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While doing my long-overdue weeding of my raised beds 2 days ago, I disturbed some ants who call one raised bed home. These aren't fire ants or anything like that. Just ordinary small ants, sometimes called "pavement" ants. They swarmed over my hand and managed to find some bare skin between the top of my glove and the beginning of my 3/4 shirt sleeve. Then they started biting or stinging, not sure which, before I could swat or shake them off. But ow! That hurt. I am left with red welts on my arm; each welt is about the diameter of a large lentil. As I have learned in the past, ant bites itch and hurt more on subsequent days than they do on the day of the bite. That's where I am right now. The welts are itching and burning like crazy. Dang ants! I suppose they are thinking Dang humans!
I immediately ordered a long-sleeve shirt to wear while gardening. Even when it is in the 90s. That's what my grandmother would have called "closing the barn door after the horse runs out". LOL But I'll be ready next time! I'll have to weed these same raised beds when I prep them for winter. (They are all daylily beds.)
Ammonia is said to take the sting out of red ant bites. Windex has Ammonia in it; spray some on bites that haven't been scratched open.
I use Vicks Vapo Rub on various other bites I get with good results. Sometimes it takes several applications but I've seen it reduce the size of quarter sized welts to dime size.
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. The bites are still quite itchy. Yesterday, I was weeding another raised bed and I looked down and saw the same type of ants swarming over my legs! It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. Thank goodness I always wear long pants tucked into socks when I work outdoors, so the little biters didn't get a chance to bite my legs. It took a lot of swatting and shaking to get them all off. Now that I think about it, if any of my neighbors saw me, it must have looked quite strange!
If you want to "get rid of them" for good, there is this stuff called TalStar P on Amazon that will take care of them (and a whole host of other problem bugs) for not only your mulch beds, but lawn, trees, flower and shrubs. Get yourself a 2 gallon pump sprayer, and mix 2 gallons with 1 ounce of this stuff and spray away. You can go to 1 ounce per gallon (most do), but I've found that less actually works just fine. Keeps Japanese Beatles at bay too from tear up your plants, and finding deer don't care for it either. Spidermites on evergreen trees, d.o.n.e. Mix at 1 ounce/gallon and spray the foundation of your home, and you won't have a bug in that house for at least 6 months. Great stuff and not as bad for the environment as you might think.
I sprayed our yard in May to knock down the mosquitoes, ticks, and whatnots (we have lime disease in our area). Took care of that problem, but I didn't hit the mulch beds because I was a little afraid of spraying the shrubs, flowers and the like. Well, it drove everything out of the grass and into the mulch beds. About a month ago, while sitting on the patio next to one of the beds, I got chewed alive. Got bit in places that one should NEVER get bit...if you catch my drift. Well, I decided to heck with the shrubs/bushes/flowers (I was furious), loaded up at ½ ounce per gallon, and hosed every down. Problem fixed, and oddly enough, the shrubs/flowers/bushes and even crape myrtles are all doing better now themselves.
If you want to "get rid of them" for good, there is this stuff called TalStar P on Amazon that will take care of them (and a whole host of other problem bugs) for not only your mulch beds, but lawn, trees, flower and shrubs. Get yourself a 2 gallon pump sprayer, and mix 2 gallons with 1 ounce of this stuff and spray away. You can go to 1 ounce per gallon (most do), but I've found that less actually works just fine. Keeps Japanese Beatles at bay too from tear up your plants, and finding deer don't care for it either. Spidermites on evergreen trees, d.o.n.e. Mix at 1 ounce/gallon and spray the foundation of your home, and you won't have a bug in that house for at least 6 months. Great stuff and not as bad for the environment as you might think.
I sprayed our yard in May to knock down the mosquitoes, ticks, and whatnots (we have lime disease in our area). Took care of that problem, but I didn't hit the mulch beds because I was a little afraid of spraying the shrubs, flowers and the like. Well, it drove everything out of the grass and into the mulch beds. About a month ago, while sitting on the patio next to one of the beds, I got chewed alive. Got bit in places that one should NEVER get bit...if you catch my drift. Well, I decided to heck with the shrubs/bushes/flowers (I was furious), loaded up at ½ ounce per gallon, and hosed every down. Problem fixed, and oddly enough, the shrubs/flowers/bushes and even crape myrtles are all doing better now themselves.
I agree with the above post Lori. My wife runs a small private Plant Nursery, and the state of Florida told her to use this for all the reasons stated above. In the meantime, hope you feel better.
PS: Keep it away from water sources. Read the label. This stuff works, but you don't want it touching water sources that contain wildlife or wells, aquifers.
Thank you to both of you for that suggestion! I will look into that product. I am not sure I want to kill the ants in the raised beds (not yet, at least), but my house is another matter!
We would get those ant bites in Florida. Found that soaking in a tub of rather strong epsom salt water (about 2 cups to a tub full of water) would take most of the itch and sting away.
A friend swears by rubbing alcohol to kill the sting. I've used mouthwash (that has alcohol in it) to good effect.
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That's what my grandmother would have called "closing the barn door after the horse runs out". LOL But I'll be ready next time! I'll have to weed these same raised beds when I prep them for winter. (They are all daylily beds.)
