Ant nest in my compost bin

[LizyDrippin]

I'm pretty sure I have an ant nest in my compost bin

HELP

what do I do ?

Will they go away or will they stay

I've used those ant trap things before (where the ants walk through and take the poison stuff back to the nest) It worked on the ones coming in my kitchen.

Can I use this safely, or will the compost thats there be fit for nothing.

Could I still use the compost for putting on the flower beds but not the veggies

Or am I doomed?

[Hilary B]

Apart from the inconvenience, I can't see that the presence of the nest would be a great problem. Odds are the 'real' nest is deep underground, but I would tend to try getting the compost 'working', because that will get HOT, and if it gets hot enough the ants will depart. What sort of compost bin do you use? If it is moveable, and not too large, I would relocate it (temporarily if you have nowhere else to put it for long), shovel the compost across, and if there is an ant nest BELOW (which I would think likely) pour a kettleful of boiling water down the holes, then leave as long as poss before putting the composter back. I really don't think a few ants will harm the crops you give your compost to.

[nemo]

i was totally over run with ants in my poly tunnel until i used semolina. its a powder used to make a desert for children. you will find it next to ground rice at your local shop. how it works place table spoons of semolina around the affected area the ants feed the semolina to their queen and she eats it , but it swells up inside her and she burst the remaining ants flee the nest to make another nest hopefully next door. i might have the spelling wrong but it relay works chemical free and with the left over you can make your self a desert to celebrate
it sounds crazy but it works there might be links on this forum about getting rid of ants
regards nemo

[oldie]

Have to agree with nemo. I've a huge number of ant nests but using semolina and polenta has really helped to clear them out.

[ellkebe]

I put down semolina powder today but the powder seems very fine. I watched the ants for a while and wasn't sure that they could actually pick it up in order to carry it back and 'explode their queen' (a great if gristly idea!!) Did I get the right stuff or are there semolina granules or something coarser like that?

[geoff]

your compost could be too dry Break it up with a fork, chuck in one or two bucketfuls of water, then stir it up again Don't worry about adding too much water, the compost will take up what it wants and any excess will simply drain away

[LizyDrippin]

Thanks for the advice.

isn't it strange how things get filed at the back of your brain, as soon as I read semolina I can remember back to watching my mum putting it on the garden, and thinking it wasn't fair (I love semolina, with a giant dollop of raspberry jam) because the ants got to eat my pudding. turns out it wasn'r fair on the ants.

I can't move the composter just now but will be able to when I've cropped some more

I'm off to show my neighbours that I'm mad, I've got to feed the garden and it's raining and has been for days

[niadan]

I threw in a bit of water and used a rake handle to mix up the compost a bit. It seems to have done the trick. I think the compost was too dry also by disturbing it with the rake handle, the ants tend to move on. So far seems to have worked.

[rustylady]

Ants won't actually do any harm. They may actually help by building a nest in your compost heap, turning and tunnelling through the compost so breaking it up.