4 Ways to Prevent Fire Ants from Invading Your Home

by DoItYourself Staff

Fire ants are stubborn and persistent. They nest around structures of your home, like under the garage or in crawl spaces, and love to come inside the house. Identifying fire ants may not be as easy as you think because some are not just red in color. They're also a reddish brown, or black and red. Everyone can identify the mounds they build, though, and their stings are painful and can take up to a week to heal.

The frustrating part is that the ants that go in the house only represent a small percentage of the ant colony that's nesting somewhere under or around your home. If you're looking for ways to prevent fire ants from invading your home, try these four things.

Seal Holes

Try to find where the fire ants are invading your house. Seal any holes with duct tape or other sealant. This measure will help to stop them from continually invading your home, but it won't solve all of your ant issues.

Treat the Outside

Now treat the outside of your home. This measure will stop the infestation by killing or repelling the fire ants. The spraying method requires you to spray often. Two products to try are Cypermethrin or EcoEXEMPT IC. You mix either of these products with water before you spray. Once the ants travel across the treated area, they'll die.

Use Dry Bait Stations

Fire ants share food with one another in their colonies. If you can attract the ants to eat bait that's filled with chemicals, they'll die. The rest of the ants in the colony will also die, because one or more ants will carry it back to the nests.

Put bait stations in garages and other places where the stations won't be destroyed by water. The baits are protein- and sugar-based to attract all types of ants. They won't die right away but will have time to take food back to the nest to share with the other ants. The result: dead ants and a dead colony. You can replace the stations every 3 months or if you notice that they're empty.

Try Liquid Bait Stations

If the fire ants are more attracted to water, a liquid bait works better. You'll know because you'll see them mostly in your kitchen and bathrooms. Put the bait under sinks and anywhere else you notice them looking for water. The bait usually has enough "food" for them to eat for a period of 3 to 6 weeks. Liquid bait works on the same principles as dry bait.