Speaking of mongrel ants who bring nasties to things (like trees), how can
you slaughter large numbers of them? I have a larger problem, with ants and
sticky stuff and trees/bushes slowly struggling against them.


--
ant
Don't try to email me;
I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy

"ant" wrote in message

Speaking of mongrel ants who bring nasties to things (like trees),
how can
you slaughter large numbers of them? I have a larger problem, with
ants and
sticky stuff and trees/bushes slowly struggling against them.

As Len (rightly) mentioned, the ants come for the sticky stuff. There
will be some sort of bug on your trees which is causing the sticky
exudate.

What sort of trees and do they have sooty mould? Sooty mould looks
just like black soot.

Farm1 wrote:
"ant" wrote in message

Speaking of mongrel ants who bring nasties to things (like trees),
how can you slaughter large numbers of them? I have a larger
problem, with ants and sticky stuff and trees/bushes slowly
struggling against them.

As Len (rightly) mentioned, the ants come for the sticky stuff. There
will be some sort of bug on your trees which is causing the sticky
exudate.

What sort of trees and do they have sooty mould? Sooty mould looks
just like black soot.

gums, mainly. It's quite virulent. Some have the black yuck on them, other
have a sort of messy sticky stuff, and lots of ants. It's bloody annoying.
We've planted hundreds of trees over the years, and many are being smashed
into oblivion by this stuff. The trees I germinated from local gumnuts seem
particularly prone to this. The mannifera are the least prone.

--
ant
Don't try to email me;
I'm borrowing the spammer du jour's addy

"ant" wrote in message
...
Farm1 wrote:
"ant" wrote in message

Speaking of mongrel ants who bring nasties to things (like
trees),
how can you slaughter large numbers of them? I have a larger
problem, with ants and sticky stuff and trees/bushes slowly
struggling against them.

As Len (rightly) mentioned, the ants come for the sticky stuff.
There
will be some sort of bug on your trees which is causing the sticky
exudate.

What sort of trees and do they have sooty mould? Sooty mould
looks
just like black soot.

gums, mainly. It's quite virulent. Some have the black yuck on them,
other
have a sort of messy sticky stuff, and lots of ants. It's bloody
annoying.

Have a good close look at the trees. There will be some sort of bug
on them. Maybe a scale insect which looks like a flat scale that
clings very closely to the bark (I dont' know if mealybugs also grow
on trees???) You'll have trouble scraping the scale off with your
fingernail but you'll get goo on your nail when you do.

First step is to find out what sort of bug you have. I don't like
using any chemicals but I'm sure I used an agricultrual soap added to
a light white oil to get rid of a similar problem I had once.