Allotments 4 All

 We had our raised beds a the allotment, but have now cancelled the allotment due to work commintments.  I want to bring the raised beds back home to my garden, but they are full of red ants that just won't go away.  The only problem is that I do not want to introduce red ants into my home garden as we have certain pets that go outside and red ants will hurt them.  Any suggestions please, cause I feel sick loosing all my beds.

Sorry to hear you have had to give up the Lottie CaseyLee ... can you not brush them off as you dismantle the frame or are you intending to take the contents as well?  :-\

They do not come apart unfotunatley, I have tried brushing them off but there always seems to be more coming out of the raised beds after cleaning.

what are your raised beds constructed of? is there a chance the ants could be in the structure, not the soil / compost?

They are in the soil as the raised beds were in my home garden to begin with, when we started rotavating the allotments they all come out, but I only noticed this after I started filling my raised beds with the soil.  So I am gutted, they were handmade for me by a friend and are lovley and would cost a lot to buy.  Do I have any rights to take this up with the council to replace these due to not being warned that the site was infested with red ants

red ants probably moved in to your beds, and pretty quickly!! a dry, friable soil is perfect for them to live in, continual disturbance is the best way to get rid. you need to get rid of the laying queens, boiling water is a common method. just by digging them up and exposing them to birds and cold you should get rid. be aware, ants fly at mating season, and newly mated queens look for suitable sites, a mulch can help disguise the site and keep the soil moist which they dislike. hope this helps, rgds, Tony

Thank you for the advice, the only problem is that I have to move them in the next week or so as I canx the lottie a little while ago, so it has to be done soon or leave them

To be honest I can't see what the problem is. If it is just the framework for the raised beds you are moving then just lift it & brush off any ants. If you intend to take the soil too then you are going to have to bag it up so you can transport it, when you do that you will destroy the nest & the ants will pick up the eggs, lava & pupa & run off somewhere they consider to be safer. Even if you do transfer the odd ant to your garden it won't matter because they will attempt to find there way back to the old nest site on your allotment.

The ants won't be in the wood unless it's seriously rotten, in which case you wouldn't be planning to move it! Go ahead and don't worry.

The late Geoff Hamilton recommended equal parts of Borax and icing sugar, the ants take this back to their nests. You could sprinkle it over the raised beds and then brush off later, not sure whether its too wet for this method at present but anything is worth a try!

I know you have to move the raised beds soon ~ but surely if you leave the soil behind most of the ants will be left too?
However if you do bring home ants nests to your garden you might want to give this a go

http://www.unwins.co.uk/ant-nest-nematodes-pid1843.html

Duke

If you just take ants, they die.

A few eggs are harmless because without the community they will not survive either.

All you have to do is not take the Queen!

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