I’m for peace & typically take the position that all living things- no matter how annoying- have a role to play. I choose to relocate snakes & most other garden nuisances. I did my best to co-exist with the fire ants that had been dominating the land prior to my insistence that a farm should be on this land, but they weren’t having it.

It is illogical to me to poison the land, water & your food- & therefore yourself- with noxious chemicals in an effort to get rid of pests, so I researched non-toxic means of dealing with ants. I now know more than I ever wanted to about ant behavior & biology- lol. The solution I found most practical for me to implement was creating a paste from borax, sugar & water.

Borax is a natural, white powder that is typically used as a household cleaner. It is non-toxic to humans (except when ingested/inhaled in large amounts), but when ingested by ants, it is lethal.

Because borax itself has no appeal, the powder must be mixed with something that will entice the ants to eat it. Adult ants can’t digest solid foods, so they only eat liquids. However, the adults will take solid foods back to the colony for the larvae (who can digest solids) to consume. The larvae turn the solids into a liquid that the queen can then digest. This is why it’s important to use a combination of solid (targeting larvae) & liquid (targeting adults) ant baits if you hope to kill the entire colony.

As my goal is to stunt the ant population & precipitate a relocation from my growing spaces, I primarily focus my efforts on liquid bait & drowning/destroying ant mounds when identified within my beds.

I prepare a mixture made with a 2:1 sugar to borax ratio in a 5 gallon bucket & fill with enough water to create a thin paste (like a thin pancake batter).

After stirring the mixture to ensure that it’s well combined, it’s ready to disseminate. When possible, I place the mixture near a known ant colony to decrease the odds that the ant will die before being able to share the sweet-but-deadly treat with others. The adult ants pick up the borax-sugar mixture & take it back to the colony to feed the larvae. The borax powder will kill the larvae & the adult ants that ingest it.

Within days of spreading the paste in my growing spaces, there is a noticeable decline in the ant population. I can repeat this treatment whenever I notice an increase in fire ants in my beds. Thankfully, I’ve only needed to treat for ants a few times & with decreasing frequency.

In time I expect to have achieved more of a balanced ecosystem which will leave room for fire ants to perform their roles without the exclusion of other beings, including myself. Meanwhile, I’ve done no harm to myself, my community or the land….as it should be.