Red ants at the allotment

[Emily Moon]

Hi all! New here and first post

Yesterday I was at my allotment and digging over the biggest bed which this year will be for squashes. It was covered with manure and black plastic sheeting for the winter and I have been digging it over.

There is a 3-4 meter long red ants nest underground on one side of it. I didn’t dare dig too close until getting some advice about what to do

Any thoughts?!

[lottie dolly]

Hello Emily and welcome to the vine,if i came accross ants that big i would run for hills,hehehe,i presume you mean mm trs,have heard them bite/sting,so be carefull,it's the warmer weather brings them out,boiling water on the nest,open up for birds to eat,or and traps,i have in the past used semolina/ground rice,it is said the workers take it back and feed the queen,who then explodes,hence no more of the things,it is hard to eradicate them,have a google and see how others deal with the situation,good luck lass.

[Guest]

Hi and welcome to the vine.

Is it definitely the same nest? I have loads of ants where I am and kinda accept a few losses of root veg which I tend to dig up and leave on the surface on cooler/ wetter days where I collect them later on. (Where they make their nests they distort and destroy the roots) However 3-4 metre nest is mahoosive and I would be nucing that every which way possible to bring it down to managable/bearable.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[Snoop Puss]

Boiling water down any holes is an infallible method. But with a nest that size, you're going to need a lot of it. You also have to do it repeatedly (three or four times has usually been enough in my experience).

Hello and welcome, by the way. Good luck.

[Jay-ell]

erm...

https://youtu.be/9ZShdHO9piw?t=1694

or ants don't like being too wet or being disturbed. Run in stir it a bit with the fork. Run away.
Keep doing this and they'll move.