I haven't built the garden get so trying to turn the soil with half a dozen ant holes seems dangerous.

You would need to get the water down to where the nest is to convince them to move so spraying a little water every day is not likely to do much. Soaking the soil really deep could cause them to move.

Disturbing the soil may also convince them to move elsewhere.

kimmq is kimmsr

What kind of ants? ID'ing them would be helpful in deciding to try to remove them or let them be. Ants can be helpful in an organic garden, depending on the variety. They tunnel deep into the soil, letting oxygen and water in and helping to prevent compaction to a lesser degree, and help clean up rotting stuff, like dead bugs and frogs/rodents, other small critters, that may be "gross" to stumble upon. They also gang up on and eat some insects that you may not want. You obviously don't want fire or carpenter ants! Those could be dangerous! I like the tiny, tiny orange ones that burrow deep. If, how ever, you find the ones you have are a mostly harmless variety, but the sheer numbers make it difficult if not impossible to garden, by crawling all over you, dish soap diluted in water sprayed on them, in a spray bottle, does the trick. It doesn't necessarily have to be a strong mixture, best to start out easy and adjust as needed. You may use a funnel inserted into the hole to pour it in to get to the core with the queen, or boiling water. If they are very aggressive, like carpenters or fire ants, those "home foggers" for flea infestations work when activated WHILE inserted into the hole, dangerous to activate them while out of the hole, only downside is your hand will be RIGHT THERE, get away and wait at least a day, or use the boiling water and funnel method. This works really well for ground bees as well, but as a last resort, as boiling water works too, but for both options for the bees, best to wait 'til after dusk when all are in for the night, or you'll be sorry! The fogger is NOT organic, but only for last resort applications.

I don't know the variety and there are many types, but the main problem it that I haven't turned the soil in the garden yet and there are at least 7 separate hills in the 6 square foot area. It doesn't seem wise to dig with that many. If they were just near or around then I'd be found, but they aren't.

Contrary to what some people think pouring boiling water on an ant hill will do little because the soil will absorb the heat long before the water reaches the ants nest. I am not sure what saffron mean by "ground bees" but the same principle applies, boiling water does little to control them and just exposes you to a hazardous situation.

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kimmq, to be more specific about "ground bees", what I was referring to are western yellow jackets. I usually find them, unfortunately, while mowing the lawn, and they are very aggressive and displeased when disturbed. We have controlled them by pouring boiling water down the holes in the ground, but it is imperative that you wait until after dusk to be sure that they are all in for the night. And yes, it can be a hazardous situation. I guess opinions on this vary as to how much an individual is prepared. These critters also nest in wall cavities, and other places, where boiling water would never work. As far as the ants, boiling water may not reach the bottom, as it can be many feet deep, but may cause them to move. The only other alternatives I see are gardening in a different location or using poisons/exterminator. kimmq, what would you recommend? Am I perhaps overlooking a better alternative? I'm interested! Thank you in advance!

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7450.html

I can't really move the garden as I have dogs and if I were to move it, I would have to block that area off for a while and miss the planting season I am aiming for.

Many people misidentify the Yellow Jacket, a wasp, as a "bee" which causes others to try many methods to kill off the Bees which we need to pollinate about 1/3 of the food we eat.

To an extent the Yellow Jackets are kind of, sort of, a bit beneficial because they are predators of some insect pests. Control measures should be used only if the Yellow Jackets pose a real problem. Boiling water does not reach down feet, the soil will absorb that heat very quickly and the water temperature will be close to normal very quickly, although soil type may affect that, ie. the water will stay hotter longer filtering through sand the clay.

Both Ants and Yellow Jackets like their nests to be dry so saturating the soil with water, not boiling, of getting the wee buggers to move. Disturbing the soil, repeatedly, can cause ants to move but probably is not a good idea when Yellow Jackets are there. Traps will capture workers but leave the queen to produce more workers. If there is a place to put Carbaryl dust so the workers entering the nest will have to walk through it and take some down that will, eventually, eliminate that nest. Carbaryl is a n insecticide that must be used with great care, however.

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Identifying the type of ant first as well as what season you are in is important. There are a number of baits that will kill them pretty quickly, but they are tailored to types of ants in some cases. :)

With some 10,000 ant species in the world identifying which you have in your backyard is not always possible. Since many people greatly misunderstand the role ants play in out ecology many people do put out poisons in the hopes of controlling them. Even if you are successful in poisoning one nest other ants will move into the vacancy.

Anytime I have wanted to work the soil where an ant nest was I did and the ants moved someplace else.

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The only ants I know that make mounds are fire ants. Mine are a reddish brown color.

zack, there are numerous species of ants that build mounds, not just fire ants.

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/mound_ants

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I have a raised bed in my garden that I found little piss ants about a foot down in the dirt with white eggs,I need a safe way to get rid of them so I can plant my food.Any help???

Peggie, why do you think it necessary to "get rid" of those ants? In some 40 or 50 years of gardening I have not had a problem with ants in my gardens.

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kimmq, I didn't know. Those ants sound much worse than fire ants.

well kimmsr I didn't know if they would eat my plants roots are destroy them in some way,new to gardening

Whether ants would be a problem in a garden depends on where you are and which ant species you might have. There are some 22,000 species of ants and only a small number are considered destructive and need some method of control in the garden. Some people appear to be so disconnected from nature that they do not realize that even ants have a role in our environment.

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