I believe that the largest crop raised in Louisiana is the fire ant.  They show now mercy and are found everywhere especially after a good rain.  These little critters just pop out in lawns, gardens, playgrounds and ballfields.  They bite and sting and just make life miserable for those who get in their way.  

There are lots of remedies to use to kill fire ants, a few for killing the queen and some for the immediately kill.  So, let’s name a few.

 Acephate is a really good chemical for killing fire ants quickly.  You can sprinkle a few teaspoons on the mound and see immediate results.  No residual.  Now that is if you can stand the smell.  Bifenthrin is another great killer to use.  It comes as a granule or spray.  Bifen is a great tool for using around the house for almost any kind of insect.  It will work on termites also.

Bayer makes a fire ant killer with cyfluthrin.  It starts working immediately and kills the queen and destroys the colony in 3 days .  It is easy to use, just shake on the mound.

If you like to use organic products, there is spinsoid,  Fertilome’s Come and get it contains spinsoid.  It is attractive and deadly to fire ants.  Ants quickly find and pickup the bait, take it back to the mound and it to the colony including the queen.  They start dying in 24 hours with colony destruction within 14 days.  Spinsoid products are labeled to use in the garden and yard.

I wrote about diatomaceous earth last week.  It is safe, effective and easy to use.  Just sprinkle on the mound.

No matter what we do, Fire ants are here to stay.  We just keep fighting them all that we can find. 

(Mitzi Thomas owns Minden Farm & Garden LLC. Watch for her column on Fridays in Webster Parish Journal.)