprinkle with unseasoned steak tenderizer then let it dry. The pain will subside and the only result the next day is a slight redness where bit. No painful pustules unless you miss a bite with treatment.
Pete, I'm in Georgia so we have fire ants about as bad as Texas. In the yard, I have found Bayer Advanced pellets work great for 3 months or so, but that is a real pesticide and needs to be respected as such. I like to spread it right before a good rain and those beds do not seem to move but are dead. I will not use anything like that in the garden though. Fertilome makes a Spinosad based product that is safe for direct use in the garden and I've had very good results with that. It's called "Fertilome's Come and Get It Fire Ant Bait". It is a granular product that the ants think is food and they take it back inside the mound where it usually kills the mound and queen in a few days. I found your orange oil and dawn formula interesting and I will give it a try next time I have fire ant mounds start to show up. I bet that orange soap mixture would also make a excellent cleaner and degreaser for equipment as well. Thanks!!!
I have been using the Fertilome bait too but I don’t see the ants grabbing it and taking it inside their mounds so I’m not sure if it’s working, some of the ant mounds where I sprinkled the Fertilome are empty after a couple of weeks but the weird thing is that the product was still scattered on the original mounds and new mounds popped up elsewhere on my garden, around the edges of my flower beds, around and in between the driveway wood floor dividers, it is so frustrating to deal with these ants, they sure are a pest! I’ve been pouring boiling water with our tea kettle and treat a few mounds with that about a week ago, they seemed to have died but yesterday morning I saw new mounds all over our driveway, every time there’s rain on the forecast I see new mounds somewhere on our garden so I’ll give the soap and orange oil mixture a try🤞🏻
Hello Pete, my sons do this to get control of the fire ant mounds...it takes two people and two shovels. Take as much as your shovel will hold of the mound of each fire ant. Do two at the same time, then dump the fire ant mound that's on your shovel on the other mound where the other person has shoveled up that top of the mound. And visa versa with the other shovel. They will fight each other and kill the other ants. It's amazing to watch! in a couple of days do the same thing if you have another mound. Usually they leave or die out. Now your way is faster and we will try it. The amount of rain we have had has brought them into our back yard. We got rid of five mounds with our method. We do have a very large colony of red ants and they too kill and eat the fire ants. We also have lizards that feed on them. We see them at the very edge far away from the colony of fire ants and they pick them off one by one. It's always something isn't . GOD bless you and your family.
I'll bet there is SATISFACTION in doing it this way!! Watch them kill each other off!!! 😜 I have so many colonies...I have to watch where I step or ELSE!!! Zingo! Ouch! They sure hurt!!! 😬
I do this as well. But don't stay around to watch the war. Lol. I also sometimes use equal parts sugar, water and borax. Outside pour it directly into the middle of the mound. Inside the house, soak cotton balls in the solution, squeeze out excess solution and place balls in drawers and cabinets. Works pretty good!
Cut the bottom out of a second 5 gal bucket. Forcefully push this bucket over fire ant mound and add appropriate amount of soap/orange oil for mound kill.
In NW Louisiana I have been using Dawn and hot water for years. Works great! After pouring it you immediately start seeing dead ants all over what’s left of the mound. There will be dark spots of hundreds/thousands of dead ants. I have never used Orange Oil with it though. From what I understand the soap coats the ants exoskeleton and they suffocate.
Thanks. and an FYI. A quick help for fire ant bites. ASAP (seconds count) scrub with Comet Cleanser. The abrasive opens the bite and the chlorine neutralizes the poison.
I get my orange oil from Lowes.The mix does work.I find that I have to do the ant hill maybe two times ,a few days apart and I never see them again in that spot
Thank you for the suggestion. I live in Arkansas in the delta region and the soil is sandy and loose. On top of a fire ant mound with just the force from my arm I can push down into these mounds 3 feet easily so they go much farther. I have tried every non toxic remedy and not one has worked even to a small degree except boiling water which kills the grass and all the biological matter sterilizing the soil so nothing will grow. And I want to say again that none of the non toxic methods work . Maybe your ants are different but I don't think so . If anyone else reads this I appreciate it and want you all to do some research because these ants are all related they do not fight one another as one person claims. And water does not bother them . They came here from the tropical yes wet and sometimes flooded for weeks forests of South America. I have collected many in 5 gal buckets and they just float around for weeks until they find a way out. If it were that easy to control them we would not have this epidemic. They are dangerous to pets and small children. Like I said try doing research before you give claims . Sorry if the truth hurts.
@@justkim5476I will try these. They bite me everytime I go in the garden. They are viscous. And make sores. We are in the upper Arkansas river valley in Arkansas.
I have successfully used the Dawn/orange oil method many times since discovering it a year or two ago. I did have to repeat it in one particularly troublesome container, but the demons finally took the hint and either died or left. IDK, but they were out of my container!
I’m in SW Kansas and we have a variety of fire ants here, and the safe non toxic remedies don’t kill the WHOLE colony that us underground. I use Amdro and Hi-Yield fire ant poison. I would rather not use poison in my yard, but I don’t enjoy getting bit when I walk through the yard or have my dogs get bit. I do all I can to protect the spiders except brown recluse, mantises, bees and wasps, and other insects, but nothing preys on fire ants.
We have a major problem with fire ants in Florida, too! I do the same with the mower, but they build back BIGGER! I will definitely try all suggestions offered, I’m tired of getting bitten.
Picked up a bag of compost yesterday and little did I know they were all under it. They were all over my arms in no time. I grabbed the hose and drenched myself fast!! Welps and bites all over my hands and arms today!
