RE: Ants in the compost

["April Sampson-Kelly" <askpv@ozemail.com.au>]

DONT GET RID OF YOUR ANTS YET!!
ants make ideal seed raising compost.  Especially termites, but you don't
want them
so red ants are a great substitute, can you plan to move the compost heap
instead?
or simply start the next pile (rotating compost piles is the ultimate laxy
method,
you don't have to turn the piles (the temperature doesn't have to get high)
and eventually
compost occurs - in addition to this you get to prepare the area for
seedlings,
each old compost pile is an ideal growing space for you seedlings.
If you really want to get rid of ants the permaculture way, let your
chickens eat them.
April

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> -----Original Message-----
> From: cath Gorrie [mailto:c.gorrie@unsw.edu.au]
> Sent: Monday, 8 March 1999 4:00
> To: permaculture
> Subject: [permaculture] Ants in the compost
>
>
> I inadvertantly threw the beginnings of a red ant colony into my compost
> pile, before covering it and leaving it for a few weeks.
> Now I have a thriving growing colony. I'm not quite sure how to deal with
> this, on the one hand I guess they will breakdown all
> organic material, on the other hand I don't need an ant hill for
> a compost
> pile. Possibly it just needs to be hotter (the compost isn't yet)
>  and the problem will go away, or maybe there's some natural ant
> deterrant
> I can use that won't affect the compost material.
>
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Cathy Gorrie
> Katoomba, NSW
> Australia
>
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