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Author Topic: A question about controlling ANTS  (Read 11541 times)

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #20 on: January 17, 2019, 10:57:05 pm »
 SEPTEMBER 2015  COSMOS
 A New Zealand study shows that Argentine ants, one the most invasive and damaging ant species in the world, host a virus that is associated with honeybee deaths.
Large colonies of the ants, Linepithema humile, are found on every continent except Antarctica.
They attack nesting birds, hatching eggs and other native fauna and quickly eliminate other ants from an infested area ? especially native ants which play an important role in the ecosystem.
The Argentine ants also rob commercial beehives and are significant pests in orchards. But the latest research, published in Biology Letters, suggests a more significant problem if they are carriers of disease.
Researchers from Victoria University of Wellington and the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) collaborated on the three year project, analysing genomic data from Argentine ant populations in New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.
They found Deformed Wing Virus, a pathogen linked to colony collapse in honeybees, was found in nearly all of New Zealand?s Argentine ant populations. This pathogen has been linked to colony collapse in honeybees.
Lead scientist, Professor Phil Lester from Victoria University of Wellington, says the large distribution of ants and their capacity to carry viruses that could prove devastating heightens researchers? concerns.
?This discovery tells us that Argentine ants are much more of a problem than we previously thought," Lester says.
"They host the same Deformed Wing Virus strain found in bees and wasps in New Zealand, and this virus has cod.
"Argentine ants are known to raid beehives and also forage in the same environment as honey bees. Such close contact is bad for bees, as their association promotes pathogen exchange, he said.
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #21 on: January 17, 2019, 11:03:43 pm »
SEPTEMBER 2015  COSMOS
 A New Zealand study shows that Argentine ants, one the most invasive and damaging ant species in the world, host a virus that is associated with honeybee deaths.
Large colonies of the ants, Linepithema humile, are found on every continent except Antarctica.
They attack nesting birds, hatching eggs and other native fauna and quickly eliminate other ants from an infested area ? especially native ants which play an important role in the ecosystem.
The Argentine ants also rob commercial beehives and are significant pests in orchards. But the latest research, published in Biology Letters, suggests a more significant problem if they are carriers of disease.
Researchers from Victoria University of Wellington and the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) collaborated on the three year project, analysing genomic data from Argentine ant populations in New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.
They found Deformed Wing Virus, a pathogen linked to colony collapse in honeybees, was found in nearly all of New Zealand?s Argentine ant populations. This pathogen has been linked to colony collapse in honeybees.
Lead scientist, Professor Phil Lester from Victoria University of Wellington, says the large distribution of ants and their capacity to carry viruses that could prove devastating heightens researchers? concerns.
?This discovery tells us that Argentine ants are much more of a problem than we previously thought," Lester says.
"They host the same Deformed Wing Virus strain found in bees and wasps in New Zealand, and this virus has cod.
"Argentine ants are known to raid beehives and also forage in the same environment as honey bees. Such close contact is bad for bees, as their association promotes pathogen exchange, he said.

Ace, Is this the type ant that was in you hive? Did they attack your bees?
 
SiWolKe,  Chickens sound good to me,  I didn't know that chickens would eat ants, but why not, they eat everything and you have seen it yourself. Looks like a winner to me. I know that David at Barnyard bees uses them to attack hive beetle larva which attempt to burrow around his hives. He has a video on this.

Mr Claude This is the first video that I have seen on this . My cousin was telling me about this process a few months ago. Very interesting. After the fellow finished pouring, I was reminded of a volcano with the smoking around the summit.  :grin:
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline herbhome

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #22 on: January 17, 2019, 11:17:38 pm »
What about keeping some chicken running around?
Do they eat this ant species? My chicken love ants.

I have a semi feral flock of bantam chickens and a few guineas. They run loose and roost where they please. They eat a lot of bugs all summer including ants and SHB larva dropping out of hives. I toss a little scratch under the hives every week to keep them coming around.
Neill

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #23 on: January 17, 2019, 11:25:41 pm »
UT NEWS
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
May 16, 2013
   When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants back,? said LeBrun. ?Fire ants are in many ways very polite. They live in your yard. They form mounds and stay there, and they only interact with you if you step on their mound.
  LeBrun said that crazy ants, by contrast, ?go everywhere. They invade people?s homes, nest in crawl spaces and walls, become incredibly abundant and damage electrical equipment.
  The crazy ants were first discovered in the U.S. in 2002 by a pest control operator in a suburb of Houston, and have since established populations in 21 counties in Texas, 20 counties in Florida, and a few sites in southern Mississippi and southern Louisiana.
  In 2012 the species was formally identified as Nylanderia fulva, which is native to northern Argentina and southern Brazil. Frequently referred to as Rasberry crazy ants, these ants recently have been given the official common name Tawny crazy ants.
  The Tawny crazy ant invasion is the most recent in a series of ant invasions from South America brought on by human movement. The Argentine ant invaded through the port of New Orleans in about 1891. In 1918 the black imported fire ant showed up in Mobile, Ala. Then in the 1930s, the red imported fire ant arrived in the U.S. and began displacing the black fire ant and the Argentine ants.
  The UT researchers studied two crazy ant invasion sites on the Texas Gulf Coast and found that in those areas where the Tawny crazy ant population is densest, fire ants were also eliminated or diminished. Even in regions where the crazy ant population is less dense, fire ant populations were drastically reduced. Other ant species, particularly native species, were also eliminated or diminished.

