Question:
Actually, Lyme is no longer that rare in Texas. The last numbers in Texas were 970 cases. However, the CDC does not track all persons infected with Lyme.
I wonder if that number is "have gotten the disease in Texas" or resident of Texas in need of treatment. The one thing in common of the people that I have come across who have been effected with this is they have the means of a second or third resident in Ca., Co. or the northeast part of the country. Lar
Response:
My current usage is to sprinkle the granules over the mounds, as I don’t want to treat the entire yard and kill off all the good bugs too. Like you said, trying to carry enough boiling water out to a mound has its own set of dangers. I may look at a liquid next, but mixing pesticides just adds another layer of danger to just using dry pesticides. Thanks, Michele — Zone 9b, central Florida
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – . So I’m back to whatever is left of my Dursban and my Diazanon… Any liquid insecticide you come across will kill the colony as long as drench enough to reach and kill the next generation too. To save what OP’s you have you can cut the usage rate in half, probably even use a fourth of the concentrate, just make sure you totally drench the bed. If you have granules experiment with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of granules in an old milk jug, fill with water then drench the bed. In the situation of exposing the nest in the mulch you probably saw the white larvae and pupae in which you could use boiling water, but over the years I have heard in person more stories of people causing harm to themselves trying to get the water outside to the ants in time to kill them and not just give them a hot bath than conventional insecticides (not counting the stories of people blowing up their homes by over using foggers). Lar
Response:
My current usage is to sprinkle the granules over the mounds, as I don’t want to treat the entire yard and kill off all the good bugs too. Like you said, trying to carry enough boiling water out to a mound has its own set of dangers. I may look at a liquid next, but mixing pesticides just adds another layer of danger to just using dry pesticides.
An easy way is too use the pre mixed insecticide that attaches to the garden hose. Attach it, drench the mounds you find then detach it and set it up on the garage shelf till you need again. Lar
Response:
I forgot about the premixed stuff, thanks! Have fun, Michele — Zone 9b, central Florida
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – An easy way is too use the pre mixed insecticide that attaches to the garden hose. Attach it, drench the mounds you find then detach it and set it up on the garage shelf till you need again. Lar
Response:
hooray enlightened water user!
Despite your enigmatic snipping of what you are replying to, I deduced that in your country, it is up to the consumer to put backflow valves into the town water supply. Here it is mandatory. Regards John Riley West Oz – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Not to worry
Response:
Hey, madgardener, I’m one of those people who used to have almost a bee phobia. I have no idea how that phobia got started but I can tell you that becoming a gardener cured me <g. After spending so much time in the garden it became obvious to me that the bumblebees (which is mostly what I have here as honeybees have become scarce) have absolutely no interest in bothering me. Julia – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – fear of bees, they mean no harm to anyone, and if it weren’t for them we wouldn’t be here as there’d be nothing to eat
Response:
No, actually there are some much more earth friendly tactics for even something as nasty as a fire ant. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -can you say Dursban?
Response:
And…???
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – No, actually there are some much more earth friendly tactics for even something as nasty as a fire ant. can you say Dursban?
Response:
Ok…the recipe….go to www.google.com type "non toxic control fire ant" it’s real easy. I simply commented on your use of dursban. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -And…???
Response:
Yeah, we used Amdro for a few years too… never thought of it as non-toxic though. One of the supposedly non-toxic alternatives I found, when reading the MSDS, I saw 14% turpentine listed – again, that doesn’t sound non-toxic to me. 
The others I found via google were the old borax and sugar mixes – fire ants aren’t looking for a sugar high, they’re predators.
<snip I wonder if borax and hamburger would have any effect on them? Bill
Response:
Actually, Lyme is no longer that rare in Texas. The last numbers in Texas were 970 cases. However, the CDC does not track all persons infected with Lyme. Only those people who make antibodies to the disease. Counting all the people misdiagnosed with MS, Fibro, Lupus, Hysteria (a popular diagnosis for women patients) who knows how many people have been infected with this disease. Protect yourself. There are now over 300 strains of Lyme Disease. Kara Tyson Lyme Disease Support Group Of AL
Response:
great! hose end insecticides! Please be certain you have adequate backflow prevention! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – An easy way is too use the pre mixed insecticide that attaches to the garden hose.
