From: Adrian Wenner Subject: Re: ant disaster A number of people have now provided comment about ant control, including the following comment: >>Do you really want to be pouring gasoline and diesel fuel into the ground >>to kill ants? You know that you will end up drinking the gas one of >>these days don't you? It is even less logical to ignite the fuel, as >>there is insuficient oxygen in the ground to burn, all you get is a nice >>visible flame, but you do reverse some of the damage you have done. if >>you want to pour something in the ground use boiling water. It will kill >>the ants and not harm the ground water. Actually, soapy water does just fine, with about a quarter cup of kitchen detergent in a half a bucket of water. And John E. Taylor III wrote: >You're right, of course. The hydrocarbons do neither the air nor the >groundwater any good at all. But oh, what a lovely job a half cup of >gasoline does on an ant or yellow jacket nest! I have used the soapy water treatment on both ants and yellow jackets. One can also use a tablespoon full of detergent mixed into a spray bottle full of water and set on stream for target practice. A direct hit on a yellow jacket results in its death within a minute or so. ***** To keep ants out of houses, one can use a chemical treatment very sparingly in a way that does not pollute the environment. The rationale is as follows: Often an ant colony in some ways represents a giant amoeba, with its trails similar to the amoeboid pseudopods. By blocking the trails where they enter houses or where they go up trees, one can divert the colony's attention elsewhere. To do that, one can follow EPA guidelines and distribute a great amount of poison around the house and garden, thereby polluting the environment greatly and by inadvertently killing many beneficial insects. A far more simple treatment, one not approved by the EPA, will suffice and result in virtually no environmental contamination. A description of that technique follows. 1) Purchase a small bottle of Diazinon PLUS Insect Spray (ORTHO, Chevron Chemical Co.) from drug or grocery store. Buy also a medicine dropper, preferably one that comes with a dropper bottle. 2) Save up friction top caps from gallon milk bottles or Kodak film cannisters (photo processing centers usually provide them free). These serve as dishes. 3) Find where the ant trail enters the house or starts up a plant. Using the lid or cap as a dish, place into it 5-6 drops of the undiluted liquid poison. Within an hour dead ants should be seen on the surface near the dish, and within a couple of hours the ant trail will no longer exist. The detergent breaks down in the open air wihin a day --- save and wash "dishes" in detergent water for re-use. Adrian *************************************************************** * Adrian Wenner E-Mail wenner@lifesci.lscf.ucsb.edu * * Dept.Ecol.,Evol.,& Mar.Biol. Office Phone (805) 893-2838 * * University of California Lab Phone (805) 893-2675 * * Santa Barbara, CA 93106 FAX (805) 893-8062 * * * * "Once a structurally complete and closed system of opinions * *consisting of many details and relations has been formed, it * *offers enduring resistance to anything that contradicts it." * * Ludwik Fleck, 1935 [1979] * *************************************************************** From: ble4x@klaatu.med.Virginia.EDU (Beth Elias) Subject: Re: Carpenter Ants & Boric Acid In article <4nt855$3fa@storm.cycor.ca>, rstoertz@cycor.ca (Robert Harris Stoertz) writes: |> rmpol@netcom.com wrote: |> |> >I've read postings in this group recommending the use of boric acid mixed |> >with baits for getting rid of carpenter ants... |> > did I just give them a free lunch? The boric acid is about 2 |> >years old, but I'm assuming it's still good... |> |> The boric acid should be fine. |> Ants have an amazing ability to bring their pupae, etc to maturity |> early when they start losing workers. You may not see a reduction in |> numbers for a while. |> When you start seeing pale ants, or ants that act a little slow or |> confused, you know they are starting to run out of pupae, and will |> soon start diminishing. |> Don't slow down with the "feedings", or they'll catch up again. |> I always sort of feel sorry for them, but then, they ARE just |> brainless little ants! |> Regards, Robert |> |> Just go out and buy some 20 Mule Team Borax if you need more. It's in the laundry soap isle in the grocery store. It's almost pure boric acid, sold as a laundry soap booster. At about $3.00 per 2-4 pound box it's a lot cheaper than the commercial ant killer. The best bug-killing bait I've used was a recipe whose source I cannot remember. I'll list it here: 1 part borax 1 part flour 1 part sugar enough crisco to make a paste. I cut apart the individual "cups" from an egg carton and put a good spoonful of the mixture in each. Then I place the "cups" around under appliances, well out of the way of pets and kids. The sugar and fat will draw the bugs to the bait. Every spring I renew the bait. I also sprinkle a little in the bottom of the dishwasher as the dirty dishes accumulate. The bugs are drawn to the dishwasher and walk through the borax.