If you wish to finish reading this article, simply google the above heading and title and you should be able to find it in its entirety.

Phillip Hall "Ben Framed"
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #24 on: January 17, 2019, 11:34:32 pm »
What about keeping some chicken running around?
Do they eat this ant species? My chicken love ants.

I have a semi feral flock of bantam chickens and a few guineas. They run loose and roost where they please. They eat a lot of bugs all summer including ants and SHB larva dropping out of hives. I toss a little scratch under the hives every week to keep them coming around.

herbhome .  Which seem to do the best job of catching the ants? Pretty well equal?


2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline CoolBees

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #25 on: January 17, 2019, 11:40:24 pm »
Excellent response HP - Thank you!

... I read somewhere that the biomass of ants in the world out weighs the entire population of the human race. ... It is no wonder we can feel outnumbered and overwhelmed sometimes ;).  Another fun fact, ants and bees are distant cousins. ...

Cool facts! I did not know that Ants and Bees had relations that close, but it makes sense.



... However, when you see ants INSIDE the hive or on live bees or hauling eggs/larvae then action has to be taken.  ...

That is exactly what these ants do.



Not a single strand of grass can touch anywhere!

True. I learned that one the hard way.




- Bait/poison:  Borax mixed with corn syrup 2:1 and put in bait cups along ant trails. Wipes out all nests in the area in about 2 weeks.

This is what I'm going to try this summer. Maybe that's the golden ticket :)



Hope that helps!

It did!

Alan
You cannot permanently help men by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves - Abraham Lincoln

Offline CoolBees

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #26 on: January 17, 2019, 11:42:39 pm »
What about keeping some chicken running around?
Do they eat this ant species? My chicken love ants.

We keep about 60 chickens and sell organic eggs. The hives are around the area of the Coop, and we turn the chickens loose most afternoons. These ants are too small, and too many I think. The chickens don't seem to make a dent in them.
You cannot permanently help men by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves - Abraham Lincoln

Offline CoolBees

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #27 on: January 17, 2019, 11:46:35 pm »
... I toss a little scratch under the hives every week to keep them coming around. ...

That is a great idea. I hadn't thought of it. Thanks.
You cannot permanently help men by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves - Abraham Lincoln

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #28 on: January 17, 2019, 11:53:47 pm »
Mr Claude, We as kids here in the South, learned that tune but as When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again..  along with different words of corse.
 :grin:
https://youtu.be/Fq6oyN7L3Qs
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline Acebird

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #29 on: January 18, 2019, 08:47:15 am »
I toss a little scratch under the hives every week to keep them coming around.
It has been my experience that animals in general get tired of the same old thing.  A couple of years ago we had a major infestation of Japanese beetles (they are cyclic).  My wife would hand pluck them and toss them in a pail or bowl of water and then feed them to the chickens.  The chickens devoured them.  Last year they wouldn't even look twice at them.  I think you will have the same issue with trying to control ants with the chicken as the predator.
Brian Cardinal
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Offline Live Oak

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #30 on: January 18, 2019, 10:45:47 am »
I keep a couple of cans of Amdro in the Kubota and treat every fire ant mound I see.  I go though a lot of Amdro but it works.  For the ants that I find already in my hives, I use Walmart Supertech Brake Cleaner to kill them.  It soaks down in between the wood pieces of the inner covers and any hollowed out wood and kills the ants on contact.  It evaporates very quickly, almost immediately in hot weather and leaves NO chemical residue.  Just DO NOT spray it inside the hive or where it can directly contact the bees.  The bees instinctively stay away from it due to the odor of the fumes while evaporating.  It is CHEAP......about $2 per 14 oz. can and works great. 

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #31 on: January 18, 2019, 10:56:21 am »
I keep a couple of cans of Amdro in the Kubota and treat every fire ant mound I see.  I go though a lot of Amdro but it works.  For the ants that I find already in my hives, I use Walmart Supertech Brake Cleaner to kill them.  It soaks down in between the wood pieces of the inner covers and any hollowed out wood and kills the ants on contact.  It evaporates very quickly, almost immediately in hot weather and leaves NO chemical residue.  Just DO NOT spray it inside the hive or where it can directly contact the bees.  The bees instinctively stay away from it due to the odor of the fumes while evaporating.  It is CHEAP......about $2 per 14 oz. can and works great.