FYI: It appears that the orange oil you linked to has changed its formulation, as its primary ingredient is now castor oil. For actual orange oil product, look for "100% Pure Grade D-Limonene". I have ordered another brand of orange oil and am hoping your solution works. I am a vegetable gardener in South Georgia and am very hopefull your solution works--fire ants are a major problem around here!! I have subscribed to your channel--many thanks for your content!
I use a bucket of water and about a quarter cup of blue liquid dishwashing soap. Pour it on the mound. It works. No harsh chemicals and i dont have to worry about my dogs eating or walking through pesticides.
Moved to N.C. from Philadelphia a couple years ago, an had my first encounter with fire ants a few days after moving in. Much to my horror they were all over my legs, stinging, to which I had an allergic reaction, ending up at Dr. office. From that day on it has been war, I have tried several things, none work except the chemical one which I cant use in garden. Looking forward to trying your method.😊
That seems like a pretty good solution for a fire ant problem. Another thing Dawn dish soap is pretty good for is in a home made weed killer. A gallon of white vinegar, a cup of salt or so, and a few table spoons of Dawn blue dish soap. Mix and put in a sprayer and spray. Just not on plants or flowers you don't want to kill.
I put down dry and molasses in my yard three years ago. I haven’t had one mound since my neighbor has a ton of ant mounds so just last week I went and bought two more bags of dried molasses at the farmers store. If you Google it you will find that it is good for your soil and also gets rid of fire ants. It doesn’t kill them,, but it did deter them.
I had major problem with fire ants in my Florida yard. I wish I'd known about this concoction then. We also had a major problem with them invading the switch box for our irrigation pump. I have a feeling using this stuff in the ground around the box would have helped with that problem, too.
I was working in South Georgia as a young man in the 70s. The company had a fire ant problem in the field behind our building and naturally the guy at the bottom got the job to treat them with the (now known to be) carcinogenic powder. I tried my best not to breathe the stuff, but I still wonder if it will catch up to me one of these days.
I think you'll be okay after all these years. I worked on an old rental property I had back in the 90s that had what I thought was old linoleum flooring in the kitchen from the fifties. I tore it out to later find out it was asbestos.
I found a recipe using the orange oil and a strong vinegar to kill weeds. It worked on sage brush so I figure it will work on other weeds. I will try this on ants!!!
Try orange peels soaked in vinegar for several days. I put them in baggies in fridge. I have lived in my house for 11 years (CA desert) and I only had them come into the house (kitchen) twice in the last year. It works. It takes a couple of days, the most recent time it took 3 days. They entered through some unseen opening between the door threshold and the door frame, came across the entire kitchen floor and found whatever they were looking for where I chop vegetables and prepare meals everyday. So I had to run orange peels from the back door all the way to the cutting board area. I also put a few at the threshold of the door outside. So it's a mess for a day or two but nothing toxic involved. My chow and chickens were not interested at all. Possibly the vinegar. The first time it happened I only put the orange peels on the outside part of the door threshold and around the steps at the entryway. It worked in a day. When I first started getting inundated with red ants outside several years ago, the others (black) we are familiar with just disappeared. I occasionally watch them fight but the black ones just walked away. The reds are very aggressive and you definitely know when you've been bitten especially on the ankles or lower legs or hands. When our country first got infected (I think it was through Florida), they warned us this would happen and it did. Like the bees. Which also came from Sourh America as I recall. I have no idea the extent of the damage this is done to our farming and environment. Outdoors in front yard I do use those tiny yellow pellets (toxic). Only takes a day or less and the pellets allegedly are inert in under 30 days. Little buggers (from tiny to large) love the yellow pellets and take them back home right away. I put a few pellets (1tsp max) directly on top of mound and down hole. No new colony nearby.
We call Black Widows redbacks here in Australia. Thank you for this remedy. The people in the state of Queensland are being sprayed and baited so much, and the animals and environment etc is being poisoned as well
VERY tough to regrow in the areas where you pour this stuff! been growing certified organic for 18 yrs.... we DO NOT use this anymore because of the negative effects.....
I never heard of this concoction. Now when I lived in Florida i tried different ways and there was a company called Fire Ant control and with a ATV they would spread a mixture of soybean and other ingredients from a bag. They charged me $200 to do my 4 acres. The bad thing it only lasted 6 months and if my neighbors didn't do it too then they tunneled back. I did get my neighbors to do it too. I even bought Bifen from Amazon, either liquid or granular. I got stung quite a bit and once had to throw my shoes away.
Decades ago on GPTV, I watched an old show, the dutch gardener. (or something like that.) He had a formula for not only getting rid of fire ants, but deterring them from returning. I bought all his booklets at the local garden shop and it worked. However, I have lost the recipe. If someone out there knows it, post a reply to share. The secret ingredients were Murphy's Oil Soap, Urine, and hot water. It ran the ants away for years.
If you have a rock in the yard or a wire close to the ground a vehicle that has not been moved in a few days they will build there. Something about the heat build up. Or maybe protection from rain. Farm equipment is a real good place to find them.
Got bitten up yesterday. My foot is still swollen. I couldn’t do anything with them other than soaking the area because it was at the bottom of my lime tree.
We have fire ants here too. I usually disturb them if in the garden till they move. If a couple mounds are close enough I intagate an ant war and at least one mound will lose. I'll try your solution. Thanks.
That seems like a lot 5 gallons and only three little hills here in coastal South Carolina the mounds are huge and I mowed my back 2 acres yesterday and counted 65 hills
I'd think the soap acts like a surfactant to break up the ability of the "hairs" on their body to repel liquid. Plus, they can't move well. Then the orange oil deals the killing blow.
