Do you like fire ants? Good I don't either. fire ants can be very troublesome especially this time of year. With the drought how it is more and more Ants will be trying to seek water and food from your home. fire ants search mainly for water very ant exterminator far from their nest when it is very dry they will travel far distances (for Ants) to obtain the moisture they need. There are a few steps that will help keep ants away from coming inside your house.
The First thing you should try and do is identify colonies around your house. Ants like building pretty much anywhere, but they enjoy easy access points to food sources and water. One spot they build frequently will be by your dryer vent on the outside of your house. Here they have an easy entry point to plenty of water and usually food, because most dryer vents are near the kitchen in most houses. this is a good place to start looking for the pest, next, search around the perimeter of your house they like the ends of porches, near the backdoor and front door. Next check your flowerbeds and the rest of the yard.
After Identifying a mound the next step is control. There are many organic pest control products out there right now that will kill ants. If your going the organic route you can try some greenlight products. Organic pest control most of the time is hit or miss and what usually will happen is the mound will die in one place and move 3 feet away to build another nest. The key in killing a mound is getting to the queen. Cinnamon works sometimes along with baking soda, coffee grinds, grits and many others. However, the best organic product used is Diatomaceous Earth it is very effective but costly. It will work most of the time but dehydrating the ants so much they die.
The organic route will work sometimes but the best thing to do is use a low impact chemical product that will kill the queen. "Over and Out" is a great low impact product that works a lot. The control is seasonal good for roughly 3-6 months. The active ingredient works for a multitude of pests but in low doses is specific to fire ants. It works by leaching into the soil and killing the queen as it lands on your yard. It needs to be spread exactly as described on the label and on every area of your yard. You will know the spots in your yard that are missed because you will get a Fire Ant colony. To avoid this be make sure and spread it all over your yard.
If you still don't have any luck the final step would be calling a professional out to either spray or spread. The absolute best product out there right now is call Top Choice, however it can only be purchased by a licensed pest control operator. The success rate with top choice is above and beyond any other product on the market and it lasts for one year guaranteed. Fire Ant free for an entire year sounds great and it is. It works the same way as Over and Out but is specific to fire ants, thus it is an extremely low impact product. It keeps other good pests from dying and leaves your yard the exact same minus pesky fire ants. If it does get to the point where you need a pest professional let us know and we can help.