Say goodbye to fire ants forever!

In my neighborhood, we have a huge problem with fire ants. They are everywhere. As soon as I step out of my yard, I can’t walk my dog more than 50 meters, without seeing an ant mound. The ant situation is so bad you can’t walk around at night without stepping on a mound or two.

The other day, while walking my dog I stopped to talk with John. He is my neighbor who lives across the street and a few houses down. John asked me how I’m able to keep the fire ants out of my yard, when the houses next to me, are all covered in ant mounds? He asked what pesticides I’m using to kill the ants and wanted to know if they were safe for pets. The questions, John asked started a nice conversion. I told John, I was not using pesticides and that the products and methods I use to kill ants are safe for people and pets.

Obviously, he wanted to know more about what I was doing. We continued to walk our dogs, and over the next 30 minutes, I told John everything I know about fire ants. Where they came from and how to kill them off. Are you interested in knowing what I told John too?

Well sit back, continue to read what’s written below. I will tell you the best method and way to kill fire ants. You might be in a hurry and short on time. If so, there is no need for you to read all the information I present here. I can give you a short and sweet response. Does that sound okay to you?

Best Way To Kill Fire Ants

So if you’re wondering what’s the easiest way to kill fire ants, here it is. You have to prepare an organic homemade spray. I call this spray my ant killer solution. The solution is made by mixing together orange oil, molasses, and water. In theory, you just spray this solution on the ants and they die.

There is a better way to spray this so that you can kill off the entire colony so they won’t return. I’ll tell you how below. The method is awesome because you don’t have to use any dangerous pesticides or chemicals on your lawn to get rid of fire ants. The treatment you will be spraying is natural — safe for pets and people.

Now, this is not the only way to kill fire ants. I provide a few more organic, all-natural methods for killing ants below. I’ll also provide you more details about the ant killer solution.

What Are Fire Ants?

Fire ants are not native to the United States. Since being introduced on American soil they have spread to over 13 southern and western states. These ants are very aggressive and will sting any person or animal repeatedly if their colony or mound is disturbed. Fire ants have no natural enemies. So if you have them in your yard or garden this is something you’ll have to take care of on your own. You’ll want to take care of the problem as soon as possible. They attack in numbers and can sting you multiple times, leaving you with a strong burning sensation that can last a few hours. The bite of a fire ant is very painful, to say the least.

People allergic to insect stings and bites will have a more severe reaction to a fire ant attack. If you prefer not to use chemicals and pesticides there are a few all-natural options you can use.

Below you can read all about fire ants and we will tell you the best ways to kill fire ants naturally without using harmful pesticides.

Why Are Fire Ants So Hard To Kill?

Fire ants can spread like wildfire across your yard and be very hard to kill. If left untreated they will take over your lawn and come inside your house if given the opportunity. Fire ants are hard to kill. Why is this the case and what makes fire ants different from other types of ants?

First, let’s talk about Ant killing 101. To kill an ant colony it’s important that you kill the queen. Normally, a colony of ants will have only one queen. If you kill that queen your ant problems go away. However, some fire ants colonies are different. They are more social and they can multiply queens.

Due to their social aspect, the process of killing multiple queens is infinitely more difficult. In any given colony of fire ants, you can have multiple queens working together to establish ant mounds all over your yard. The fire ant colonies will not die unless you kill all queens.

How Can You Tell If You Have Fire Ants?

Fire ants are typically reddish-brown, but can also be black. Due to their reddish color, a few ant species like western harvester ants and pharaoh ants are often mistaken for fire ants. So if you see red ants around your home don’t jump to conclusions and automatically assume you have fire ants.

Fire ants are very aggressive and respond rapidly when disturbed. They build a mound-shaped nest that can grow to be quite large. Imported fire ants are the most aggressive and dangerous.

They were introduced in Alabama many years ago and have since spread to a few other states and territories including Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Puerto Rico

What Attracts Fire Ants To Your Home?

Fire ants are attracted to your home for a number of reasons. Fire ants are attracted to food and electricity which can be readily found in many American homes. Worker ants leave the nest foraging for food. They travel in close proximity to their home bases of operation looking for something to eat.