We are totally going to try this. Apparently, I’ve developed an allergy to them after getting bit about 50 times while turning the compost pile. I carry an epi-pen because of these little demons. We’ll be getting that orange oil right away. Thanks!!
Hey, just got eaten up today and found something that works amazing for the bites. Boil a little bit of water and add 2 cloves, mint, basil and rosemary mix it and let it soak. Take the liquid and add it to coconut oil, mix it really good, if you have a bottle shake it vigorously and it also works for mosquito bites and a repellant. (My bite bumps stopped itching and the bump is barely visible.) It's pretty bad here in TN.
I need to try this. My garden is covered with weed fabric and the ants are taking up about 1/3 of the space. Can't plant anything there until I get the ants out. Thanks
Can I also use this mixture ratio in a pump sprayer? The ants are lining my drive way. And now they’re mounding up all around the edges of the yard and driveway crevices. 😮
@@petebeasttexashomesteading Oh, it’s going to take a week to get the oil from Amazon. I can’t find it at any stores around me…so far. Any ideas where to get it in my hands today?
I’m going to try this. I have tried all the things from grits to Amdro that have never worked. My best luck has been Ortho with the yellow cap. It is stinky and toxic to everything. Near Nacogdoches.
I have one pesky ant pile in my raised bed but they don't move! They will leave but just in a different area of the bed! I want to be able to dig in my bed without being ate up!
Fire ants have multiple openings to their colony. So if you hit one and they appear to move, they are frequently there in the same colony, just using a different ‘back door’ so to speak. I tend to agree with the not using chemicals specially in the garden but I might make one suggestion- it’s recommended by Texas A&M and we have a big problem with those guys over here too (fire ants, not necessarily the Aggies - although….😅) Anyhow they don’t recommend a brand but they recommend what they call the Texas two-step - and a direct poison. I’d like to eliminate the direct poison and just use the bait. it’s fairly innocuous and you don’t have to put it in the garden. I always put it on rocks and places out of the reach of animals but animals don’t tend to go for it. It’s very effective for fire ants - the one I use is Amdro. The imported fire ants are extreme foragers so you don’t have to put it directly on the mound - I put mine around the air conditioner because they love that kind of thing - and then in places that aren’t going to get dew. They will come and get it so an application lasts longer. PLUS it works in the dry summer when their mounds are no longer visible. I understand if you’re opposed to that but I just thought I’d put that out there. Is VERY effective.
Texas Parks and Wildlife pores boiling water over a mound in the early morning when the ants bring the eggs to the surface. No poison but effective. You just have to keep up with it.
Ive never heard this but going to try it out as soon as i get some orange oil. On a side note, why are cactus in the greenhouse? They look like prickly pears and they are cold hardy as i have it everywhere on my central texas property. It regually gets into the low teens and even as low as 0 during rhe hard freeze a couple of yeara ago.
Yep they are prickly pear cactus that I ordered from the island of Malta. I'll be moving/transplanting the cactus out into my orchard soon to their permanent home.
Someone gave me a big bottle of hand sanitizer , that came from Walmart, brand, I hated that smell so I poured it on a big fire ant mound next to my mailbox, and, WoW,, it killed all the ants,,❤
I’m wondering the same, I’d like to use an alternative to Dawn liquid soap, especially now since they’ve changed the fragrance of all their classic regular blue liquid soap to an even more offending fragrance😣 either way there’s endocrine disruptors in all synthetic fragrance used in all kinds of household products and cosmetics. I’m thinking if the soap in the mix is use as an emulsifier to disperse the orange oil then any other soap like Dr Bronners will work, if anyone knows or has done it and can drop a reply in the comments to let us know that would be really appreciated😊
Another way - Fipronil (slow acting) ant bait, mixed with a small amount of catfood. Let the bait soak in the fipronil, and then place it where the ants can get it. Use foil or something to shield the bait from bees, or other beneficial insects. You can find fipronil in roach killer, and even "frontline". Since its slow acting, it exploits the social behaviors of ants as they bring the bait back to their nest. It kills the queen, the babies, and does so in 1-3 days. The same bait can be used without catfood for sweet ants like carpenter ants. They all have a scent trail, with various classes of ants to establish the trail Look for "scouts" if you dont know the source, and put some bait on their trail. If pets eat fipronil, they may enjoy flea and tick protection for a few days, but should be fine. .
We had a nest of fire ants that almost killed a litter of blue tic hounds that were born in our barn in Louisiana. They attacked the puppies eyes, mouth and nose. It was terrible, and in just one day we lost half the litter before we found the disaster.
Thanks for this. Fire ants arrived in middle Tennessee about 15-20 years ago and they just keep getting worse. My husband uses wasp spray on them but it's not great stuff.
I have gotten them to move by dumping used coffee ground on their mound. They don't like it and move - I chased them out of my old place by just dumping more grounds where ever they popped up again. Bonus: coffee grounds act as a fertilizer.
I know a man who drilled holes in a three-foot heavy-gauge steel pipe, almost like making a drip sprinkler pipe, then he turned it vertically and sledged it about halfway down into the middle of the hole. He let it sit until the ants left the pipe alone, then he poured boiling water down the pipe with a funnel and boiled/steamed the entire mound.
Try any combination of water and viinegar mixed with peppermint oil, tea tree oil, orange oil, or lemon juice, or mix them all together.
yeah the boiling water you have to use over and over and over again.....
Another remedy: I live in Texas as well and the best thing I have used for years is grits. The ants eat it, the grit swells up and kills them and the whole mound even the queen dies. Sometimes it might take two applications but rarely. I usually use half a box or if the mound is really big a full box. If it rains close after you applied an application it will dissolve the grits so you’ll need to do it again. This works 100% of the time is no toxic and no mixing and spraying.
