Fire Ant Beds

Gardeners and homeowners have been fighting fire ant beds since fire ants were introduced to North America. We all know of someone who has stepped into an anthill and got serious bites.These ants can cause serious pain if disturbed.  It is especially painful when you see a child step into an anthill. These ants have even been known to kill livestock and pets.

Laugh if you'd like - many people people before you have laughed at me - but I use grits on my anthills. The trick is to get them early in the season when the ants are just beginning to build their mound. I just walk around the yard with a five-pound bag of grits (any brand - quick-cooking or regular) and sprinkle a small amount on the hill. These 'treated' hills NEVER mature into dangerous mounds.

Big, established mounds require more than a sprinkling. When I first started using the grits and had mounds, I put about a hand full of grits on them. Within a week the mounds were vacated. Personally, I don't think the grits kill the ants and their queen, just makes them uncomfortable enough to move. I really don't care where they move to - I just don't want them in my yards and gardens. But the 'old-timers' say that the worker ants eat the grits - the grits swell and the workers die and are no longer there to support the queen - who then dies due to lack of support.

Plus, you don't have to be concerned about endangering the environment with dangerous, pricey chemicals and don't have to worry about your children/grandchildren getting into a mound of these nasty, painful insects.

On a local gardening show a few years back, I heard a professional landscaper make the comment, "it doesn't matter what you put on an anthill - the ants KNOW what they used to build their mound and will begin to move when they find something foreign."

I get the last laugh when my friends/acquaintances spend mega bucks on Amdro and other dangerous products and I take my mega bucks and spend them on plants . . .(smiley face).