Fire ants, Bee's, etc.

[Jammero]

Around here because of the amount of rain we have gotten this and the last few years we have to watch for fire ants each time we walk out the door. When we go camping it is an even more serious matter.
You can pitch a tent and within 12 hours have a fire ant mound under it because they will start their mounds under any kind of object on the ground (tent, rock, piece of wood, etc.) for a barrier from the direct sunlight.
For years around here we have taken Sevin dust or whatever you prefer, to sprinkle on the ground in the camp sites. Especially under the tents. It (sevin dust) will last up to a week if it doesn't rain and will keep just about all insects off the ground where it is placed.
Now we have a problem with bee's. It seems they have decided Texas is a good place to move to. In the last 4 months there have been 3 situations where Africanized bee's have attacked people and killed 5 or 6 dogs and cats in the town 19 miles south of us and we have had few situations in which a couple of workers on the ranches around here attacked and a few goats killed.
I hear on the TV that the number of bee's is declining but for the last month or so we can't go out the door here without having to dodge bee's. You can't go outside with any type of sweet food or drink in your hand without being swarmed by at least 3 or 4 bee's and just going outside with anything sweet on your breath brings them to buzzing your face aggressively.
We have been using a yard fogger (spray can from Wal-mart) to clear the air when they get too thick but it seems that when you kill 4 or 5, another 6 or 7 come back to see what happened to them and they are even more aggressive.
Are any of you guys in the other areas having the same problem or is this just a local problem?

[Tombstone]

Sheesh! That does not sound fun! To my knowledge there is nothing like that around here in Utah.

[motomac]

Fire ants literally SUCK!!!!! And they burn, sting and cause a lot of pain for such a little critter. But, not just one is gonna getcha!!!! No fire ants in Ohio yet, and I hope they never get this far north.

[Jammero]

Sure glad you guys don't have them up north yet because they work on your respiratory system like a rattle snake and can literally shut it down. Even tho they are rare, there have been a few deaths caused by them over the last few years.

[mageerc]

Fire ants literally SUCK!!!!! And they burn, sting and cause a lot of pain for such a little critter. But, not just one is gonna getcha!!!! No fire ants in Ohio yet, and I hope they never get this far north.

According to a scientist buddy of mine that has been in fire ant research for the last 30 years, there were 2 types of fire ants that were imported into the US... the red fire ant that is extremely aggressive but cannot tolerate cold conditions... and the black fire ant that is not really aggressive, but can tolerate extremely cold conditions. Unfortunately it appears that the fire ant has experienced an evolution, combing the 2 original strains into a 3rd strain, the brown fire ant, which is extremely aggressive and can tolerate extremely cold conditions. He says that the 3rd strain will eventually move as far north as the coldest regions of Canada. Let's hear it for natural selection!

[motomac]

I'll let my granchildren worry about the brown ants, 'cause I certainly won't be around when they get here.

[Trailace]

All i can say is I hate those little SOB"s.

Took my kids camping one time ten years ago and they raided our tent. This was a first for me and here is what we did wrong and maybe you can learn from my mistake.

First and main reason, my kids brought their shoes into the tent after walking around an area with lots of spilled soft drinks and candy. The sugar drew the ants to the tent. Also when the tent was zipped closed we left a small opening for them. So for now on I make sure no shoes or boots inside and the zippers meet at the top of the tent not the bottom. Not all tents have 2 zippers that will make doing this possible.

[Jammero]

The fire ants we have around this area are small about the size of a sugar ant, dark brown and very, very aggressive. If you were to toss a rock on one of their mounds, within seconds the rock would be so thickly covered you wouldn't be able to see it but I guess we have gotten conditioned to them over the last few years and think of them more as a nuisance because it is the Africanized bees that are the bigger concern.
They react the same way when their hives are disturbed but with them, they attack anything in sight that moves and to disturb them all it takes is what the bee's consider a loud noise. People have been attacked while driving tractors, operating chainsaws and even lawnmowers. Possibly starting up a motorcycle or riding into an empty picnic or camping area that has a new hive might do the same thing.
I don't mean to sound paranoid, I'm just venting but it really irritates me that I have to be concerned when I see 4 or 5 bee's aggressively swarming a cold drink when I set it down in the yard.

[Trailace]

They don't like diet drinks. :D

[ChipSTer]

Actually, I think they react to carbon dioxide... Which would be the common denominator... We exhale CO2 as does most petrol powered machinery... :D
:cool:

[Jammero]

Mosquito's are also attracted to carbon dioxide. Woo hoo, works great for west nile disease.
Although I'm pretty sure most petrol powered machines produce carbon monoxide. At least I'm pretty sure my Shovel does. :bike1:

[Mellow]

Great topic!

We get lots of fireants after a rain. I'll throw some fireant killer on the mounds but I think they just move on, I doubt it kills them. Never had a problem with insects while camping. I have gotten a mosquito or two inside the tent at night but it's a small enough area to get those suckers before dozing off.