YES!!! I just heard about this the other day!
I’m in Florida and I use the grits method. To hurry it along I use a long stick to carefully poke a few holes into the mound then put the raw grits on top and around the edges. This works great for me. Best of luck to everyone dealing with this.
Makes sense…grits will swell you up😊
Will grits hurt birds?
Hey Ya’ll! Pretty good news right here! Bye-Bye Fire Ants! 🔥 🐜 🐜 🐜
We are in south Georgia, and yes -- fire ants in the garden beds. Last time I weeded, I disturbed a nest I did not see and got eaten up: hands were covered with fire ant bite "pimples" and were sore for days. THANK YOU for this recipe and information. Going to get these ingredients today.
Hey, just got eaten up today and found something that works amazing for the bites. Boil a little bit of water and add 2 cloves, mint, basil and rosemary mix it and let it soak. Take the liquid and add it to coconut oil, mix it really good, if you have a bottle shake it vigorously and it also works for mosquito bites and a repellant. (My bite bumps stopped itching and the bump is barely visible.
@@FindingCartman You can also put moistened tobacco on those and wasp stings.
Put ammonia on bites asap. Takes the sting away immediately.
Valdosta, here.
So, I feel your pain.
A nurse told me she uses hair spray to cool the burning pain.
Apply as needed.
Bursting the bumps with a sterilized needle lessens scaring.✌️
I apply cayenne pepper mixed with water to form a paste. Let dry. It really helps with the pain involved. Just don't get in the eyes!
They are a problem in Tennessee, too. I have been using boiling water, but I can't manage to get the queen as they keep coming back in the same spot. So many large mounds! I will try this. Thanks!
See my comment on grits. I’ve been using them for over 10 years and it kills the whole mound. No need to worry about them moving they’re all dead.
Also add borax to the water boron is poison to all insects not people pets birds etc
An exterminator told me to wet the nest down with water. Dissolve powdered tide with water and pour it down the nest. Worked every time I used it. He stressed powered tide not liquid.
Boiling water works well and goes strait down quickly plus you only need little less than 2 liters for an 2x2 ant nest. We use electric water kettle, this is Non toxic and affordable.
Our fire ants do not make that small a mound, they can go down 80' easily
Yes, I boil them out with soapy water, but be careful.
That has never worked on our fire ants.
An old fashioned method that works!
That never worked for me
Borax mixture: 1/2 cup sugar, 1.5 tablespoons borax, 1.5 cup warm water. Mix until blended. Place small amounts a water bottles with holes to allow the ants to enter. Refresh the treatment weekly until there is no activity. Non toxic and can be treated in gardens.
This will not kill the baby ants that are always hatching. I use this recipe with cheapo waffles -add it to your water bottles.
I do 50/50 and make it clumpy instead of runny and spread around mound. Use very little water.
BORAX IS TOXIC TO PEOPLE AND ANIMALS !!!!!
Borax is a Neuro toxin. Please use sparingly around food plants.
@@chetmcevers807450/50 doesn't work well..the ants will not eat it because they can tell there is to much borax..added small amounts of borax "sneaks" it into there food supply..what this guy is doing only kills the ants it's touching..killing the queen does the most damage the fastest
Michigan here. I have several kinds of ants. The ones I'm talking about are a smaller kind of red ant. I've never been bitten, but they have killed two really nice roses, and are trying for a third. They tunnel under the rosebush and excavate a big room right under the bush. This causes the rose roots to hang down into space and dry out. I've learned that if I see my rose looking "poorly" that I should poke around. There isn't much above ground to clue me in, and the rose leaves obscure the little entrance hole next to the trunk. I don't know what they're trying to accomplish. I've tried to drown them and I've tried diatomaceous earth. They just set up shop a few feet away. Eventually they come back. I'm a committed organic gardener but admit to losing it and using a can of Raid. I swear the D.E. doesn't kill them. I have another really mean big dark brown ant who waits on a sunflower leaf next to the garden path, and grabs onto me and bites fast. Only one of them but he got the Raid. I figure the little red ants hired him to be the enforcer!
😂
We don’t have fire ants in Michigan. None
Michigan does not have fire ants. These are an aggressive invasive species of ants. Alabamian here, these ants are a nuisance.
😂😂😂😂 your wimpy ants don't have ANYTHING on the fire ants we have in the south
Dang smart ant, or was😆😆😆
I am going to try this! I have buried old onions in their mounds and it works! Takes a few weeks and they are gone. I cut the onion up before hand.
yes they are gone........to another location.....
I have found borax mixed at 1 tablespoon to 5 granulated sugar ratio and 1/4 cup of water mix well spread over ant mound and they will be gone✌️ I am going to try your recipe too!
Orange oil has worked very well for me. Use it in the morning or evening when the ants are in the mound.
We had them when we lived in AZ, I would blend up whole oranges and pour on the mounds and that worked too
How about lemon ,you think it will work too?
@@Turmeric77
Yes, any citrus
@christinemccoy4471 thank you! I will Try this ,our green house is filled with big red ants.
This also works with peppermint oil and dawn.
Thank you. I just found the first ant bed in my raised garden beds today. This will come in handy in Katy.
Going to try it. Thanks. Plenty of fireants here in Florida.
Suggest creating a berm around the ant mount on the fabric to keep the formula from draining away so quickly.
WHATS A BERM???
I used this combo a few years ago, and added molasses to it, had a lot of trouble finding the orange oil. It worked, but they just moved the mound
If they moved you didnt kill the queen
Fire ants eat meat, and here's what works for me: 1/4 tsp boric acid mixed with a can of potted meat, spoonfuls tossed around the mound. It took care of a mound 18" high in just a couple weeks. I had to use 2 or 3 cans but they are completely gone.
