How To Get Rid Of Ant Colonies In Yard

How to Get Rid of an Ant Hill: The Top 8 Best Methods

This page is an expert guide on removing ant hills from your property using the products and methods suggested by our experienced pest control specialists. Follow this guide and use the recommended products and we guarantee you will be successful in eliminating ant hills and the ant population.

It's not a big problem if the outdoor area of your house has a small number of ants, but in the event of massive infestation or if the ants start to creep into the interior of your house, you will have to take action.

Ants can multiply to large numbers and most of them hide away in an ant hill that may be on your property. Sometimes it's easy to find an ant hill as it may appear on your lawn in the form of a large mound. Other times it can be harder to find because they are tucked away in a secluded corner of your home. Even worse, if you're dealing with carpenter ants, the colony could be somewhere indoors, like a wall void or basement corner.

In this article, we will share with you 8 ways you can destroy an ant hill. These are a mixture of home remedies and the use of professional pesticides. Read on to learn how you can tackle an ant infestation on your property the right way.

Identification

Ant hill

Ants are one of the most common household pest issues in the world. Aside from seeing a trail of ants crawling along on your property or a mob of ants appearing in droves to consume dropped food or sweets, the biggest evidence of an ant infestation is the appearance of an ant hill.

One of the most common species of ants that create ant hills, especially in the Southern United States, are fire ants. If you are dealing with fire ants, your yard will quickly become a minefield of aggressive, stinging ants.

An ant hill often appears once the queen has mated. The ant queen is prone to act immediately after mating, in order to create a safe environment for the colony to thrive underground.As the ants grow, their activities cause the hill to expand, as they create a series of tunnels that gradually evolve into pathways, chambers and numerous exits. Given the size of the whole network, it can be an extremely difficult task to eliminate.

Inspection

ant trail

After you have identified ant hills on your property, you can then proceed with an inspection. Inspect the area to see if there is more than one mound, check for ant activity and locate any ant trails. This will help you to determine where you should focus your ant pesticide applications.

Where To Look

Ants form ant hills in areas where they have easy access to food. If you're not keeping up regular decluttering and cleanup both in and around your home, ants will build an ant mound nearby to travel to and from their nest into your home to forage. They do this by laying out pheromones they release to mark ant trails. Ants follow the pheromone scent in a line all the way to the food source and back.

What To Look For

Ant hills are usually very clear to see when they have been set up in your yard. In other situations, they may be hidden in a secluded area. If you notice an ant trail, observe it closely and follow the ants as they travel and they may lead you straight to their ant hill.

Treatment

Getting rid of ant hills can significantly reduce and devastate an ant infestation. There are many ways you can approach destroying an ant hill and we want to share with you eight of the top ways we've gathered. What you choose depends on whether you want to get rid of the ant hills naturally or use a professional pesticide.

1. Boiling Water

Boiling water is a simple and effective solution that you can immediately try out. Simply boil a kettle of water, locate the ant hill and pour it right over the top.

The water will gradually trickle through the entire maze of tunnels and flood the colony; the heat of the water will be enough to eliminate any ants that come into contact with it. Moreover, the temperature will also ensure that the tunnels themselves are destroyed as well.

This may make it seem that the problem could be over in one fell swoop, but often this is not the case.

The one problem with this method is that if there are any ants buried far deeper, they will have sufficient time to evacuate the nest. If there are survivors, there are high chances that after a few days you will begin to notice evidence of ants attempting to rebuild their colony.

2. D-Fense Dust

D-Fense Dust is an easy to use insecticidal dust that is typically used for treating cracks, crevices, and entry points to homes and structures. It's great to treat those hard to reach areas where pests hide. But if you find that you have fire ant mounds in your yard, you can use D-Fense Dust.

Simply sprinkle about 0.5 ounces of D-Fense Dust (about one tablespoon) over the top of the ant mound when tempratures are between 65 and 80 degrees F for best results. Do not disturb the mound or water the dust in. Allow the dust to work for 3 to 4 days for maximum control. Be sure that when you are measuring out the dust you do not use actively used food utensils, like spoons or measuring cups.

3. Flattening it Out

If the ant hill that has been made is very solid, then a simple solution is using a rake to get rid of the anthill and completely flatten out that ground which will eliminate the entrance to the hive. This will upset a lot of the ants and establish amongst them that the area is no longer safe for staying.

