Fire Ants and Diatomaceous Earth

[Splash]

Living in Texas, fire ants are a normal occurrence and anywhere else in my yard dealing with them is no problem. However, they've decided to build a new foyer and door within inches of my pond. Clever little buggers have a built extra side doors 6" or so underneath the liner. Normal means (aka insecticide) of ridding them won't work because of run-off, etc. Doing a little research I found that diatomaceous earth can work, but before I run out and buy some, wondering if anyone has any ideas or has used this before. :confused:

TIA,

Kim

P.S. Not sure it matters much, but thought I should mention I do have a dog.

[J double R]

http://www.malcolmbeck.com/articles/diatomaceous-earth.htm


read this article, which was a study on the effects of Diatomaceous Earth on fire ants. it appears to have different effects in different environments.

[Splash]

Thanks for the article. I've read somewhere else that the soil needs to be dry in order for DE to be effective. Same goes for other types of insecticide, too. The ants never really go entirely away, the mounds just move somewhere else. This at least persuades them to move elsewhere.