I've noticed a number of questions about ridding your garden of ants; Is this necessary? I have a rather large ant colony in my small garden but haven't noticed them harming any of my new vegetable plants. I do seem them traipsing over everything though. Please advise. Thks.

-- Jennifer Yun (jjyun@juno.com), September 18, 2001

Answers

Response to Are Ants Harmful?

Hi, Jennifer~ Well, I've never found them a problem, unless they come in the house, but in the fields and gardens they don't bother anything that I know about. I'm in the North Country, though, and maybe further South there are kinds of ants which are problems?

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), September 18, 2001.

Response to Are Ants Harmful?

Jennifer you may be in the north where ants (red ants) don't live and sting like --I don't know, lost for words here.

I hate to have them in my garden, not because they harm things but because they crawl all over me and sting me while I am picking and weeding.

Count your blessings if you don't have these little buggers.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), September 18, 2001.

Response to Are Ants Harmful?

Some of them will bite and sting - they can actually make a lawn unusable for its primary pupose - lying on. Many of them will gratefully accept small seeds (read vegetables or flowers) and take them away to eat, or store for later eating: you may not even know this has happened until you fail to see plants germinating. Some will actually farm aphids on your plants for the honeydew the aphids excrete; and that can also lead to you getting sooty mould infections as well. And others can actually be beneficial, hunting down pests. Ants are very diverse.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), September 18, 2001.

Response to Are Ants Harmful?

Ok. Now I hate them. I wanted to try putting cornmeal on their anthills--heard that worked. Anyone tried?

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), September 18, 2001.

Response to Are Ants Harmful?

The danger would be if you're allergic to the venom of the sting. Having your throat close up so you can't breathe can be life threatening if you don't get to the hospital fast.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), September 19, 2001.

Response to Are Ants Harmful?

Here in N.Fl. on our place..the ants have won. I completely gave up the garden to them this year. They are unbelievable. Yes, they can harm root crops-they totally destroyed my carrots, onions and potatoes. The methods we have found to eliminate them aren't safe for the garden..gas, kerosene and fire-ant killers. All other remedies just make them move from one spot to another. We have one hill (antbed) in the far corner of back yard that at present is over 4 ft. wide. After Gabrielle last week and this area standing in water for about 18 hrs..they survived..re established original bed and started another about 5 ft away. We very seldom have enough cold here to get rid of them..I have tried many things but not cornmeal..will try asap.

-- Sandi (msjazt@aol.com), September 19, 2001.

Pour lots of boiling water on the ant-hills. You want to get boiling water down 8 or twelve or sixteen inches through their tunnels. No residual poisons, and you don't even have to go out to the shops. No rush - do two or three nests a day - you'll have it mostly done in a week, or be able to track the remaining ants back to the nests you didn't know about then, where you couldn't sort them out from the swarms of others before.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), September 19, 2001.