Response:
Not to worry, I had the whole house re-piped a few months ago and made sure they put backflow valves on the outdoor spigots (they had forgotten). Have fun, Michele — Zone 9b, central Florida
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – great! hose end insecticides! Please be certain you have adequate backflow prevention! An easy way is too use the pre mixed insecticide that attaches to the garden hose.
Response:
hooray enlightened water user! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Not to worry
Response:
But when the pest is an invasive import, that doesn’t belong here, that threatens native species, the only thing you can do is kill it.
Although I agree with your post, I want to point out that most pests are imports. Fire ants, for example, are generally considered native to Texas. But 20 years ago, you’d be hard-pressed to find a mound. Fire ants are a definite nuisance, but they have some positive attributes. One example is the rarity of Lyme Disease in Texas — because ants devour ticks. With the recent release of phorid flies (a natural predator of ants and who knows what else) in the region, it will be interesting to see the Lyme Disease numbers in a few years.
Response:
If fire ants devoured mosquitoes, then I might show them some respect! LOL Not all imports are invasive, nor do they crowd out native species, but fire ants do, air potatoes and kudzu do, chinaberry trees do, etc. I do my best to get rid of invasives that damage the local ecosystem, whether they be plant or animal. Have fun, Michele — Zone 9b, central Florida
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – But when the pest is an invasive import, that doesn’t belong here, that threatens native species, the only thing you can do is kill it. Although I agree with your post, I want to point out that most pests are imports. Fire ants, for example, are generally considered native to Texas. But 20 years ago, you’d be hard-pressed to find a mound. Fire ants are a definite nuisance, but they have some positive attributes. One example is the rarity of Lyme Disease in Texas — because ants devour ticks. With the recent release of phorid flies (a natural predator of ants and who knows what else) in the region, it will be interesting to see the Lyme Disease numbers in a few years.
Response:
. So I’m back to whatever is left of my Dursban and my Diazanon…
Any liquid insecticide you come across will kill the colony as long as drench enough to reach and kill the next generation too. To save what OP’s you have you can cut the usage rate in half, probably even use a fourth of the concentrate, just make sure you totally drench the bed. If you have granules experiment with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of granules in an old milk jug, fill with water then drench the bed. In the situation of exposing the nest in the mulch you probably saw the white larvae and pupae in which you could use boiling water, but over the years I have heard in person more stories of people causing harm to themselves trying to get the water outside to the ants in time to kill them and not just give them a hot bath than conventional insecticides (not counting the stories of people blowing up their homes by over using foggers). Lar
Response:
They don’t work – see my post to Zhan… When a pest is a native pest, it’s one thing – moving them away from you is fine. But when the pest is an invasive import, that doesn’t belong here, that threatens native species, the only thing you can do is kill it. They laugh at, and then ignore the borax/sugar mixes, as they’d much rather eat meat. Dancing on their hills to cause them to get all bothered and move out doesn’t help either… they just move to another part of your yard and set up shop – but on the way there, they can do a lot of damage to ankles, hands and legs with their nasty bites. Have fun, Michele — Zone 9b, central Florida
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – No, actually there are some much more earth friendly tactics for even something as nasty as a fire ant. And you are keeping them a secret, or are you embarrassed that some will tell you they don’t work? Regards John Riley West Oz
Response:
Ok…the recipe….go to www.google.com type "non toxic control fire ant" it’s real easy. I simply commented on your use of dursban. And…???
If you do the google search, do it without the quotation marks. It is mostly recommendations for Amdro and like products, which stop working after a while. I lived in central Florida for 15 years. I know what you’re going through. As for Amdro being non toxic there are still plenty of questions. From the EPA the only thing for sure is don’t feed it to a mouse or dog on a daily basis. Zhan
Response:
No, actually there are some much more earth friendly tactics for even something as nasty as a fire ant.