Gelatin works, too, since it is a protein, and mix that with borax.
That may work as well but this has no smell and isn’t as messy. Ants eat almost anything really
@@tressastanton1300 No, I tried a sweet mixture and they rejected it. My method worked, because fire ants eat protein, and there was no smell because it was outside!
I could try the gelatin mixture, but my neighbor (who alerted me to the presence of the mounds in my raised beds) has outdoor cats who would probably get into the treated meat, and I don't want to hurt his cats. I think I'll try the water/Dawn/Orange oil mix. There aren't any food plants growing right now, and by the time I'm planting seedlings in spring the treatment will be broken down in the soil enough to be harmless to them.
Pete try using ground cinnamon, spread it over the ground and in the pots and you can water it in as the cinnamon disorientates their senses and they will disappear and won't come back
definitely will try in my pots, Thanks
Thanks going to try
I tried it and they moved in the pot but didn't leave it. I used cinnamon and coffee grounds. Now I'll try the soap
@@petebeasttexashomesteadingdid it work?
Oh yeah, that’s a Black Widow. I’ve been bitten by one before. She bit me on my ankle while I was out weed eating in 2006 here in south Alabama.
I have many times done this to fire ant bites and the pustules don’t form. As quickly wet the area and generously sprinkle with unseasoned steak tenderizer then let it dry. The pain will subside and the only result the next day is a slight redness where bit. No painful pustules unless you miss a bite with treatment.
Pete, I'm in Georgia so we have fire ants about as bad as Texas. In the yard, I have found Bayer Advanced pellets work great for 3 months or so, but that is a real pesticide and needs to be respected as such. I like to spread it right before a good rain and those beds do not seem to move but are dead. I will not use anything like that in the garden though. Fertilome makes a Spinosad based product that is safe for direct use in the garden and I've had very good results with that. It's called "Fertilome's Come and Get It Fire Ant Bait". It is a granular product that the ants think is food and they take it back inside the mound where it usually kills the mound and queen in a few days. I found your orange oil and dawn formula interesting and I will give it a try next time I have fire ant mounds start to show up. I bet that orange soap mixture would also make a excellent cleaner and degreaser for equipment as well. Thanks!!!
I use other Fertilome products, soils and such, and I am going to see if I can find the ant bait! Thank you for commenting on it.
I have been using the Fertilome bait too but I don’t see the ants grabbing it and taking it inside their mounds so I’m not sure if it’s working, some of the ant mounds where I sprinkled the Fertilome are empty after a couple of weeks but the weird thing is that the product was still scattered on the original mounds and new mounds popped up elsewhere on my garden, around the edges of my flower beds, around and in between the driveway wood floor dividers, it is so frustrating to deal with these ants, they sure are a pest! I’ve been pouring boiling water with our tea kettle and treat a few mounds with that about a week ago, they seemed to have died but yesterday morning I saw new mounds all over our driveway, every time there’s rain on the forecast I see new mounds somewhere on our garden so I’ll give the soap and orange oil mixture a try🤞🏻
I tried this and it worked! Thank you! I didn't have the blue Dawn, but I had the Dawn Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray - it worked well!
Just tried this formula on our fire ants in west Tennessee……..did an AMAZING job! Thanks
Hello Pete, my sons do this to get control of the fire ant mounds...it takes two people and two shovels. Take as much as your shovel will hold of the mound of each fire ant. Do two at the same time, then dump the fire ant mound that's on your shovel on the other mound where the other person has shoveled up that top of the mound. And visa versa with the other shovel. They will fight each other and kill the other ants. It's amazing to watch! in a couple of days do the same thing if you have another mound. Usually they leave or die out. Now your way is faster and we will try it. The amount of rain we have had has brought them into our back yard. We got rid of five mounds with our method. We do have a very large colony of red ants and they too kill and eat the fire ants. We also have lizards that feed on them. We see them at the very edge far away from the colony of fire ants and they pick them off one by one. It's always something isn't . GOD bless you and your family.
I'll bet there is SATISFACTION in doing it this way!! Watch them kill each other off!!! 😜
I have so many colonies...I have to watch where I step or ELSE!!! Zingo! Ouch! They sure hurt!!! 😬
I've done that too, and it's so much fun to watch them fight it out.
I do this as well. But don't stay around to watch the war. Lol. I also sometimes use equal parts sugar, water and borax. Outside pour it directly into the middle of the mound. Inside the house, soak cotton balls in the solution, squeeze out excess solution and place balls in drawers and cabinets. Works pretty good!
Cut the bottom out of a second 5 gal bucket. Forcefully push this bucket over fire ant mound and add appropriate amount of soap/orange oil for mound kill.
In NW Louisiana I have been using Dawn and hot water for years. Works great! After pouring it you immediately start seeing dead ants all over what’s left of the mound. There will be dark spots of hundreds/thousands of dead ants. I have never used Orange Oil with it though. From what I understand the soap coats the ants exoskeleton and they suffocate.
How are you going to get rid of that black widdow spider and the nest?
Thanks for the video.
On a smallish mound, I use a kettle full of boiling water.
No mixing needed - Works every time.
I do the same thing. It works great.
That's my method as well , works every time !
Does not work for me. They move three feet away and start over 🙄
Last summer I counted 53 mounds on less than a quarter acre. That's a lot of boiling water.
Thanks. and an FYI. A quick help for fire ant bites. ASAP (seconds count) scrub with Comet Cleanser. The abrasive opens the bite and the chlorine neutralizes the poison.
No way! Thank you SO much. I can't tell you how often I get fire ant bites and my whole foot swells up forever!!! Thank you!
