Allotments 4 All

Any ideas to get rid? We have a beautiful garden that we can't enjoy because of them:(
The garden is quite big but is dominated by four very large oaks so only dappled light gets through, lawn is non existant it's more like a glade than a garden. Bluebells, emerging ferns and snowdrops everywhere, BUT we can't sit out and enjoy it because the red ants bite us

Never come across them before, we live in North Wales, I thought biting ants were strictly Johnny Foreigners problem :)

Get some borax, and mix up a little in jam. Put it out in strategic spots, preferably under some sort of cover like a slate or broken pot so bees and other beneficial insects don't get to it.

Found that a kettle of boiling water, will deter them for a bit!

Did the hot water trick yesterday 14 nests so far :(

Not seen red ants where I am (Gwynedd), but we did have them at my dad's allotment in SE London.
Hope the boiling water trick keeps works for you.

It's a losing battle, evertime we turn something over there is a small colony of red ants under it. Trying to fork over an area thats been left to go wild and getting bitten all over. Quite a painful bite the blighter's.

We have a couple of small red ants nests ,asked a fellow plotter any ideas ,his solution
find a black ants nest dig a bit up and mix into red ants camp.
probably try Roberts borax first.

Quote from: DadnDom on May 03, 2007, 13:42:15
Quite a painful bite the blighter's.

I'm afraid I don't know how to get rid of them but can vouch for the bite.
to the huge amusement of my friend, I had the v great misfortune to get ants in my pants whilst camping once :-[ :-[ :-[
I'm sure she put my tent there on purpose :o

I read that the bites pain comes from them injecting formic acid onto nerves in the skin.

Red ants actually sting. Some other ants, notable the big wood ants, have lost their sting, but are able to spray formic acid over anything that threatens them. They'll bite you and then spray the wound.

Have you tried setting Nippon traps?

You can buy them from Wilkinsons and they are very effective.

My parents garden was innundated with these nasty little creatures, I got so many bites as a kid. The one thing that killed them was the Nippon liquid, you stick it down and the ants take it back to the nest and kill the whole nest, not just one or two.

Keep at it though, it did take them a couple of years to beat them.

i have found the best way to get rid of them is to pour some neat jays fluid near there runs and rthen to pour some water on and let it flow into there nests

Hi, I'm new to all this, so am doing lots of reading and not much else! I know I read somewhere that they don't like the smell of cinnamon ??? Also, you can get ant nematodes. Haven't put either into practice, but hope that helps :)

Have these on the allotment and found my first few in the garden last weekend (though haven't located the nest yet).  I wanted to try the semolina approach but can only find ground semolina which seems to be too fine to interest them.  Any one have any ideas on where you can find grains rather than 'grounds'?  ;D

       Gound cinnamon works. Sprinkle the G/C over the nest. When the scout ants leave the nest they leave a scent trail. The cinnamon is too strong for the ants. It confuses them and they move the nest. Tried last year and this year, by me and others, worked each time.

Sounds interesting LesH - but what's to stop them just moving the nest to another nearby point on the same plot?  Did you find yours moved far away?

         Hi Ellkebe. This year when digging the plot, I found a large nest of ants. As I turned the soil over, I sprinkled the ground cinnamon over the ants. No sign of the ants now on my plot. 

I've been on the allotment today and weeding my salad bed I disturbed a couple of ant nests.  Are they harmful to the veg growing or any other seeds I sow or can I just leave alone?   :-\

Cheers LesH - I'm going up this weekend armed with ground cinnamon!