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We do not have fire ants here where I live, but we have an ant that forms colonies that are very aggressive, killing all insect invaders. They are large red and black ants that form large colonies that look like mounds of fine compost. The granules work briefly, and the same with other pesticides. I have the best results with a home made insecticide made from feverfew flowers and leaves steeped in hot water with dish soap added to it. I fill a 2 gallon jug about half full of the flowers and leaves, add hot water to within 3 inches of the top and let it steep, then add about 1 to 2 cups of dish soap. I find the best way to apply it is with a recycled chocolate syrup bottle, fill it halfway with the solution, close the cap and shake well, open the cap and spray the foam on the nest, repeat till the nest is saturated and surrounding foliage is covered in the foam. Do this towards evening when the ants are going home for the night, that way any other ants returning will encounter the foam. By the next morning most of the ants will be dead and if needed a bit more foam can be sprayed on the stragglers. I use the same foam to kill termites and yellow jackets. I use the soap mix concentrated and drizzle it on the trunks of fruit trees on a sunny day, it dries, becomes sticky and keeps the ants off. Planting feverfew daisy plants near fruit trees, roses and vegetables help to keep the ants away.
My wife runs a professional nursery. The state agriculture dept. recommends Talstar.
It's not expensive, a little lasts a long time, and as long as you keep it away from wells and other bodies of water, it is excellent. She passes state fireant inspections using it. Talstar P Professional Insecticide | Do It Yourself Pest Control
that was rated good on do your own pest control site
Bifen and Talstar are very effective, but they must be handled with caution. Keep children away from the concentrated stuff as it can be moderately toxic to humans if a lot is eaten. But your kids certainly won't be eating any that you apply around the mounds of fire ants.
I've been stung by fire ants in Mississippi, Texas and I think Hawaii. Mississippi ants were worse. I think because it was wetter there. They had more juice to sting you with?
Anyway, I'd walk around the yard and sprinkle the granules on the hills, then go back and pour a little water on the granules. I think that's what the directions tell you to do. It was effective but it's a never ending battle.
I'd worry more about the kids getting hit by the fire ants than the chemicals. They got my dog one time and he ran around screaming, looking at me like it was my fault. I caught him and threw him in the water trough. Poor ol' boy.
We had exactly your situation a few decades ago. Boiling water on the mound got rid of the mound but they just moved it over a little bit but still in our lawn. So my husband got metal tubing (about an inch or inch and a half in diameter), slightly flattened one end to make it easier to pound into the mound, pounded it in, then ran away for a while while the ants settled down. Then we poured the boiling water down the tube so that it got to the queen, and the mound died and they didn't built another one.
I use too use the fire ant chemical and half the time they just move, so the past ten years I have use gasoline, about a 1/2 cup, and they are dead, right then.
They're fire ants. Regular ant control won't work--neither will non-chemical methods (well, fire, but--). Use Amdro. If you apply it right before a rain, you don't have to water it in.
The directions usually tell you to broadcast it at a certain rate over your yard. I always just get a red solo cup & "broadcast" it on & around the mounds. I've never had a problem, and have done this while having kids and dogs that I was concerned about.
I've never seen a kid or dog digging in fire ant mounds. The ants are a much greater danger than the ant poison. I fought them for years in Mississippi.
We used to use a metal spray bottle. Fill it with gas, spray a bit and light it. You now have a flame thrower. Agitate the a corner of the upper layer to get all the army ants out and light em up. Sprinkle borax/sugar mix and the ants that come out to drag the dead will take it back down into the colony.
The borax works just fine but then you'd not have a reason for the flame thrower
I love fire. I do. As an adolescent, I took aersol cans and lighters and made flamethrowers.
But it is extremely dangerous. I have seen the flame track back to the bottle. Not good.
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