The ants, however, will rebuild after that, so you'll have to stick at it for a while before they get the message that the area is permanently unsafe. However, if you want to completely avoid chemicals, this would be the way to do it.

4. Outdoor Treatment with Bifen LP Granules

Bifen LP Granules are a granular insecticide that is labeled to treat many different ant species and is effective in eliminating large ant infestations around the yard. Bifen LP specifically targets worker ants that are out foraging in the yard for food has a residual effect that can last up to 3 months.

Apply Bifen LP by broadcasting the granules over your entire yard.This is important because if you just treat the mound, the ants will simply move over and make a new one.

To broadcast the Bifen LP Granules, you could use either a push spreader or a hand spreader like the Plantmates Scatterbox. While both styles are easy to use, a broadcast may be better suited for larger lawns as it holds more granules than a hand spreader and can cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. If you need to spread granules on a flowerbed, around trees or are covering a smaller area and want to do it quickly yet precisely, the Plantmates Scatterbox hand spreader is ideal.

First, measure the square footage of your yard (length x width). Bifen LP's application rate is 2.3 pounds per 1,000 square feet of lawn. Based on your final square footage measurement, adjust the amount of Bifen LP needed and add it to your spreader.

Spread Bifen LP over your entire lawn, in flower beds, around trees, and places where you have noticed ant activity. Once the granules has been broadcast, water the area to activate the granules for effective control.

5. Use Boric Acid

If you are looking for an option similar to the D-Fense Dust application, you can use boric acid powder. You can sprinkle the boric acid over the any hill and let it handle the rest.

6. Carbonated Water

Carbonated water has been known to be extremely effective, especially for eliminating ants at the deeper levels of the anthill. The idea is that the carbon dioxide displaces all the oxygen in the area where the water is poured. The reaction extends deep underground and causes the ants to suffocate at the deeper levels.

7. Directly Treat The Ant Hill With Reclaim IT

Reclaim IT Insecticide is ideal for treating ant hills directly because the active ingredient (Bifenthrin) is effective against many ant species and carries a long residual effect. One of the best methods of how to get rid of an ant hill in your yard is via drench method.

To do this, dilute 1 teaspoon of Reclaim IT per gallon of water and use 1 to 2 gallons of the finished product in a sprayer then apply the solution over the top of the mound and allow the dilution to flood the entire ant hill. Drenching is ideal because it allows for the insecticide to reach the ant queen and kills her and puts an end to reproduction. You are going to want to treat roughly a 4-foot diameter area around the mound for best results.

8. Soapy Water

Any soap may be used, but for this particular purpose, Borax would be a good option.

Creating a mixture that is soapy works has two effects. Enough liquid would be sufficient to drown out the colony, and would also destroy the structures if it's boiling. The stickiness of the soap will make it difficult for ants to escape the deluge.

Prevention

exclusion measures prevention

After you eliminate the ant hills, you are not totally done. Preventative measures must be taken in order to make sure ants don't make a return and set up another ant hill down the road:

Make sure you keep your food serving area clean of messes and loose food.
Use caulk to seal up cracks, holes and other points of entry ants could use to forage indoors.
Trim back any foliage that touches your house. Bushes, trees, and shrubs act as a bridge for the ants and allow them to get into your house through windows easier.
Stack your firewood way from the house. Not only is this a fire hazard, but the ants will used the wood as a hideaway.
If you spot ant hills reappearing in your yard, spray or drench the mounds with insecticide and plant grass in the bare spots. Keeping and maintaining your yard discourages ants from making themselves at home.
Treat your yard quarterly with a preventative application of Reclaim IT to keep ants away all year long.

Key Takeaways

What are Ant Hills?

Ant hills are usually large mounds or nests formed by various species of ants either outdoors in the yard or indoors in a secluded area.
Ant hills formed around your home is a worrying sign of a significant ant infestation that needs to be swiftly dealt with.

How To Get Rid of Ant Hills Quickly and Easily

There are numerous chemical and non-chemical routes to take when destroying an ant hill. The most effective options are the use of professional products like Reclaim IT, Bifen LP Granules or D-Fense Dust.

Preventing Ant Hill Reinfestation

Prevent ants from returning and rebuilding ant hills by sealing up points of entry, practicing good sanitation and exclusion measures and preventative treatment of Reclaim IT Insecticide.