The ant bites* are safer than the comet
Toothpaste applied to the bite works well too. Also keeps the bites from pimpling up.
What?! COMET?? Eeek
I wipe clorox on my bites
I get my orange oil from Lowes.The mix does work.I find that I have to do the ant hill maybe two times ,a few days apart and I never see them again in that spot
diatomaceous dirt three cups on top cover the top give it two to three weeks.i keep them out to propertie line
Thank you for the suggestion. I live in Arkansas in the delta region and the soil is sandy and loose. On top of a fire ant mound with just the force from my arm I can push down into these mounds 3 feet easily so they go much farther. I have tried every non toxic remedy and not one has worked even to a small degree except boiling water which kills the grass and all the biological matter sterilizing the soil so nothing will grow. And I want to say again that none of the non toxic methods work . Maybe your ants are different but I don't think so . If anyone else reads this I appreciate it and want you all to do some research because these ants are all related they do not fight one another as one person claims. And water does not bother them . They came here from the tropical yes wet and sometimes flooded for weeks forests of South America. I have collected many in 5 gal buckets and they just float around for weeks until they find a way out. If it were that easy to control them we would not have this epidemic. They are dangerous to pets and small children. Like I said try doing research before you give claims . Sorry if the truth hurts.
Same issue here. The only things that work is Surrender, or equivalents. The orange oil/Dawn does work!
@@justkim5476I will try these. They bite me everytime I go in the garden. They are viscous. And make sores. We are in the upper Arkansas river valley in Arkansas.
I have successfully used the Dawn/orange oil method many times since discovering it a year or two ago. I did have to repeat it in one particularly troublesome container, but the demons finally took the hint and either died or left. IDK, but they were out of my container!
I’m in SW Kansas and we have a variety of fire ants here, and the safe non toxic remedies don’t kill the WHOLE colony that us underground. I use Amdro and Hi-Yield fire ant poison. I would rather not use poison in my yard, but I don’t enjoy getting bit when I walk through the yard or have my dogs get bit. I do all I can to protect the spiders except brown recluse, mantises, bees and wasps, and other insects, but nothing preys on fire ants.
@@lpmoron6258 Same here in North East TX !
What about veggies, I'm sure the soap and oil wont harm flowers but will it do anything to my tomatoes, squash, cukes, etc?
Thanks, buddy. ETX for the last couple of years and been using this method, but not the correct ratio. Much appreciated!
We have a major problem with fire ants in Florida, too! I do the same with the mower, but they build back BIGGER! I will definitely try all suggestions offered, I’m tired of getting bitten.
Fire ants are a huge problem in Oklahoma too. Last year I tried cinnamon it didn’t do much.This year I’m going to try borax and what you did.
Picked up a bag of compost yesterday and little did I know they were all under it. They were all over my arms in no time. I grabbed the hose and drenched myself fast!! Welps and bites all over my hands and arms today!
FYI: It appears that the orange oil you linked to has changed its formulation, as its primary ingredient is now castor oil. For actual orange oil product, look for "100% Pure Grade D-Limonene". I have ordered another brand of orange oil and am hoping your solution works. I am a vegetable gardener in South Georgia and am very hopefull your solution works--fire ants are a major problem around here!! I have subscribed to your channel--many thanks for your content!
Where did you get yours ? I'm next door in Alabama and these fire ants are taking over everything in my garden areas....HUGE mounds 😮
@@nelliesfarm8473 I ordered Nature's Orange 100% Food Grade D-Limonene from Amazon. it runs about 30 bucks per quart... waiting on delivery.
I use a bucket of water and about a quarter cup of blue liquid dishwashing soap. Pour it on the mound. It works. No harsh chemicals and i dont have to worry about my dogs eating or walking through pesticides.
Thx very helpful. What did you do with the black widow?
Moved to N.C. from Philadelphia a couple years ago, an had my first encounter with fire ants a few days after moving in. Much to my horror they were all over my legs, stinging, to which I had an allergic reaction, ending up at Dr. office. From that day on it has been war, I have tried several things, none work except the chemical one which I cant use in garden. Looking forward to trying your method.😊
They’re moving up into Oklahoma! Thank you for your good knowledge!
I just use boiling water, works every time. I looked at the orange oil link and man, that stuff is expensive. But will keep it in mind. Thanks.
That seems like a pretty good solution for a fire ant problem. Another thing Dawn dish soap is pretty good for is in a home made weed killer. A gallon of white vinegar, a cup of salt or so, and a few table spoons of Dawn blue dish soap. Mix and put in a sprayer and spray. Just not on plants or flowers you don't want to kill.
Yep many powdered items work because they do not dissolve completely in the water you use then dehydrate the ant absorbing more
Thanks for sharing! By the way, what happened to the spider? 💜🙏🏼
I put down dry and molasses in my yard three years ago. I haven’t had one mound since my neighbor has a ton of ant mounds so just last week I went and bought two more bags of dried molasses at the farmers store. If you Google it you will find that it is good for your soil and also gets rid of fire ants. It doesn’t kill them,, but it did deter them.
I had major problem with fire ants in my Florida yard. I wish I'd known about this concoction then. We also had a major problem with them invading the switch box for our irrigation pump. I have a feeling using this stuff in the ground around the box would have helped with that problem, too.
I was working in South Georgia as a young man in the 70s. The company had a fire ant problem in the field behind our building and naturally the guy at the bottom got the job to treat them with the (now known to be) carcinogenic powder. I tried my best not to breathe the stuff, but I still wonder if it will catch up to me one of these days.
I think you'll be okay after all these years. I worked on an old rental property I had back in the 90s that had what I thought was old linoleum flooring in the kitchen from the fifties. I tore it out to later find out it was asbestos.
