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Ants just chewed through my liner. I got that patched but see ants going under the pool and need to kill them in a hurry. I'm sure that drought conditions have made them more of a problem this year. I have seen two above ground pools blow out this year in our neigborhood and now I think I know why.
thanks again
jennifer
Ok, new holes they all must die! Soon!
Thanks
jennifer
Here is a post you may find interesting:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...highlight=ants
Another folk remedy is cornmeal... sprinkle it around, and the ants will eat it and feed it to the queen. The cornmeal will swell in the ants, and BOOM! little ant bombs! :eek:
I am not totally sure of the effectivness of this method, but sounds good in theory, and no harm done if it does not work. No poison lying around to harm pets or kiddos, either!
Jennifer: We're just north of SA in the Boerne area. I have fireants. I've just been going around the pool with that stinky, expensive fire ant bait... but I'm sure they're still under the pool (and the LOVE the pump). Was talking to my DH about it, who is from a family of pest control folks... he says to find a pest control company that does termite treatments. They have big wands that they can put into the ground and get underneath the pool. I don't know if the termite poison works for ants, but it should and if not, they can probably use something else... but their equipment is the most likely to get up underneath your pool and into the ground and run those guys out. With this drought we're in, everything wants to get to that water. I'd try to kill the one's under the pool and then maybe set something up away from the pool with water in it to attract their friends away from the pool.
HTH.
Lori
:)
DE or the pesticide derivative thereof - sprinkle it around the pool , it will cut their exoscletal structure, infection sets in.
Not to hijack, but does anyone know what else DE will kill? I have to continually kill grub worms. Not only are they trouble by them selves, the gophers love them. I would love to use DE for ants and grubs.
Thanks in advance,
Brad
DE will help kill just about every exoskeletal organism, by exoskeletal, they mean the skeleton is on the Outside like an ant, earwig, potato bug, beetles. What it does is pierce or cut the skeleton, this allows dirt and other things to get into teh cut and infect it, in most cases causing death. They make insect powder that is 95% de and 5% some sort of toxin, this is supposed to ensure the cut gets infected by means of the toxin. It costs a LOT more than just DE, and supposedly, from people who have tried both ways, it really doesn't do much more, likely, the cut plus the dirt environment pretty much guarantee that infection sets in anyways. I had no problems getting rid of an anthill under my hose reel this summer wiuth straight DE.
As for grubs, because they also have a "skeletal type skin" protecting them on the outside, DE will also be effective - actually, grub killer is the same as ant killer etc.
DE does to bugs what broken glass would do to you.
Ok now they have done it! while I was patching a hole they got my beer! DE Borax, and corn meal. BTW I would avoid using any petrolium based products in contact with the liner as they can damage it.
Thanks again
jennifer
Oh no, not the beer:eek: Now it's war:mad:
Don't MESS with the http://ns27.servepower.com/~sensne2/...sens/drink.gif
OMG! Not the beer! These are serious, bad Texas ants. "Natural" remedies will not work! The only solution I can think of is to buy a 6-pack of really cheap beer... open all the cans... set the 6-pack at least 15 feet away from the pool, along with a dozen old donuts (make a ring of donuts around the 6-pack)... wait for them to head towards the bad beer and bad donuts... then start shooting... or if you have a hand grenade handy....
:eek:
I have have the same problem. Not sure what kind of ants they are but they were all over the ouside of my pool, mine is above ground, and some had wings too. I have to be careful as I have dogs that have access to the pool area so what can I use that won't hurt my dogs?
Hi,
welcome to the Land of Fire ants. I hate those nasty little beasts. We just moved from CT to GA.........never heard about fire ants before. The first week I met them because I stepped slightly on a hill and got chewed up since then WAR!!!!! I've been reading and trying anything for killing those little beasts and here is what worked successfully. What really really works but is kinda dangerous and a pain is pooring boiling water (about 3 gallons per Mount) on the hill THAT WORKS unbelivable!!!! The other Stuff that really helps (after trying litterly any product on the market) is AMDRO Fire Ant Bait for Yard treatment. It is expensive but it works. It comes in red Back with a yellow label on top. I have never done a complete yard treatment I treat every Mount induvidually and springle those yellow little pellets on top and 2 feet around the Mount. You can actually watch how those little yellow pellets are being transported inside the Mount YEEHA!!!!!. I went from yard covered with Fire ant mounts to about 1 or 2 occasionally. Keep the gras short and just spread it around!!!!!
Good Luck !!!
What you want is Over 'n' Out fire ant killer.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...020&lpage=none
You put it on with a broadcast spreader - just like fertilizing. You put in on in the early spring and it lasts ALL SEASON LONG with just the one treatment - and IT WORKS!
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueBlobTX
Howdy neighbor! :)
We're outside of San Marcos, between SA and Austin. We have (or had) fire ants, leaf-cutters, sweet-eating, carpenter ants, flying ants....and all their relatives.....lol
A troubling fact surfaced during my research for building our pool: Carpenter ants (and possibly fire ants) EAT "flex-hose" .....the hose that many PB use to connect the drains to the pumps!
Here in Texas, a lot of pools have to be dug into bedrock, so replacing a cheap piece of flex hose may cost a large percentage of the total pool cost :(
So naturally, we demanded that no flex hose be used and Schedule 40 pvc be used in all pool plumbing.
About the ants........I don't want to bore anyone with my LONG multistate battle with the warrior class, but I've tried ALL the suggestions above. DE, borax, Grants for ants (good for sweet eaters), boiling water, Terro, etc.
Recently, I found http://doityourselfpestcontrol.com/ and started buying the 1lb. tubs of Cypermethrin 40% based insecticide. Unlike the Home Depot varieties, this stuff WORKS!.......lol (it's relatively non-toxic to humans, but can't be used on food surfaces........I don't use it INSIDE at all)
It's under the brand name of Cyper WP, and can also be found on Ebay for slightly less, but more importantly.....You don't have to give your credit card number to an unknown website and you can pay through Paypal.
But take a look at the website. Tremendous info about all kinds of pest problems!
hth,
STS
Thanks all, we are starting to make headway we sprayed an insecticide around the pool to knock down population now we are treating with bait to finish them off. One more hole to patch. Oh and they are leaving my beer alone now.
Fingers crossed
jennifer