Ants in my compost

[HeyWayne]

I was on the plot yesterday - as I'm sure most people were given the weather, and I was putting some bits in the compost bin and decided to give it a bit of a turn. Well, I have never seen so many ants! They were everywhere.

I have one of those "Dalek" type compost bins that I obtained from the council. As I turned the stuff inside (which seemed a bit drier than I expected), the whole bin came alive with ants - and I think I saw a mouse run from underneath.

Do the ants provide any benefit to compost production, and if not are there any ways I can rid myself of them?

[Flummery]

Coulda been in your pants kid! The traditional way is to pour boiling water over them - sometimes not possible on a lottie. Also you can use ant powder but if it's toxic to the ants I'm not sure I'd want it in my compost. I'd be tempted to leave things alone. I'm sure they'll go when the compost goes through the slimy and horrible stage and when it's lovely and crumbly and usable they won't be there.

[shirlthegirl43]

If you think it was a bit dry, try adding some water to it. Ants don't like wet soil and that might make them move on. Apparently they don't like oil of cloves either and I was recommended last year to chuck a bottle of clove oil in a watering can of water and use that wherever ants were a problem. Another thing which works is to mix boric acid with sugar and leave it in a dry place near where the ants are. They will take the food back to the nest and the boric acid poisons them.

[mrs potato head]

We,ve a homemade bin which like yours is full of ants.they are laying eggs on the surface and when we open the lid they grab the them and bury them deeper down. I have know idea whether they are good or bad; The compost is breaking down well, we don't want to use chemicals on it and we'd need rather a lot of boiling water. I think we'll just leave it and see what happens....
We also have a lot of ants in/on our beds everything is growing ok though.

[HeyWayne]

I like the boiling water idea, but by the time I get the kettle to the plot, the water is more likely to be luke warm, and thus less effective...

I might leave the lid off for a couple of days, get some moisture in there.

Thanks for the info/tips people.

[The Doctor]

I've always thought that while they can be a pain, ants will actually be beneficial by helping turn the compost over.

I've never worried too much about them in mine, and if I think there are too many, I just spread some of the compost out on a plastic sheet for a bit before I use it. The birds seem to love the grubs!

[Sebbster]

They're fine in there, I have them also, but it does indicate that your bin is too dry. Spray them with cold water and they will go, not hot as it will ruin the work other organisms do by killing them. Also, they do create air holes so that's good.

Let them work the bin for a while then spray with cold water once the benefit is used.

[clubroot]

just leave the lid off and off they go