when digging the rest of the lottie we have found areas with red ants in it, what is the best way to get rid of them please
Ants don't like being dug over; they may well move out of the way.
I put up with them & just disturb them as much as possible. The alternative is to use something nasty - I'm not organic but I don't like to use poisons near my food!
They're vicious little sods though!
too right they are, they bite like crazy but leave them, they don't really do harm but be careful when you are digging round them because it might look like there are only a few but there will be millions and then too late you realise they are climbing up your trousers and down your wellies and everywhere as I know from experience :o
I was sat at home last year an hour or two after being on the allotment, and felt this really sharp pain - like being stabbed with a needle - on my side. Well, I jumped up in the air, and all I could see was a couple of the little sods running around on the couch - obviously they came home with me & didn't appreciate the lack of a return journey.
Mine came at me today waving ninja sticks screaming "die sucker, die" ;D so I beat a hasty retreat and left them to it. Mind you the soil they leave behind is fabulous!
a sign of good weather if it's going to be the year of the ant :-\
Quote from: calendula on May 03, 2008, 13:46:01
too right they are, they bite like crazy but leave them, they don't really do harm but be careful when you are digging round them because it might look like there are only a few but there will be millions and then too late you realise they are climbing up your trousers and down your wellies and everywhere as I know from experience :o
I'd rather have ants up there than mad bees!
me too probably - I don't keep bees anymore but when I did, it didn't matter where I got my nucs from I ended up with stroppy hives and I react very badly when stung :(
I have them all over lottie 1 and I am allergic. i only found this out after being bitten a couple of times - the place where i am bitten swells to twice the size and I am then on antihistamines. I feel really poorly for a couple of days.
Needless to say i where guantlets now. I haven't been able to do anything to get rid of them. I also feel sorry for the black ant nests who have lost the war on the lottie, the red ants are too aggressive.
i leave small suger mound, then put boiling water over them
I have got horseflies om my plot,sweat water and horseflies isnot a good combination and those s....ckers bite so hard it really hearts.
Quote from: calendula on May 03, 2008, 20:02:34
me too probably - I don't keep bees anymore but when I did, it didn't matter where I got my nucs from I ended up with stroppy hives and I react very badly when stung :(
I've had that experience several times; I find it's always best to avoid hybrids. Once they start getting up my trousers I always reckon it's time to squash the queen and unite them. I have a strain of native bees which are a joy to handle, a total contrast.
Quote from: ruud on May 03, 2008, 22:05:42
I have got horseflies om my plot,sweat water and horseflies isnot a good combination and those s....ckers bite so hard it really hearts.
The last time I got bitten by a horsefly was in Ireland when I was a kid, they really do hurt. If I hear of an oil to repel them I will let you know Ruud.
I havent seen one for years, my biggest fear is the wasp and hornet..................scare me to death they do >:(
don't know about repelling them but tea tree oil helps if you get bitten/stung..I'm allergic to horse fly bites so I find it helps me ;D
insects do not like the smell of lemon, mint, camphor or eucalyptus.
Ants herd greenfly and milk them for the sweet sap.
Boiling water poured on the nest is the simplest method of getting shot of them.
Use something sticky and sweet but not toxic to catch them, in a container.
I have wrapped parcel tape, sticky side out around the trunks of fruit trees to catch them and their herds of greenfly.
Treacle spread on greaseproof paper does a good job for a limited time too.
If you really must kill them, use a little borax mixed with jam. Put it under a flat stone to useful insects don't get poisoned.