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Red Ants In Worm Bin

Here is a question from Karla,

I live in Texas where the red ants are always a problem.
Well at least once a month I find them in one of my bins. My bin or
kept on the deck in the back yard. Will they eat my worms? What can I
do to keep them out? Will ant killer, kill my worms?

Hi Karla,
Ants are a common pest in outdoor worm bins. Generally, if you maintain ideal conditions for your worms however, they shouldn’t create too much of a problem. Ants prefer much drier conditions than worms, so keeping your worm bed nice and moist (assuming good drainage) is a good start.

Ants also tend to be much more interested in the food scraps in a worm composting system than in the worms themselves. That being said, aggressive species like fire ants can probably cause some issues if abundant enough.

I definitely would NOT add any sort of ant killer to your worm bin – this could definitely harm or kill your worms, not to mention the rest of the compost ecosystem. Aside from keeping the system moist, perhaps you could try some other strategies to discourage the ants from coming in to the bin in the first place. Try setting up a perimeter of diatomaceous earth on the ground around your bin – this should greatly harm any ants that try to cross it, since it is essentially like a field of broken glass for bugs (ouch!).

You may also want to try some other relatively innocuous deterents. Put some honey mixed with borax in shallow dishes near the bin. The ants should start focusing on this pretty quickly, and when they take this material back to their nest, it can end up killing off a lot more ants.

If you know the location of ant nests on your property, you might try pouring boiling water on them – not the nicest thing to do (haha), but when push comes to shove, you gotta do whatcha gotta do!
;-)

Hope this helps!

Written by Bentley on April 17th, 2009 with 6 comments.
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6 comments

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Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Sherry
#1. April 17th, 2009, at 5:55 PM.

Hi Karla,
I’ve read where you can set your bin on posts or some kind of support, with the legs in cans of water. The ants will drown. Definitely worth a try, anyway!

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Sara
#2. April 20th, 2009, at 9:50 AM.

Hi Karla ,

Most of bin were located on top of a iron stand , dip legs in cans of oil ..any oil … water may cause mosquito breeding and may dried out if not fill up regularly. Using oil is a 1 time deal. Try it.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Bruce
#3. April 21st, 2009, at 11:48 AM.

Karla,

Try boric acid, (simple powder form found at most stores these days and mix 1/3 boric acid, 1/3 peanut butter and 1/3 sugar and mix. As most ants can change their appetite wants and needs, this mix gets those looking for sweats as well as oily substances.

A mixture which is too weak will kill nothing. A mixture that is too strong will kill the ants prior to making it back to the nest hence not eliminating your problem.

The mixture above will permit the ants to pick up food and bring back to the nest, eventually killing off the colony.

If you try Sara’s comment above, be sure to place something under the legs on your deck as any oil will stain the wood, even if sealed.

Good Luck,

Bruce

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Elizabeth
#4. October 16th, 2009, at 11:32 PM.

If I use diatomaceous earth to control flies in my barnyard (goat/chicken) can I use this aged manure in my worm bin? Will the d. earth kill my worms?

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com Bentley
#5. October 19th, 2009, at 5:26 PM.

Never responded to this one – thanks everyone for chiming in! Very helpful advice.

ELIZABETH – that is an excellent question. I am not really sure, to be totally honest with you. This material is often referred to as totally ‘harmless’, ‘eco-friendly’ etc – but I don’t think people ever think of worms when they come up with these designations. Given the fact that it is like adding a heap of tiny glass shards, I would think that there might be a decent chance of this stuff being harmful – after all, if the hard exterior of an insect can get damaged, why not the soft body of a worm?
Hmmm…definitely something I myself would like to know the answer to.

Get your own gravatar by visiting gravatar.com cbw1953
#6. March 28th, 2010, at 5:44 AM.

Regarding DE:

A unique, naturally occurring mineral deposit which typically contains 65% Diatomaceous Earth (skeletal remains of algae) and 35% Montmorillonite (calcium rich volcanic deposit).

Worms Etc uses this product to reduce fruit fly and other insect populations. It is an all natural solution for a big problem.To use just spread a very fine layer on the surface of the worm bed. It does not take much at all, but it is completely safe for the worms. Before we used it at worms Etc we tried growing worms in highly concentrated mixture of diatomaceous and bedding. The worms just ate it like any other bedding.

Diatomaceous earth is also very useful for control of pest on plants. Instead of using chemical pesticides in your garden, especially if it is for consumption, try using diatomaceous earth. It is very effective and completely benign. Some people even put it on their cereal in the morning for arthritis or other ailments. Worms Etc is not suggesting this however.

This is food grade diatomaceous. Do not use pool filter media diatomaceous earth, as it is different.

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