Ant Annihilation - Ordnance Advice Needed

[crysede]

Does the colony seem to be outside and they just find your territory rich in resources or does it seem they have taken up residence in the building structure?

The colony is outside the perimeter of my settlement.

The only resources they seem interested in are my orchids (they don't do any damage, just exploit naturally occurring sugar deposits). I wouldn't object if they'd just keep themselves to the sunroom - but they insist on launching continual reconnaissance missions which always seem to end with them falling off the ceiling, falling off the walls, falling into drinks, falling into my bed - perhaps I just need to import some less clumsy ants...

Try to find their nest, not their anthill, and pour your chemical down there.

What's the difference between the nest and the anthill?

 

[GeorgeWBush]

Pour gasolene down their hole, then strike a match, BBQ'd ants!

Great minds think alike.

 

[LadyG]

The colony is outside the perimeter of my settlement.

The only resources they seem interested in are my orchids (they don't do any damage, just exploit naturally occurring sugar deposits). I wouldn't object if they'd just keep themselves to the sunroom - but they insist on launching continual reconnaissance missions which always seem to end with them falling off the ceiling, falling off the walls, falling into drinks, falling into my bed - perhaps I just need to import some less clumsy ants...

What's the difference between the nest and the anthill?

The anthill is like...a subdivision. The nest is where the queen is.

That's how the exterminator explained it to me *shrugs*

 

[crysede]

Drain-O will kill em off quite nicely... don't know what it would do to your house and/or lawn though...

Since it dissolves stuff, I'm thinking it would not do good things lol. Something to try before moving up to napalm though. . .

When I was a kid, my favorate way to deal with an ant hill was to pour hydrocloric acid on it--sulfuric acid if I had gotten ahold of some old car batteries.

Second favorite was to get 90% or better isopropyl alcohol and pour it around and down the nest. And if letting your inner pyro loose, you can always light it and get some low grade heat going.

Ooooooooooooh! Advanced (but non-neighbour annoying) chemical warfare, I like it! I have access to conc. sulphuric acid - what would I need to dilute it to? (I don't want to turn my yard into a smoking pit lol)

My neighbours don't like my inner pyro

Do you have a farmers Co-op in your area? There is white powder, I don't know the name, that we use for fire ants. Not good for pets or humans, but it kills some ants.

I do - I didn't think about asking them. Is the stuff you're talking about diatomaceous earth? I haven't tried that, since I thought poisons would be more effective - but since the poisons haven't been, I should probably give it a shot.

 

[John Doe]

The anthill is like...a subdivision. The nest is where the queen is.

That's how the exterminator explained it to me *shrugs*

Then one of you is a moron. I'm guessing it's the technician.

 

[John Doe]

Since it dissolves stuff, I'm thinking it would not do good things lol. Something to try before moving up to napalm though. . .

Nooo, you hit them NOW and you hit them HARD, with everything you got, Powell style. Nape the shit outta the fuckers and you won't have any more problems.

 

[LadyG]

I'm just repeating what he said. Maybe he wanted me to go away, instead of bombarding him with questions.

However..we found the nest in my basement window well, it made the regular ant hill look like a peanut.

Two more in other neighbours as well. They did their chemical warfare and voila! No more ants. Well, you still get them, but they're not invading, just normal ant sightings.

 

[crysede]

The anthill is like...a subdivision. The nest is where the queen is.

That's how the exterminator explained it to me *shrugs*

Perhaps he meant that that just levelling the raised portion of the anthill wouldn't hurt the queen (since is she's in the deeper underground chambers)?

 

[Guest]

Is the stuff you're talking about diatomaceous earth?

How do mined and crushed up diotoms kill ants?

 

[SuprSalor]

Chalk dust or plain kitty llitter ground into a very fine (talcum like) powder is an enviromentaly friendly ant killer. They generally won't cross a line of the stuff. It gets into between their exoskeletal plates and causes an agonizing death.

 

[John Doe]

How do mined and crushed up diotoms kill ants?

They don't.

 

[John Doe]

I'm just repeating what he said. Maybe he wanted me to go away, instead of bombarding him with questions.

However..we found the nest in my basement window well, it made the regular ant hill look like a peanut.

Two more in other neighbours as well. They did their chemical warfare and voila! No more ants. Well, you still get them, but they're not invading, just normal ant sightings.

You talked to him while he was working?

 

[LadyG]

Chalk dust or plain kitty llitter ground into a very fine (talcum like) powder is an enviromentaly friendly ant killer. They generally won't cross a line of the stuff. It gets into between their exoskeletal plates and causes an agonizing death.

\

Okay that makes sense because I've seen "chalk" products adverstised in Chinese stores for ants/roaches, etc.

*nods*

 

[linuxgeek]

Ooooooooooooh! Advanced (but non-neighbour annoying) chemical warfare, I like it! I have access to conc. sulphuric acid - what would I need to dilute it to? (I don't want to turn my yard into a smoking pit lol)

My neighbours don't like my inner pyro

It has been many years since I did chemistry, so I know there are people around here much more qualified to answer on diluting. In case they don't toss in their 2 cents, I would expect distilled water would work well.

