Pouring boiling water down ant hills

[JanetRose]

Has anyone tried? We have a lot of small ant hills in our yard. I also read that pouring club soda down the hills also work.

 

[ilovedisney1]

never heard of that

 

[happygirl]

I don't see what it would hurt to try it

 

[SAHDad]

I've never heard of the club soda, but I have done the boiling water routine. I've found that I have to go back and do it once or twice a day for a few days, but it does seem to work.

 

[jesseiann]

It worked for me last year. The trick is to do something to make them mad and bring them to the top first. We flooded the hill with regular water for several minutes while the water boiled and then dumped a very large pot of boiling water on them. We had tried for months to get rid of them with the poison stuff and they just kept moving around the yard. This worked on the first try for us.

 

[DrCavin]

Gas & a match - much quicker

 

[sbell111]

An anthill is dug in such a way to keep it from filling up with water when it rains. Therefore, it isn't going to fill with boiling water, either.

 

[NotUrsula]

It works, but it's dangerous and a lot of work. There are easier ways.

If these are fire ants, go to a feed store and buy a few sacks of dry molasses, then broadcast it on your lawn, and especially on the mounds. Fire ants hate it, and will go away.

For other types of ants, if you don't mind waiting a few days for the ants to die, you can bait them with honey and boric acid (get the boric acid powder from a pharmacist -- NOT the same thing as laundry Borax.).

Mix 2 cups of honey and 4 teaspoons of boric acid, and then add enough water to make it thin enough to pour but not really liquid. Loosely pack some small jars with cotton balls or wads of toilet paper, then add your goo. Punch holes in the jar lids and screw them back on the jars. Place the jars on their sides near ant hills. You can put a bit of extra (plain) honey on the outside to make them even more attractive.

The business of the jars is to keep kids and pets away from the boric acid itself, as it's toxic and you don't want them getting directly into it. The ants will ingest the goo and carry it back to the nest as food, where it be will be eaten by and dehydrate the ants, including the all-important queen. In a few days they will all die.

 

[BeenHereB4]

We have them too - so frustrating. I don't know that you'd be able to get the water to go into the hole though. Chances are it will not reach the ants.

Would love to hear how it goes though as I've had it with them!

 

[LindaR]

Watch out for PETA!!!!!!!

 

[Hercules10]

Gas & a match - much quicker

And if ya do it right there's less grass to mow!

 

[JR6ooo4]

I don't see what it would hurt to try it

IT WOULD HURT THE ANTS!!!

Mikeeee

 

[SAHDad]

IT WOULD HURT THE ANTS!!!

Mikeeee

The ants we had last year were aggresive, territorial, and hurt. I didn't want a barefoot son or daughter to find an anthill the hard way.

 

[wdwiala]

Gas & a match - much quicker

It burns like a little eternal flame....

 

[Pooh Crew]

We sprinkle instant grits on the mound. By the next day, the mound is dry and the ants are gone. It's a tip I got from Southern Living and it works for us! Supposedly, the queen ant eats the grits, the grits swell, the ants explode. I don't really know if that's what happens, but it has worked for us for two years.

 

[JR6ooo4]

The ants we had last year were aggresive, territorial, and hurt. I didn't want a barefoot son or daughter to find an anthill the hard way.

Oh, so you are the type people who leave the house... Hehehehheee

My DW gets rid of them for me/us. I go out in spring and say, "wow there are a lot of anthills this year". And in two weeks they are gone!

Biting anything is not good and has to go. If they don't play nice it's time to play rough! Hehehehehee

Mikeeee

 

[declansdad]

I did the boiling water thing a couple of times. It works for a bit but it also kills the grass and eventually the ants come back.

 

[Turtle]

If you kill the mound, you might kill Flik!

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

I more prefer to scratch the top of the nest open and drop in an unsuspecting bug (usually a large spider that I crippled....). Because I'm a plumber. I hate spiders. Ants I can handle. Spiders...

 

[Jenvenza]

Watch out for PETA!!!!!!!

Hey now! I am a PETA member and I will kill those little pests without a second thought! They got a hold of my toddler the other day and I have now declared war on them!