Re: HELP!!!! FIRE ANTS!!
Baits can be a hit or miss proposition, unless a pro uses professional versions. The bait has to be tailored to species, and even then you can have difficulty. You can have one colony that will take the bait, and another colony six feet away that won't even look at it. Also, they may not necessarily eat the bait right away. Ants cache their food, and if there is a large amount already stored, it can take days, even weeks before they get to the bait that has been stored. The exception is liquid baits. Ants do not eat what they find. They take it back to the nest and give it to the larvae. The larvae converts all foraged food to a liguid that is regurgitated to the ant that comes to it. The ant palpates the larvae with its antenae and forelegs, which stimulates the larvae to regurgitate the liquid. It is this liquid that the ant lives on. The process is called Throsolaxis. The queen is tended by small ants that never leave the colony, and they bring her this food from the larvae. Liquids that foraging ants take in is brought straight to the larvae and is not stored, so a liquid bait can work faster. The chem in the bait has to be low enough to not kill the foraging ant or the larvae right away. It needs to be passed out like bad halloween candy, and it can take up to a few weeks for a bait to kill an average sized colony. The industry spends a lot of money and time on research to come up with a bait that the ants will take and consume. We spend a lot of money on our baits, and there is no such thing as one bait that kills everything. Storebought baits have a low percentage of effectiveness because of this. They try to make bait that all ant species will take, and it ends up that none takes it.
i think i'll pass on your unorthodox method.
