I've had really good luck with using a pound of table sugar on each mound. Just the smell of amdro gives me nausea and body aches.

Good luck with the allergies.

I heard on one of the Sat. radio garden programs that if you can leave the fire ants alone, you don't have to worry about ticks and fleas.
The fire ants aren't bothering us so I've left them, I haven't done any treatment to our three dogs in about three months and they don't have flees...maybe it's true?

I don't think it's true. I have had flea and fire ant infestations at the same time. Haven't had any real flea problems in several years, though. I still put out poison just to be safe. I think I'd rather deal with fire ants than with fleas.

While working on my yard this afternoon, I thought of this post and decided that I would throw my 2 cents in. Other than my yard, I am also responsible for the landscaping of two industrial blocks in the City of Dallas. The total landscaping is around 5 acres. When I first started the Dallas job, the turf looked like a prairie dog village with all the fireant mounds, literally hundred of mounds. Now, there are less than 20 on the entire property. This came about through very proactive measures a few years ago that still yield results.

I use no poisons or synthetic weed/feed/fertilizer products on my home or work landscaping. I just mention that so you will get the idea of where the anti fireant program comes from.

First, fireant eradication is a two step process. This is true for the chemical as well as the organic programs. There is a third step I will mention later.

Step one is to put out a bait. An organic fireant specific bait is Conserve. Conserve uses spinosad which is developed from a bacteria. Spinosad must be ingested, and only affects insects.

Step 2 is a mound drench. Mound drenches are instantaneous. a very good mound drench is Anti Fuego. The orange oil in the Anti Fuego dissolves the exoskeleton of the fireant. You apply this directly on mounds that have formed.

Step 3 is to maintain a highly active organic yard. Fireants do not like yards with a lot of organic activity. They can not maintain an adequate food supply, so move elsewhere. This has been seen on small lots, and large ranches.

Oh, fireants do eat flea larvae.

Another oh, the fireants that are prolific are the imported ones, the native ones are much better behaved.

Email me if you want to know more about organic yard maintenance.

When you use any bait, Amdro or organic, remember that it needs to be ingested. Don't mow the day before or after applying. Do not apply if there is rain forecasted in the next 48 hours, or if you plan to water in that time frame.