# Ants in lawn



## SpiveyJr (Jun 7, 2018)

What should I apply to get rid of all of these little ant mounds in my yard? I applied a bag of bayer advanced complete insect killer and I don't think it is working.


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## kaptain_zero (Jun 2, 2018)

Do a google search for killing ants or ask a local pest controller. All I can say is that I have been battling ants in my lawn for over a decade and they have finally moved across the driveway to my neibours yard and then still come wandering in to MY yard.....<groan> Homeowner purchased pesticides are no longer allowed in my area, all we can get now is diatomtatious earth.... It doesn't seem to do a thing in my yard, but perhaps it works better indoors where it doesn't get wet.

I just started to make my own poison bait cups.... 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water and 1 tbls borax. The ants will carry this back to the mound and it will kill them all off, or at least that is the theory. If you try making your own bait cups, make sure they are covered in such a way that pets or other animals, or even kids won't get inside them as borax is toxic if ingested, but touching it is safe (it's used as a laundry additive after all).

A couple of links I found:

https://www.diynatural.com/how-to-get-rid-of-ants-naturally/

http://pesthacks.com/homemade-ant-killer/


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

It probably depends on the type of ant. I have had success with this stuff:

https://www.domyown.com/maxforce-complete-granular-bait-p-1603.html

I am assuming the Bayer Stuff you used is a spray? It probably only kills what it contacts. For every ant you see, there are thousands more underground. Baits are more effective because they bring the poison back to the colony and it kills slowly, so you can take out everything. It takes a few days, but they will be gone.

I had some ants in my house this spring. I sprinkled this around the perimeter of the house and haven't seen one since.


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

kaptain_zero said:


> I just started to make my own poison bait cups.... 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water and 1 tbls borax. The ants will carry this back to the mound and it will kill them all off, or at least that is the theory. If you try making your own bait cups, make sure they are covered in such a way that pets or other animals, or even kids won't get inside them as borax is toxic if ingested, but touching it is safe (it's used as a laundry additive after all).


This works, too. If you don't feel like making your own, this is basically what "Terro" brand liquid bait traps are.


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## Schaef (May 28, 2018)

The Terro liquid/gel ant baits work amazing. Buy a few packs and put them around your yard.


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

Schaef said:


> The Terro liquid/gel ant baits work amazing. Buy a few packs and put them around your yard.


They do, but please heed the advice to keep kids and pets away. They are basically sugar water mixed with poison, so they are probably delicious before they start to poison you.


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## SpiveyJr (Jun 7, 2018)

gm560 said:


> Schaef said:
> 
> 
> > The Terro liquid/gel ant baits work amazing. Buy a few packs and put them around your yard.
> ...


Having a 1 & 2 year old who play on the grass and put everything in their mouth isn't good!


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

SpiveyJr said:


> gm560 said:
> 
> 
> > Schaef said:
> ...


Same boat as me.... 1 and 3. Precisely why I switched over the the granules.


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## Tsmith (Aug 11, 2017)

SpiveyJr said:


> What should I apply to get rid of all of these little ant mounds in my yard? I applied a bag of bayer advanced complete insect killer and I don't think it is working.


Never used that so I checked the description which says kills surface insects in 24 hours but nothing about soil insects although does say it prevents soil insects for 3 months.

I used Bayer 24 Hour Grub Killer for webworms which also kills ants so might try that next time although I wouldn't now since you already dropped the insect killer.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

This is a thread from MQ for insect control. I dont have a huge deal with insects, so I only use cyzmic cs for mosquito.


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