I found a recipe using the orange oil and a strong vinegar to kill weeds. It worked on sage brush so I figure it will work on other weeds. I will try this on ants!!!
You don’t need the vinegar - just the orange oil and a squirt of Dawn in water.
Try orange peels soaked in vinegar for several days. I put them in baggies in fridge. I have lived in my house for 11 years (CA desert) and I only had them come into the house (kitchen) twice in the last year. It works. It takes a couple of days, the most recent time it took 3 days. They entered through some unseen opening between the door threshold and the door frame, came across the entire kitchen floor and found whatever they were looking for where I chop vegetables and prepare meals everyday. So I had to run orange peels from the back door all the way to the cutting board area. I also put a few at the threshold of the door outside. So it's a mess for a day or two but nothing toxic involved. My chow and chickens were not interested at all. Possibly the vinegar. The first time it happened I only put the orange peels on the outside part of the door threshold and around the steps at the entryway. It worked in a day. When I first started getting inundated with red ants outside several years ago, the others (black) we are familiar with just disappeared. I occasionally watch them fight but the black ones just walked away. The reds are very aggressive and you definitely know when you've been bitten especially on the ankles or lower legs or hands. When our country first got infected (I think it was through Florida), they warned us this would happen and it did. Like the bees. Which also came from Sourh America as I recall. I have no idea the extent of the damage this is done to our farming and environment. Outdoors in front yard I do use those tiny yellow pellets (toxic). Only takes a day or less and the pellets allegedly are inert in under 30 days. Little buggers (from tiny to large) love the yellow pellets and take them back home right away. I put a few pellets (1tsp max) directly on top of mound and down hole. No new colony nearby.
Doesn’t work on fire ants that bite & swarm you. That’s for household ants like “sugar ants”.
We call Black Widows redbacks here in Australia. Thank you for this remedy. The people in the state of Queensland are being sprayed and baited so much, and the animals and environment etc is being poisoned as well
VERY tough to regrow in the areas where you pour this stuff! been growing certified organic for 18 yrs.... we DO NOT use this anymore because of the negative effects.....
What do you use?
Can you put that in or near grass? Will it kill the grass?
Great subject to address! Thanks, Pete B.
I never heard of this concoction. Now when I lived in Florida i tried different ways and there was a company called Fire Ant control and with a ATV they would spread a mixture of soybean and other ingredients from a bag. They charged me $200 to do my 4 acres. The bad thing it only lasted 6 months and if my neighbors didn't do it too then they tunneled back. I did get my neighbors to do it too. I even bought Bifen from Amazon, either liquid or granular. I got stung quite a bit and once had to throw my shoes away.
Thanks! We have lost so many chicks to fire ants here in northwest Florida. We had to hang the broody cage from the ceiling.
Cayenne pepper 🌶️ works wonders also, you just have to apply after a hard rain.
Club soda works very well against fireants , I used it to get rid of them in Florida
Decades ago on GPTV, I watched an old show, the dutch gardener. (or something like that.) He had a formula for not only getting rid of fire ants, but deterring them from returning. I bought all his booklets at the local garden shop and it worked. However, I have lost the recipe. If someone out there knows it, post a reply to share. The secret ingredients were Murphy's Oil Soap, Urine, and hot water. It ran the ants away for years.
If you have a rock in the yard or a wire close to the ground a vehicle that has not been moved in a few days they will build there. Something about the heat build up. Or maybe protection from rain. Farm equipment is a real good place to find them.
Got bitten up yesterday. My foot is still swollen. I couldn’t do anything with them other than soaking the area because it was at the bottom of my lime tree.
I use dish soap and it works good on back of my sink when they come in
Wow will try for sure we have them in Mississippi just as bad!
We have fire ants here too. I usually disturb them if in the garden till they move. If a couple mounds are close enough I intagate an ant war and at least one mound will lose. I'll try your solution. Thanks.
That seems like a lot 5 gallons and only three little hills here in coastal South Carolina the mounds are huge and I mowed my back 2 acres yesterday and counted 65 hills
I'd think the soap acts like a surfactant to break up the ability of the "hairs" on their body to repel liquid. Plus, they can't move well. Then the orange oil deals the killing blow.
Actually, the limonene in the oil dissolves their exoskeleton.
Thank you, I live in north Texas, its a battle with ants.
We are totally going to try this. Apparently, I’ve developed an allergy to them after getting bit about 50 times while turning the compost pile. I carry an epi-pen because of these little demons. We’ll be getting that orange oil right away. Thanks!!
Hi, don't forget the blue dawn dish soap. It's really the part that does the job. I just use it mixed with water for a lot of things.
Hey, just got eaten up today and found something that works amazing for the bites. Boil a little bit of water and add 2 cloves, mint, basil and rosemary mix it and let it soak. Take the liquid and add it to coconut oil, mix it really good, if you have a bottle shake it vigorously and it also works for mosquito bites and a repellant. (My bite bumps stopped itching and the bump is barely visible.) It's pretty bad here in TN.
Meat tenderize works as well. Dampen affected area sprinkle, rub in, let dry and no bumps by next day
I need to try this. My garden is covered with weed fabric and the ants are taking up about 1/3 of the space. Can't plant anything there until I get the ants out. Thanks
This was exactly what I needed, thank you.
I have seen a bee keeper use something similar when he had to destroy an extremely aggressive hive.
Can I also use this mixture ratio in a pump sprayer? The ants are lining my drive way. And now they’re mounding up all around the edges of the yard and driveway crevices. 😮
Yes you can and it will kill them on contact but you really want to kill the whole mound like I did in the video.
