How to get rid of ant hills?

[Hollin]

I'm x-posting this to digging in the earth. We just moved to Florida from Oregon and our backyard is filled with ant hills. It wouldn't be the end of the world except those suckers swarm and bite! I've never had to deal with this before. I'm so upset because we have a beautiful backyard but I can't even let my toddler play in it. Is there any natural, effective and safe way to get rid of them? I really hope there is! Thanks for any tips.

[JoyfulMomma]

This is from Clean House Clean Planet. It works pretty well.... Fill a bucket with water add a bunch of soap - I think she says a cup and then dump it on the ant hill.

If you want more specifics let me know and I will give you the exact directions from the book.

HTH
JM

[philomom]

Pour boiling water onto the mound. Free, cheap and no need to worry about lingering chemicals.

[Sustainer]

Are these methods just for little ant hills, or would they work on something 2 feet wide and a foot high?

[JoyfulMomma]

We had huge anthills here and the soapy water relocated them all to our neighbors yards

HTH
JM

[ashleyhaugh]

i dont think i would call it natural, but we're from tx, home of killer red ants, lol, and my dad would hose down the yard with the water hose, then pour gas on the ant hill and burn it

[Sustainer]

Originally Posted by JoyfulMomma

We had huge anthills here and the soapy water relocated them all to our neighbors yards

I have 14 acres, so I'm worried that they might just relocate to another part of my land.

Is there any natural way to KILL them instead of relocating them?

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

I've gotten rid of ants in my house by mixing borox with honey and putting it dishes for them. They eat it up and and it kills them. I'm not sure how that would work with outdoor anthills though. Borox would be toxic to pets and children if they got into it.

I have had success killing small hills with boiling water but again I'm not sure how that would work with a realy big hill. It would be worth a try though!

[J2]

If there are indeed more specific instructions to the soapy water remedy, then I would like them! I too am new to FL and am bummed it seems that my son can't play outside due to all the ants. I have been bit - and the OP is right - they ALL swarm up on your foot and leg and bite. And it hurts!

I want to do things that will indeed make the ants relocate so we can freely roam our yard without worry!

[mgilleran@earth-co]

We have the huge 2-3 foot fire ant hills too. I used something called Diatomaceous earth. It is natural, but I'm sure it's not as safe as plain hot water. But I finally decided that this was better than risking my daughters getting eaten alive by them. My 3 yo got about 10 bites one time last fall. It was awful. I can't imagine if I hadn't found them & got them off of her. BTW, I gave her a luke warm bath & rubbed TTO on the bites. The redness & itching went away completely. I missed one, so I had a sort of "control bite" to go by, it stayed red & itched like crazy.

[J2]

What is TTO?

[Sustainer]

tea tree oil

[jo22]

This is weird but I'm pretty sure my husband put out cream of wheat. They ate it, expanded and died. Like I said I'm pretty sure this is the cereal he put out. I'll ask him next time we talk. He is currently deployed for the year.

[Laggie]

Diatomaceous earth works and is not toxic to people or pets unless you manage to eat the whole bottle. It basically absorbs all the moisture from the insect's body and it dies. I think I would use boiling water and then put out the d.earth.

[mommyofboys3]

go to www.vinegartips.com
and it gives you tips on how to keep ants away by using vinegar...