And you are keeping them a secret, or are you embarrassed that some will tell you they don’t work? Regards John Riley West Oz
Response:
Yeah, we used Amdro for a few years too… never thought of it as non-toxic though. One of the supposedly non-toxic alternatives I found, when reading the MSDS, I saw 14% turpentine listed – again, that doesn’t sound non-toxic to me. The others I found via google were the old borax and sugar mixes – fire ants aren’t looking for a sugar high, they’re predators. So I’m back to whatever is left of my Dursban and my Diazanon… nothing else puts a dent in them… well, I could pour gasoline on their hills and then light it, but that’s too dangerous even for me. Some of the suggestions were downright stupid… fire ants are sensitive to vibrations, so one suggested pounding the ground to get them to move – real bright – they’ll move alright, right up your legs. I don’t want them to move away, I want them DEAD. Have fun, Michele — Zone 9b, central Florida
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok…the recipe….go to www.google.com type "non toxic control fire ant" it’s real easy. I simply commented on your use of dursban. And…??? If you do the google search, do it without the quotation marks. It is mostly recommendations for Amdro and like products, which stop working after a while. I lived in central Florida for 15 years. I know what you’re going through. As for Amdro being non toxic there are still plenty of questions. From the EPA the only thing for sure is don’t feed it to a mouse or dog on a daily basis. Zhan
Response:
<snip I was so thrilled to see bees in my garden last year I have allowed the plants they were delirious about to sow themselves a bit thicker than I would have allowed them normally. (Zebrina’s, the malvacea). If I thought this plant would survive for me here in Eastern Tennessee, I’d plant a huge patch of it just for the bees!
<snip of good rant I was out transplanting an Echeveria today and was pleased to watch a few of the solitary bees here working over the blooms on the Rosemary. Then I caught a glimpse of a hummingbird taking a drink from the neighbors Bird of Paridise. Snapdragons nipping at the new Chamomile blooms. Daffodils and Hyacynth popping up among the Naked Ladies and Strawberries. Sage and Stevia in bloom. Buddelia putting out new shoots and leaves. Buds opening on the Lilac. Spring has sprung. WHOOOOPEE! Bill
Response:
And think about overcoming your fear of bees, they mean no harm to anyone,
They may not mean harm, but for some people they can kill. My mother was an avid gardener and had to watch out for the bees after a reaction to one blew her immune system and nearly killed her. For her it meant always having footwear on in the garden and looking at a plant before doing something that would cause a hidden bee to react badly. She continued to grow lavender even though it was one of the worse offenders for attracting the bees. Her policy was that she didn’t touch their products and they didn’t touch her. b.
Response:
I too, would love to walk barefoot in the garden, but I’ve already gotten 10 fire ant bites in the last two days, and that was with shoes on (but no socks). Imagine my surprise when I picked up a bag of compost from last year – not only did the plastic fall apart <grin but it had become a home to thousands of the biting fire ants… they ran after me for several yards after I disturbed them (can you say Dursban?). Normally I let bugs and small critters be, but fire ants are not only _not_ native to the area, but they’ve pushed out the local (non-biting) ants, so I have no compunction about destroying them. Take care, Michele — Zone 9b, central Florida
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – And think about overcoming your fear of bees, they mean no harm to anyone, They may not mean harm, but for some people they can kill. My mother was an avid gardener and had to watch out for the bees after a reaction to one blew her immune system and nearly killed her. For her it meant always having footwear on in the garden and looking at a plant before doing something that would cause a hidden bee to react badly. She continued to grow lavender even though it was one of the worse offenders for attracting the bees. Her policy was that she didn’t touch their products and they didn’t touch her. b.
Response:
what I think is sad is that at a time when we’re facing two different problems with our domesticated bees over here in the Southeast, the Asian mite and a fungus that kills off our European bees,and here we have people chastising each other about the merits of removing something that is extremely important to the very survival of humans and most life on this planet. I was so thrilled to see bees in my garden last year I have allowed the plants they were delirious about to sow themselves a bit thicker than I would have allowed them normally. (Zebrina’s, the malvacea). If I thought this plant would survive for me here in Eastern Tennessee, I’d plant a huge patch of it just for the bees! Remove the offending plant that is attracting the little guys to do what they live and die to do, and put in artifical turf. OR ground cover juniper. And think about overcoming your fear of bees, they mean no harm to anyone, and if it weren’t for them we wouldn’t be here as there’d be nothing to eat. I am not going off on a rant here, next time just research a bit better about what to plant near a picnic area. That’s kinda ironic don’t you think? We couldn’t picnic if it weren’t for the diversity of foods the bees pollinate….. Sorry, I am not attacking you personally. I just know that we’re all dependant on each other in the chain of life on this little blue marble. We’re a thread in the web of life and what we do to the web we really do to ourselves because we are indeed bound together. I like the desert but even the desert is nothing without plants and flowers and bees and other "crawlies" that are necessary to the life on this planet.
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