firstimegardener
Cool Member
Posts: 87
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:07 pm

YAY and a question

ok, so I just checked on my worms and fed them. I've been very careful not to feed them too much because of all of the issues the bins have had. So, I dug around a bit by where the melon that I put in last week was. I have a BUNCH of little baby worms!!!:) I am so excited because I think this means that I'm doing something right. Don't worm eggs wait up to three months before hatching if the conditions are wrong???

Anyway, while I was looking, I saw a couple of what appears to be sugar ants. Is this normal, or is it something I should be worried about? The bin is in our garage, not outside, so I'm not sure if that would matter.

Thanks

cynthia_h
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 7500
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 7:02 pm
Location: El Cerrito, CA

Congratulations on the baby worms! :D

I don't have ants in my worm boxes; I wouldn't welcome them, either, if they were to "investigate." I deal with them enough elsewhere... :x

It's possible to deter ants from the Worm Factory by sitting each of the support legs in a can (tuna/cat-food can will do) of water. Just make sure that the legs don't contact the sides of the cans. Ants won't swim to get to the legs. (If they do, you're not dealing with "normal" ants. :shock:)

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

hay
Full Member
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 12:05 pm
Location: texas

Fire ants WILL cross water and most anything else to investigate a food supply. They sting like fire (hence the name fire ants) and are relentless in their search for food and other ants to conquer. The will go to any extreme imaginable to get at anything of food value. Almost nothing kills them except pure citrus oil and some very wicked ant poisons. Some mounds in se texas will get 24" tall and contain millions of ants. They will overrun a field in no time. I have seen them in floating down rain swollen creeks in large mounds on top of the water. It's like a giant red crawling boiling mass of bodies and each one ready to give it's life for the colony. If you find fire ants, contact the country extension agent for more information and control. They are like something from a 1950's creepy monster thriller movie, but thses boogers are real!



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