How To Manage Fire Ants Without Pesticide

Square photo with the Okra Garden Supply Logo. Most of the photo is white and appears rough. There are a number of brownish dark red fire ants scattered around the photo. In the upper center is a ball of ants that contains at least 50 ants and about one inch across in real life.
Photo Caption: When Fire Ants are threatened they will clump together. This photo shows ants responding to DIATOMS. DIATOMS is made of very small glass particles that damage the body of the ants. As the most exposed ants begin to perish and become immobile the other ants start to cluster around them and balls are formed.

Ants Are Everywhere – Just Ignore Them

Spring, Texas, USA

We can live in peace with the ants if we establish boundaries.

The best management method for fire ants is ignorance.  Ignore ants.  If you live in fire ant country, your ground will be infested with ants.  Just accept this reality.  But, do not despair.  Most ants won’t bother you and you can live in peace with the ants.  It is my first and best recommendation.  Ignore ants.  I am getting better and better at ignoring.  It takes presence of mind.  I also always wear socks and shoes.

Occasionally, it is true, the industrious ants will set up shop somewhere that is unacceptable.  This happened recently to me when fire ants started mounding up just outside my back door.  This was just the situation for DIATOMS.  I just sprayed the area with about 2 oz of DIATOMS.  Activity slowed immediately.  Since we were not busy I let the DIATOMS and ants alone for a number of hours.  Ant activity did not resume.  We were then able to sweep the area without incident.

 

Link: Apparently this Ant balling behavior is very interesting to me.  Ishared this example earlier in the year:  “DIATOMS bother ants”

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Fire Ant Lisa

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