Their travel plans will sometime take them near homes and if they can find or smell your food you have problems. Once an ant finds food it will release pheromones to attract other worker ants. Who in turn visits the food source, feeds, and returns to the nest with food to feed the queen.

If you keep an unclean house with an everlasting food source the ants will continue to come into your house to feed.

3 Ways To Kill Fire Ants Naturally

Homemade Fire Ant Killing Spray

• Orange Oil, 1/4 cup
• Molasses, 1/4 cup
• 1-gallon pump sprayer
• Water

To prepare the fire ant killing spray, just pour 1/4 cup orange oil and 1/4 cup molasses into a 1-gallon pump sprayer. Add water to just below the fill line. Mix ingredients well, seal sprayer, then prepare sprayer by pumping.

To apply this ant killer treatment, first, spray a big circle around the outer part of the ant mound. This will create a barrier the ants will not cross over. Next, you want to stir-up and disturb the nest to get the ants and queen going– you can use a shovel or stick for this. Now that the ants are rattled go ahead and generously spray the ants and the nest.

The basic science behind this treatment method is simple to understand. Ants don’t like orange oil which removes their outer protective cover and kills them. The ants hate the molasses so this helps create a barrier the ants will not cross.

Natural Ant Killer Diatomaceous Earth

Food grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) can be used to kill ants naturally without pesticides or poison. DE is fossilized algae powder that is safe for pets and people but kills ants and other bugs. Diatomaceous Earth exposes the ant’s exoskeleton, so any ant that comes in contact with DE will dehydrate and die. It’s easy to treat and kill fire ants with diatomaceous earth.

Generously sprinkle DE on and around the ant mound and along any known ant trails. Apply this powder anywhere ants are present. For the best results, you want to apply DE at the source of the problem. You want to target the ant mound.

We have found a really good technique that works. You need to disturb the mound before applying diatomaceous earth. This gets the foraging ants excited, these are the worker ants that leave the mound and bring food back to the queen. Now that the ants are moving around, sprinkle DE directly on top of the ant mound. Then created a barrier by, pouring diatomaceous earth around the outer perimeter of the ant mound.

You’ll notice that the ants will not want to cross this barrier. The barrier will ensure the ants are not able to forage for food and in a few days, the queen will die since she has been denied food. All ants that come in contact with diatomaceous earth will dehydrate and die off, while the other ants will starve. If it rains within 24 hours of application, you’ll need to reapply the treatment.

You can buy diatomaceous earth online or at your local farm store.

Homemade Borax Ant Solution

Now for another quick and easy home remedy for killing fire ants.  You can prepare a powder solution of equal parts borax and granular white sugar. So how does the ant solution work? The worker ants will eat the borax and sugar and carry it back to the nest to feed the queen. You kill the queen, you kill off the colony. No more fire ants. To prepare the borax ant solution just pour equal parts of borax and granular white sugar in a container. Mix the borax and sugar until it is evenly distributed. Now all you have to do is apply it to the ant colony. To apply, sprinkle the ant solution powder light on top of the ant mound.

Give the worker ants a chance to feed and carry the powder away deep into the mound. They will feed the other ants and the queen. The next day or after 24 hours apply more of the ant solution until all ants are dead.  Rain will dissolve the borax and make your ant solution ineffective. So if it rains just reapply the solution again.

In case you’re, wondering borax is safe for humans and pets. This is the same stuff I use to wash and clean my laundry with no negative effects.

#1 Thing You Must Do To Kill Fire Ants

We have shared our 3 easy ways to kill fire ants. Each method is all-natural so you do not harm yourself, your pet, or the environment. To be successful with either method you must kill the queen. If you fail to kill the queen the colony will regenerate and you will have the same problems as before.

That said, in order to kill the queen you might have to reapply a treatment until you get to the queen. You can also disturb the ant mound to a point where the queen is exposed to the treatment. This is one of the best ways to ensure your ant killing method will work.

Best of luck and let us know of any all-natural ant treatment you come up with.