On Fri, 07 Apr 2006 06:42:10 -0400, wrote:

Another informative response Michael and a BIG thank you! Bee article
was interesting and I'll get mail from them on gardening.

You're welcome. I think you'll enjoy the articles they send out.

Ant mounds are near the road, about 150 yards away from the house. A
few found the expansion joint at edge of garage floor and pad outside.
They sure like the Amdro. Label indicates a three day cycle for the
queen.

Sounds like you don't have a bad problem - only a few around the house
itself. Even though it says 3 days to kill the queen (may actually be more
than one according to what I've read), it'll take a bit longer for all the
workers to die off.

Sometime around the middle of next month, take your Amdro with you on a walk
around your property and sprinkle a little on any new mounds that have turned
up. If you follow this procedure a few times each summer, you should never
have a problem with fire ants - has worked for me. It's particularly
important to take one of those walks first thing in the spring so you can
knock the colonies out before they produce mating swarms - takes a few weeks
after the weather warms in spring for the new queens and drones to mature.
IIRC you need to do it when the temp is 65F.

I have several articles I've collected over the years about fire ants and
their control. If you're interested, send me an email (address is mangled,
but fixable below) and I'll send them to you.

Just remember that you'll never be rid of them completely because new queens
will colonize your property from surrounding areas - and they can fly some
distance, particularly if they can ride the wind on swarm day.

Later, Mike
(substitute strickland in the obvious location to reply directly)
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