Hi gargaile, The easiest and non toxic way to keep ants away is to put your bin on blocks (if you can) and put those blocks in something that will contain water. Like a pie tin or something big enough so that the sides of the blocks don't touch the sides of the container. You are essentially creating a "moat" that the ants can't cross. Hope this helps!
Beth

I have ants stop by from time to time in my outdoor bins.Although I have not dealt with fire ants(not yet but they are on their way north). If you see ants fluff up the bed and water on the heavy side. The ant don't like to be disturbed and don't like wet conditions. This approach has worked for me for over two years now.

I will take your input into consideration. Thank you both for your help.

G

I have heard many suggesting putting legs into water. However, then you are setting yourself up for a mosquito infestation. Much better would be to paint a layer of Tanglefoot around the bin. (Or a layer of petroleum jelly)

Never heard of Tanglefoot. What is it? We put parts of the mosquito donuts into the water.
Beth

http://www.tanglefoot.com/

I see leearnoldz5 has given the tanglefoot website above - The actual name is "Tree Tanglefoot Pest Barrier" - just a gooey product that stays sticky forever and is a kind of ant quicksand - like a paint on fly tape. But eco friendly, no pesticides or other poisons. But don't forget to avoid spilling food around your worm farm,that's probably what brought them in the first place.

Here is a link that might be useful: Handling Vermiculture Pests and Other Problems

Thanks for the tanglefoot info. We use double-sided sticky tape for that purpose. You could apply it to your bin too.

Since we don't use pesticides, we also use the double sided tape inside our home when we get ants. We surround the area where they are coming in and then we put a liquid ant bait trap inside the tape barrier. After a week to 10 days, the whole colony is wiped out.
Beth

I tried the petroleum jelly and it definitely worked the first day, but then two days later it looks like they made a bridge in two spots.

I guess I'll try the doublestick tape next.

Thanks for the ideas, folks. Really appreciate it.

I have also had ants in and around my bins, but they don't seem to really do any damage. I think they bother me more than the worms. The Tanglefoot product sound promising, I may give something like that a try.

If you add 2 or 3 drops of motor oil to the water it will kill the mosquito larva, and it will keep mosquitos from laying any more eggs. When I say 2 or 3 drops, I am being literal. 2 or 3 drops from an eye dropper is all it takes for the surface area of water around a worm bin.
Hope that helps.

I think that we'll try the motor oil drops. I like that better than the mosquito donuts. Thanks