Fire Ants in the compost pile

[razyrsharpe]

what can i do, short of poisoning them, to get rid of the ants i found in my compost pile today? it is a rather large colony. i know it is natural for this to occur, so there must be someone who has experience in solving this problem. i await your knowledge and thanks in advance!

[cynthia_h]

Here's a thread from 2009 (?) where some Southern gardeners discussed successful, non-toxic methods of fire-ant management.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[gumbo2176]

what can i do, short of poisoning them, to get rid of the ants i found in my compost pile today? it is a rather large colony. i know it is natural for this to occur, so there must be someone who has experience in solving this problem. i await your knowledge and thanks in advance!

Earlier this year I had an ant problem in one of my compost piles. All I did was turn the pile every day for a week or so and they went away---------to where, I have no clue. Fast forward a couple months later and I found a termite nest starting in the pile. For that, I got out my seafood boiling pot (80 Qt.), got the water boiling, turned the pile and doused it with boiling water. They went away too.

[OzarkAggie]

I use a mix of powered sugar and borax for ants.

The sugar attracts them and the borax causes them to dehydrate. Naturally they also feed the queen and she dies as well. Takes about a week to kill a colony.

I use the dry laundry supplement 1 to 3 with the sugar. Add water to the borax until you have a thin paste and then add the powered sugar and more water if necessary. I use the plastic lids from various containers, like margarine etc., for the traps.