I know there are several posts on house ants , but this is about large colonies of black ants in my yard with small hills. the colonies seem to spread out and are about 4 to 5 feet in diameter. I put down the outside granules and the borax mixture which seems to kill off the colonies for a while, but soon there will be another close to the first one. they are not a problem in my house. but there are a lot of them and they seem to kill the grass and dig up dirt where they colonize. anyone have this? what did you use to kill the colonies? any thoughts on treatment or products to use would be appreciated. thanks

frank

 

The granules that you used; are they a contact insecticide or a bait granule?
The borax; is that a contact insecticide or a bait formulation?

The attached link is an example of a bait that I would consider using. Their are other insect/ant baits for exterior use as well; I've simply attached just one of them. If they are the big black ants, possibly carpenter ants, I'd also consider the Advance Carpenter ant bait granules. I wouldn't use the gel baits outdoors; just focus on granule bait.

Read the directions for application. Some baits are to be spread around exterior perimeter of the ground nest, not on top of it as that evokes a defensive reaction potentially. Also, learn about how rain affects the bait prior to baiting. Bait in the evening as I remember.

Don't use any other insecticides when baiting as you will work against the baiting strategy. Again, learn from the label how to strategically best use the particular bait.

Otherwise, any of the "fipronil" based sprays will work well on ants. I'd suggest getting a concentrate to mix with water and a compressed air sprayer as it is much more economical than buying the already mixed insecticide. Termidor, Taurus SC, Fuse are some examples of fipronil based concentrates.


https://www.domyown.com/maxforce-com...it-p-1603.html

 

the granules were contact and the borax was bait , both worked but evidently didn't solve the problem completely.