@@petebeasttexashomesteading will do. Thanks 🙏🏾
@@petebeasttexashomesteading Oh, it’s going to take a week to get the oil from Amazon. I can’t find it at any stores around me…so far. Any ideas where to get it in my hands today?
I have a brother in Seguin, TX. They have an alpaca ranch 😊
I have seen fire ants in a store coming in from an expansion joint in the slab.
Crazy thing is that fireants came off a banana boat in Mississippi back in the 50's and took over from there.
I’m going to try this. I have tried all the things from grits to Amdro that have never worked. My best luck has been Ortho with the yellow cap. It is stinky and toxic to everything. Near Nacogdoches.
What if you put lime powder on the mounds. Or mix peroxide on them. Glad that works
I have one pesky ant pile in my raised bed but they don't move! They will leave but just in a different area of the bed! I want to be able to dig in my bed without being ate up!
I'm gonna try it. Thanks!!
Pete, can you please give us an update video? Thanks
I love this thanks for sharing this. I'm also in texas .
Fire ants have multiple openings to their colony. So if you hit one and they appear to move, they are frequently there in the same colony, just using a different ‘back door’ so to speak. I tend to agree with the not using chemicals specially in the garden but I might make one suggestion- it’s recommended by Texas A&M and we have a big problem with those guys over here too (fire ants, not necessarily the Aggies - although….😅)
Anyhow they don’t recommend a brand but they recommend what they call the Texas two-step - and a direct poison. I’d like to eliminate the direct poison and just use the bait. it’s fairly innocuous and you don’t have to put it in the garden. I always put it on rocks and places out of the reach of animals but animals don’t tend to go for it. It’s very effective for fire ants - the one I use is Amdro. The imported fire ants are extreme foragers so you don’t have to put it directly on the mound - I put mine around the air conditioner because they love that kind of thing - and then in places that aren’t going to get dew. They will come and get it so an application lasts longer. PLUS it works in the dry summer when their mounds are no longer visible. I understand if you’re opposed to that but I just thought I’d put that out there. Is VERY effective.
Texas Parks and Wildlife pores boiling water over a mound in the early morning when the ants bring the eggs to the surface. No poison but effective. You just have to keep up with it.
2 Liter bottle of Coka-Cola turned upside down in the entrance kills the whole nest. Did this many times in Oklahoma.
😳 I'll have to try this!!!
What about the coke kills them?
@@annsmith2520 lol..... it's a poison !
Coke is so corrosive you can soak rusty parts that won’t come loose, coke will do it!!!!!
He must have different ants than we have in Texas. My land would be covered with coke bottles!
Ive never heard this but going to try it out as soon as i get some orange oil.
On a side note, why are cactus in the greenhouse? They look like prickly pears and they are cold hardy as i have it everywhere on my central texas property. It regually gets into the low teens and even as low as 0 during rhe hard freeze a couple of yeara ago.
Yep they are prickly pear cactus that I ordered from the island of Malta. I'll be moving/transplanting the cactus out into my orchard soon to their permanent home.
Thanks for the recipe. I'd like to try it. Can you use pine sol instead since the orange oil concentrate is so expensive?
I wouldn't use pine sol because it also has chemicals for cleaning floors and other things.
@@petebeasttexashomesteading so Does DAWN!!!
What does the Nappa Cabbage think about that aromatic solution in its soil? [Question answered in the course of the video]
What did you do about the Black Widow?
What about pouring boiling water down them?
OK how about in the house, my family in Cuba is having that problem, even on the bed, how you fight that?
Someone gave me a big bottle of hand sanitizer , that came from Walmart, brand, I hated that smell so I poured it on a big fire ant mound next to my mailbox, and, WoW,, it killed all the ants,,❤
makes you wonder what you’re washing your hands with
@@JoyTurkscapI heard it has a chemical that can cause a coma and blindness. I just read it in the news a couple of days ago.
Orange oil does a great job. Learned that trick from Howard Garrett (The Dirt Doctor). And it smells great too.
MAN!!! I really LIKE this method!! Thank you SO MUCH!!! Fire ants are such a nuisance in Texas!!!
Have you tried Diatomaceous Earth? It works!
Would to a follow up video of how the orange oil and Dawn worked. I hope it worked.
Does anyone have experience substituting Castile soap for the blue Dawn?
Wonder if orange essential oil & castile soap/sal suda would have the same effect
I’m wondering the same, I’d like to use an alternative to Dawn liquid soap, especially now since they’ve changed the fragrance of all their classic regular blue liquid soap to an even more offending fragrance😣 either way there’s endocrine disruptors in all synthetic fragrance used in all kinds of household products and cosmetics. I’m thinking if the soap in the mix is use as an emulsifier to disperse the orange oil then any other soap like Dr Bronners will work, if anyone knows or has done it and can drop a reply in the comments to let us know that would be really appreciated😊
Another way - Fipronil (slow acting) ant bait, mixed with a small amount of catfood. Let the bait soak in the fipronil, and then place it where the ants can get it. Use foil or something to shield the bait from bees, or other beneficial insects. You can find fipronil in roach killer, and even "frontline". Since its slow acting, it exploits the social behaviors of ants as they bring the bait back to their nest. It kills the queen, the babies, and does so in 1-3 days. The same bait can be used without catfood for sweet ants like carpenter ants. They all have a scent trail, with various classes of ants to establish the trail Look for "scouts" if you dont know the source, and put some bait on their trail. If pets eat fipronil, they may enjoy flea and tick protection for a few days, but should be fine. .
Probably great around the yard but not in the garden.
I have lived in California since I was a kid. Basically, the only ants I've ever seen were fire ants. And i swear im coming for revenge.
How do you spin out on a zero turn?