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Old 21-04-2006, 03:18 PM
neilson neilson is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Apr 2006
Posts: 8
Default Ants in Compost Bin

Hi people, hope someone can offer some advise on how to get rid of ants in composts.

I've heard that a lot of the ant pesticides fail because the ants know that the chemicals in the pesticides are harmful and do not transfer to the queen, which is required in order to destroy the colony.
Apparently a method of overcoming this is to use 'Borax Crystals' found in cleaning soap powders, mix with sugar and water to form a solution and apply to the infected area.
This will then be transferred to the queen (assume because of the sugar content) by the other ants and she will die (the chemical mustn’t act instantly, otherwise the other ants wouldn't be able to transfer the Borax to the queen before they died).
When the queen is dead all the other ants apparently come rushing out, you can apply a general ant pesticide to destroy them.

Can anyone comment on the above if this is a good and permanent method?

i). Does it actually work?
ii). How long will Borax reside in the compost, and will this have any affects on plants where it will be eventually used?
iii). Any other alternative recommended pesticides that will destroy the colony?
iv). What, if any, are the harmful affects/problems that ants cause, to compost or plants (i'm only aware of ant mounds on lawns).
v). Organic methods, e.g. increasing heat, aeration, cooling down, boiling water, etc?
vi). Will the above method or any other chemical pesticides destroy any beneficial organisms within the compost and possibly plants when transferred


Much appreciated
Neilson