How can I kill Red Ants in my sons sand box?

Answer 1

Besides some of the "snake oil" ideas above, the best source of info for ant control is the USDA sponsored Extension Service. Rather than list testimonials, these sites rely on actual research. The attached link has a good leaflet for ant control.

Answer 2

Well, I agree with the Home Depot/Lowes Home Improvement/Agricultural Extension suggestions. They sell this great stuff that looks a little like oblong grits that you shake out near the nest and the worker ants take it back to the queen ant, she eats it and dies. However, you should not let your son play in the sandbox for a while in any case. I have also been told that you can use instant grits as well. The ants ingest them and the grits swell up and the ants explode. I haven't tried this personally, but a neighbor who is also a farmer swears by it. You could also try emptying out the sand box, spraying it down with an insecticide letting it sit for 3 months (the normal halflife for most ant sprays) and then refill it. Anyway, good luck!

Answer 3

It depends on what kind of red ants you have.

Some can be killed with a solution of sugar water and boric acid (20 mule team borax). This works with sugar ants and the small red ants, and it's less harmful to the environment. (You still do not want your child to play with it, though, so you would have to make covered bait stations and really explain it to the children. I find that cottage cheese containers with holes work well for bait stations)
The Borax/Sugar water bait doesn't really work with the large red ants or fire ants. There are special products to kill fire ants, and that will get just about any kind of ant. If that's what you have, I would find one of the serious ant products; fire ants can really hurt people.

I've heard that just putting a jar in the ground near the ant hill will catch many... they just fall in and cannot get out. Then you kill those and get more. (jar buried up to neck in soil ... acts as an ant "tiger pit"). I haven't tried this one personally.

What I did personally was pour boiling water into the nest. Then I poked holes in and poured Diazanon in. Then I poured MORE boiling water down. Note that I was dealing with an area behind a railroad tie retaining wall... the ants had stung me many times over weeks... I'd tried safer remedies first... and there were no small children in the immediate neighborhood. This would not be the best way to deal with the sand box, unless you found the nest and it was not right there. If the nest is right under the sand box, moving the box might help, and then killing the nest with drastic methods could work. You could set a heavy large object over the opening after pouring in poisons, and keep it from being accessed by children that way.

Answer 4

An extract from grated orange peels... D-Limonenean (orange oil)... "kills Red ants".
Pouring boiling water on ants has been an old favorite way to kill ants.
Cinnamon won't kill ants but will repell them.

Kimberly Engler, Texas Cooperative Extension program specialist for urban Integrated Pest Management uses a two-step program: Baits & treating the ant mounds with a product containing D-Limonenean.
Baits ( Safer Brand Fire Ant Bait and Green Light Fire Ant Control with Conserve) contain Spinosad a product formed from a common bacteria found in nature, Engler said. "Once ingested by the fire ant, spinosad attacks the nervous system causing paralysis and death."

Some organic individual mound drenches that are listed by Organic Materials Review Institute are Safer Brand Fire Ant Mound Drench and Citrex Fire Ant Killer, both containing the active ingredient d-limonene.
Here's why orange oil kills red ants:
D-Limonenean, an extract of orange oil
"destroys the wax coating of the insect's respiratory system," Engler said. "When applied directly, the insect suffocates."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/05/040510014001.htm

Another site advises uses molasses & compost tea with orange oil: "A solution of equal parts orange oil, compost tea and molasses. Pour the mixture directly into the hole of a fire ant mound. Orange oil is effective at destroying the protective shell of fire ants. Compost tea contains microorganisms that feed on fire ants. Molasses is a food source for the microorganisms in compost tea. Molasses helps to increase the number of predatory microorganisms in a fire ant mound."
http://www.sleddnursery.com/Organics.htm

Finally, it's necessary to make sure you don't have a lot of crumbs or any food or water source around the sandbox that the ants have easy access to.
Good luck! Hope this helps.

Answer 5

We've had problems with ants, and "Amdro" is the BEST product to nip those suckers in the bud. Get it at Wal-Mart, Lowe's, or Home-Depot. It comes in different sizes, doesn't take much, and even comes in a size bag that's zip-lock.

The key to using any product is to be consistent, because ants move underground and relocate their mounds. The day after you get rain is the best time to check for ant mounds.

Good luck!

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Answer 7

Will_sniff...i dont know if you want to put a poison where children will play lol just wanted to point that out ;)

I would go to your nearest home depot ,perhaps. That is all i can offer.

Answer 8

By putting some black ants in the sandbox.

Answer 9

put some poison chalk(don't know how do we call it) for cockroach ,that work also with ants

Answer 10

Cinnamon..or you can try cayenne pepper