Hello all, I went to the plot yesterday and was surprised to find ants in two compost bins already. This has happened before but later in the year. I need to use the compost to top dress raised beds before planting, so could do with the ants gone.
I am cautious about using chemicals like pesticides (permethrin) as this could kill other helpful organisms in the compost, so am unsure what action to take. I am aware that there are nematodes specifically for dealing with ants, has anyone tried these and were they successful? What other methods can you recommend for dealing with the problem?
There used to be a simple answer for this. Borax, mixed 1 part borax to 3 parts sugar. Take a spoon of that, place it on a plastic lid, mix with a small quantity of water to make a thin syrup, leave that on top of the compost in your bin for a day or two. Ants gone, guaranteed. If you happen to have borax or boric acid still around the house, try that. If necessary, there are ways to put the borax bait in a container that keeps it away from children and pets, but accessible to the ants, such as a perforated plastic container.
Boron itself is a plant micro-nutrient, so if a little ends up in your compost accidentally, no problem (over here, I've read recommendations to apply low doses of borax as a nutrient for brassicas).
Unfortunately, sales of borax in the UK /EU are banned now, based on some really flawed interpretation of science, followed by flawed legislation
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://moralfibres.co.uk/is-borax-safe/&ved=2ahUKEwiPvrjZhNXvAhWHLc0KHdiOC2oQFjAAegQIAxAC&usg=AOvVaw16mAUVDkuboqxa6yYsAAh2If you can find another substance to mix with the sugar in a bait, that is as safe and effective as the borax, try that.