When I was a kid, the local Lowe's/Home Depot type store had HCl sold in a useable molar amount as "brick cleaner". I would just use regular water to dilute it once I was fairly sure it had done its job and use backing soda to neturalize the remaining.

Great thing about isopropyl alcohol, is it burns at such a low heat, the flame is barely visable.

 

[Cleopatra]

Ooooooooooooh! Advanced (but non-neighbour annoying) chemical warfare, I like it! I have access to conc. sulphuric acid - what would I need to dilute it to? (I don't want to turn my yard into a smoking pit lol)

PLEASE be careful with diluting conc. H2SO4.

I like a good flamethrower for the job, but I can see your neighbors getting upset.

None of the ant bait-type poisons work? Do you know where the point of entry is?

 

[John Doe]

It has been many years since I did chemistry, so I know there are people around here much more qualified to answer on diluting. In case they don't toss in their 2 cents, I would expect distilled water would work well.

When I was a kid, the local Lowe's/Home Depot type store had HCl sold in a useable molar amount as "brick cleaner". I would just use regular water to dilute it once I was fairly sure it had done its job and use backing soda to neturalize the remaining.

Great thing about isopropyl alcohol, is it burns at such a low heat, the flame is barely visable.

And no smoke either.

 

[LadyG]

You talked to him while he was working?

I asked him what he was going to do, yes. Also, I have pets, so I needed to make sure that his producte was safe for the dogs and cat.

Then I asked why he didn't nuke all the other little anthills on the lawn and that's when he used the subdivision description.

Please..I'm curious and want to know. All the workmen have a hoot when they come here. They usually end up showing me how to fix the problems so I can do it myself.

Plus I give refreshments if it's really hot or really cold.

 

[crysede]

How do mined and crushed up diotoms kill ants?

When they walk over all the little broken shells it punctures their exoskeletons, then they dehydrate and die horrible deaths! (But it's all-natural and environmentally friendly, which makes it okay )

 

[John Doe]

I asked him what he was going to do, yes. Also, I have pets, so I needed to make sure that his producte was safe for the dogs and cat.

Then I asked why he didn't nuke all the other little anthills on the lawn and that's when he used the subdivision description.

Please..I'm curious and want to know. All the workmen have a hoot when they come here. They usually end up showing me how to fix the problems so I can do it myself.

Plus I give refreshments if it's really hot or really cold.

Ask them five seconds after they knock on the door and gice them a blwojob just before they leave.

 

[Cleopatra]

If you must, add the acid to the water, very slowly, down the side of the container, like you're trying NOT to get a head on a glass of beer. Don't shake it, or splash it. You can stir it very carefully, but don't use plastic.

How much of this do you need??

 

[Guest]

Then I would go with the diatoms. Plus it is good for your soil because it is rich in nutrients.

If you resoirt to using acid - and by the way I won't press you on why you have 100% H2SO4?! - use distilled water to no more than 10% conc.

 

[SleepingWarrior]

I still say Drain-O... it may scorch and salt the earth but the ants won't be coming back to nest there. *nods*

 

[crysede]

Great thing about isopropyl alcohol, is it burns at such a low heat, the flame is barely visable.

*evil grin*

PLEASE be careful with diluting conc. H2SO4.

I like a good flamethrower for the job, but I can see your neighbors getting upset.

None of the ant bait-type poisons work? Do you know where the point of entry is?

I figured I'd do the diluting in the lab under a fumehood - I'm quite fond of my respiratory passages and skin, and plan on keeping 'em

I've only been using borax-based poisons. I have no clue where their point of entry is - but it's an old drafty house so I'm guessing everywhere lol

 

[Cleopatra]

I figured I'd do the diluting in the lab under a fumehood - I'm quite fond of my respiratory passages and skin, and plan on keeping 'em

I've only been using borax-based poisons. I have no clue where their point of entry is - but it's an old drafty house so I'm guessing everywhere lol

Good - then you can disregard the "how-to" in my later post - I wasn't sure if you knew how to do it.

And the diatoms sounds promising if you have a lot of area to cover.

 

[LukkyKnight]

Hostilities were initiated one year ago, by the ant colony, when they invaded a sovereign dwelling.

Since that time I have been flooding their tunnels with weekly poison bait attacks (Raid liquid bait, 7.7% Borax). Unfortunately, a year of chemical warfare has left the enemy only slightly diminished. Ant moral remains high.

Seeking advice on how to escalate my offensive without poisoning/maiming/or otherwise pissing-off the neighbours.

Time for Psychological Operations to be stepped up, clearly. Now, with brains that small they're pretty tough to bluff, so don't start spreading diplomatic rumors about doing WMD inspections, that will be a waste of time. You need something really cunning, such as a leaflet campaign offering lavish rewards for turning in proof of the demise of their tyrannical leaders, probably coupled with something to make an alternative location seem more attractive.

Maybe a trail of honey leading to the back door of one of your neighbors?