»»  Decatur County UGA Cooperative Extension

The most obvious thing I see when looking across the pasture where I live is the number of fire ant mounds that dot the landscape. Because of the unusually high number of ants on our property research entomologist, put up a monitoring station in the early 1960's to study their activity. As you can imagine, numerous large ant hills represent a serious threat to livestock and interfere with pasture maintenance. When summer just around the corner, the presence of these mounds reminds me that fire ant activity is about to increase.

Blake Layton, Mississippi State University Extension entomologist says, "Treating fire ants on a mound by mound treatment does not work. The problem with this strategy is that for every large mound you see there are many smaller ones that you can't see. By exterminating the larger mounds you remove the competition and allow the smaller ones to grow faster." Layton said, "Fire ants swarm throughout the growing season, and newly mated queens quickly re-colonize a yard after it has been cleared of existing fire ants."

"The key to good fire ant control is to treat the entire lawn by broadcasting bait with an appropriate spreader. This does not include using a fertilizer spreader. Baits should be applied three times a year, usually about every 60 days beginning in April. Using insecticide baits on this time frame should result in an ant control ratio of about 80 to 90 percent. It is also important to be proactive and not wait and let large mounds develop. Use individual mound treatments on any mounds that may have survived the initial bait treatments." said Layton

To achieve satisfactory results when using a bait make sure you use fresh bait from a just opened container or one that has been tightly sealed for less than two years. Bait is collected by ants only when it is fresh. It is then carried back to the colony and shared with the other members. Rancid or stale bait is ignored by foraging ants. To check the quality of your bait, place a little near an ant mound to see if ants are attracted to it. Bait should be applied when ants are actively foraging. This can be determined by leaving a small pile of 1 to 2 tablespoons of bait in the area to be treated. When ants are seen actively removing the bait 10 to 30 minutes later, you will know that the bait is attractive to ants and that ants are actively foraging.

Layton said there are two mound treatment options: liquid drench or dry mound treatments. Liquid drenches give the fastest control, but they are messy and time consuming. Use 1 to 2 gallons of drench to treat a large mound. Dry mound treatments work more slowly, but they are more convenient. Many homeowners keep a container of the dry mound treatments on hand for spot treating mounds as soon as they are detected.

Fire ant season is just beginning and for homeowners to get the upper hand in their control we must be proactive. Early scouting of the landscape to detect ant hills and quick implementation of control measures will be the key to controlling fire ants this season.

Source: Bonnie Coblentz, Mississippi State University article, "Homeowners can win battles with fire ants"