Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site zaphod.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!alberta!sask!zaphod!homer From: homer@zaphod.UUCP (Homer Robson) Newsgroups: net.garden Subject: Re: Trouble with Red Ants, HELP Message-ID: <289@zaphod.UUCP> Date: Fri, 5-Jul-85 01:18:05 EDT Article-I.D.: zaphod.289 Posted: Fri Jul 5 01:18:05 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 6-Jul-85 10:28:02 EDT References: <34@NCSUVM> Organization: Develcon Electronics, Saskatoon, SK Lines: 31 > Red ants are killing my Pecan seedling. Last year they ate > the leaves of my Sunflowers. Does anyone know of a home- > remedy for getting rid of Red Ants? A farmer friend once > told me of a common household substance that would keep > them away but I forgot what it was. HELP! > My father was a beekeeper in Northern Canada. Red ants often plagued our bee yards (they are passionate enemies of honeybees for some reason). The solution that we found most effective was a mixture of household powdered borax and icing sugar. This mixture was placed in ant traps fasioned out of old tin cans with holes punched in them. It seemed to take a week or so to kill them, but it worked well. Borax is available in grocery stores as a laundry aid. (MULE TEAM is a common brand in Canada.) The theory behind this mixture is that the borax is a steralizing agent, (both of the ants & soil, hence the tin cans) the ants take the tasty mixture home, and the queen ant is fed and steralized. The rest of thte ants dissappear quickly also. In cases where we didn't care about the soil we would pour the stuff right into the ant hill for a quickrer kill. Note: I have tried this on the tiny brown ants in my garden with no success. (they aren't attracted by it) Homer Robson, Develcon Electronics Ltd. 856-51st ST.E., Saskatoon, Sask., Canada.