I am wondering if it will also detour Small Hive Beetles?
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline CoolBees

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #32 on: January 18, 2019, 12:41:53 pm »
... It has been my experience that animals in general get tired of the same old thing. ....

Now that you mention it, I would concur. My wife and I used to pick the large snails after a rain, and feed them to the chickens, 5 gallon buckets at a time. The chickens would go nuts. Now they don't even look at them.

On another note - we don't see many snails any more. The ants eat them too.
You cannot permanently help men by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves - Abraham Lincoln

Offline CoolBees

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #33 on: January 18, 2019, 12:50:18 pm »
These ants are unique. They don't have a traditional nest, like most ants I've known. We find their eggs/nests everywhere we dig. Especially in the root balls of potted plants - jades, lillies, blueberries, etc. I've gotten to where I flood the pots prior to working any plant - if the ants pour out of the flood, there's eggs below.

They are under any concrete in high numbers. After the 1st rain in the fall, they come out and die by the millions. Last fall I swept a 5 gallon bucket full of dead ant bodies off the concrete on 1 side of the house after the 1st rain. ... then I gave up, and switched to the leaf blower. 2 days later the queens swarmed. There were 10's of thousands. Maybe more. I have a feeling that 2019 is going to be the "Year of the Ant" here.
You cannot permanently help men by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves - Abraham Lincoln

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #34 on: January 18, 2019, 01:19:35 pm »
These ants are unique. They don't have a traditional nest, like most ants I've known. We find their eggs/nests everywhere we dig. Especially in the root balls of potted plants - jades, lillies, blueberries, etc. I've gotten to where I flood the pots prior to working any plant - if the ants pour out of the flood, there's eggs below.

They are under any concrete in high numbers. After the 1st rain in the fall, they come out and die by the millions. Last fall I swept a 5 gallon bucket full of dead ant bodies off the concrete on 1 side of the house after the 1st rain. ... then I gave up, and switched to the leaf blower. 2 days later the queens swarmed. There were 10's of thousands. Maybe more. I have a feeling that 2019 is going to be the "Year of the Ant" here.

Wow, I am sorry you have to deal with that. We don't have them here in North Mississippi as far as my knowledge, and don't want them !!
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Offline CoolBees

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #35 on: January 18, 2019, 01:38:25 pm »
I hope you don't get them also.

From the SFGATE article. ...
Quote
... It's considered one of the most invasive species on the planet. ... The ants ... are part of a single super colony that extends from Oregon to Mexico, Fisher says.  ...

When I posted this thread, I hadn't realized that we were dealing with something unique here. The only good news (I guess) is that you won't find an invasion that large in nature for very long. Something will come along to balance the equation.
You cannot permanently help men by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves - Abraham Lincoln

Offline herbhome

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #36 on: January 18, 2019, 09:25:06 pm »
herbhome .  Which seem to do the best job of catching the ants? Pretty well equal?

I would guess chickens on SHB larva and pupae as they scratch down into the dirt and guineas really don't scratch much. On ants about equal. They both eat seed ticks so I doubt that ants are too small for them. :smile:
Neill

Offline blackforest beekeeper

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #37 on: January 19, 2019, 02:49:42 am »
These ants are unique. They don't have a traditional nest, like most ants I've known. We find their eggs/nests everywhere we dig. Especially in the root balls of potted plants - jades, lillies, blueberries, etc. I've gotten to where I flood the pots prior to working any plant - if the ants pour out of the flood, there's eggs below.

They are under any concrete in high numbers. After the 1st rain in the fall, they come out and die by the millions. Last fall I swept a 5 gallon bucket full of dead ant bodies off the concrete on 1 side of the house after the 1st rain. ... then I gave up, and switched to the leaf blower. 2 days later the queens swarmed. There were 10's of thousands. Maybe more. I have a feeling that 2019 is going to be the "Year of the Ant" here.

You might consider cheapening your life and eat what is there.

 :wink:

Offline robirot

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #38 on: January 19, 2019, 04:19:02 am »
Maybe get an Anteater as a new pet?

Offline CoolBees

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Re: A question about controlling ANTS
« Reply #39 on: January 19, 2019, 04:49:27 pm »
Maybe get an Anteater as a new pet?

Now that's funny! Why didn't I think of it???  :happy:

There's a bird eating the ants, lots of them. Not sure what type of bird. Looks like a Wren in an olive green color. Very pretty. I tried to get a picture - no luck so far. He moves too fast.  :happy:
You cannot permanently help men by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves - Abraham Lincoln

 

anything