All over the U.S., families will celebrate the nation’s independence over the weekend. However, along with firework safety, we need to remember the pests roaming around in our yards, camp grounds, and parks. According to research, the four most common pests most likely to crash your holiday festivities are mosquitoes, ticks, fire ants, and wasps.

Fire ants are very protective of their homes and when disturbed, they repeatedly bite and sting causing blisters and pustules on your skin.

To make sure your celebration is fire ant safe, we recommend you consider these tips:

• Pick food up off the ground to avoid ant attraction.
• Put your garbage where it belongs, in the trash can.
• Wear appropriate clothing; closed toed shoes and long pants.
• Mow your lawn so fire ant mounds are visible and easily avoidable.
• Treat your fire ant mounds with a mound treatment, such as AMDRO® Fire Ant Bait.
• If your lawn has multiple mounds, use a broadcast treatment such as AMDRO FireStrike or Over ‘n Out® Fire Ant Killer.
• Should someone suffer a fire ant bite or sting, take action immediately by cleaning the infected area.
• If any allergic reactions occur, seek medical attention immediately. This includes severe swelling, shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, headaches, and sweating.

Have a great Fourth of July!

There is new research underway in Jackson, Miss at the University Medical Center (UMC), where Dr. Rob Rockhold, the assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs, is aiming his research on how fire ant venom could be used to kill cancer cells.

All of the experts at UMC clearly say the use of fire ant venom is years away from killing off cancer cells, but two students in the Jackson Public School system are involved in the project to help researchers understand basic biology.

Even though fire ants cause us headaches, they might have a positive purpose in the future!

If you are located near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg, Tenn., you can be a citizen scientist for a day on June 29 and July 2. You will join park researchers and educators in collecting scientific data on enemies to your local animals – fire ants!

You will learn how to collect data, map out evidence, and even treat fire ant mounds – what a great opportunity to ask an expert how to handle your yards fire ant infestation. As experts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park recommend, be prepared to be outside and for possible encounters with wild animals and insects. Make sure to wear clothing covering your legs, closed-toed shoes, and always bring water with you.

Come out and help save wild animals from fire ant attacks, while learning how to be a scientist too!

Every year thousands of people seek medical attention as a result of fire ant stings. The best way to avoid a trip to the emergency room is to remove fire ants from your property.
 
Once you’ve identified a fire ant or a mound in your yard, take action immediately. However, that does not mean to disturb the mound by kicking it or putting your hand an arm down inside the mound. Rather, treating it with proven products and methods is best. Each mound hosts about 100,000 worker ants; can you imagine that many fire ants attacking you?

Here at the FireRANT!, we recommend you use the Two-Step Method:

There are two common approaches for effectively controlling fire ants — broadcast treatment and mound treatment.  For large yards and early season prevention, use a broadcast treatment to treat your entire yard.  For smaller areas when visible mounds are present, use a mound treatment directly around individual mounds.

For the most comprehensive control, especially in the case of severe infestation, experts recommend a Two-Step Method using both broadcast and mound treatment.  With a Two-Step Method, first use a broadcast spreader to treat your entire lawn. Then, treat particularly stubborn mounds you see with an fire ant bait to eliminate fire ant activity in as little as one week.

If you have any questions on how the Two-Step Method works or what products you should use don’t hesitate to ask us or you can visit www.central.com, www.baitisbetter.com, or www.gardentech.com.

We often read up on the latest news or research on fire ants and frequently we come across bloggers or homeowners asking the question, do fire ants sleep? Oddly enough, there is a large audience seeking answers daily about the pests in their yard, and we are always here to help!
 
The truth is, fire ants do sleep – just in very unusual ways. Queen fire ants fall into long, deep sleeps for an average of nine hours every day, according to BBC Earth News. Each time a queen falls asleep, they sleep for around six minutes per sleeping period, repeating it up to 90 times a day – that’s a lot of naps!

On the other hand, worker fire ants do not have that luxury. They only sleep half as much as a queen fire ant by taking hundreds of power naps, according to BBC Earth News. On average one worker fire ant takes 250 naps each day, each one only lasting for one minute. Can you imagine only sleeping for one minute periods 250 times?

Regardless of when they sleep, you should care about where they sleep. It’s important to control them from spreading all over your lawn. For more information on how we recommend preventing fire ant infestation you can visit www.amdro.com, or www.gardentech.com.

While doing some yard work, a mother nearly lost her 13-year-old son due to a severe fire ant attack. If you live in a highly infested area, it’s very important after a rain storm to be extra cautious where you step or what you touch outdoors. Fire ants survive as a colony during strong weather and end up in new locations, which is how they can pop up in your backyard for the first time.

Another way fire ants spread is through human error. Soil, mulch, or even plants are homes to fire ants, among other insects. When you buy soil or in this case, mulch, it’s critical to ask where they get their wood and soil from. Too many times goods are transported without any form of an inspection.
 
Families in highly fire ant infested areas should educate each other, especially in the summer months, about what a fire ant is, how to identify it, where they like to live, and most importantly, what to do if you are stung by a imported red fire ant. Below we have included what we recommend you do if you are stung. Feel free to contact us with any questions and concerns regarding the health risks fire ants can cause.

• Seek medical attention immediately if there is any suspicion of an allergic reaction.  This includes severe swelling, shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, headaches, and sweating. 
• If blisters occur, make sure they are clean and avoid any action that might further irritate the area, such as scratching or rubbing.
• Rinse the sting area with cold water and gentle soap to avoid infection.
• Elevate the affected area of the body and use a cool compress or ice to reduce swelling and alleviate pain and itching.

Summer is a time to enjoy the outside, don’t let fire ants wreck your fun. Be prepared!

School is out and that means one thing for parents — how do you keep your kids outside and not in front of the television all day long? Well, for those of you who live in fire ant infested locations, we wanted to provide you with a check list your children can follow before they go out to play.

• Wear protective clothing, like shoes; leave the flip flops for the pool.
• Make sure everyone in your household is aware of the fire ants in your yard.
• Never allow small children to play alone even in the yard.
• Educate your household on how to identify fire ants from other insects.
• Teach your family to not disturb fire ant mounds or touch fire ants.
• Should fire ants make contact with you or a family member, brush them off immediately – with a glove on, if possible.
• Keep a first-aid kit nearby to apply cleaning medication to stings and bites.
• If a child is allergic to stings make sure they know to tell an adult immediately.

It’s very important for your entire family to understand the harm a fire ant can cause. Children are very curious individuals, so it’s up to the adults in the house to educate and keep an eye out for summer pests.

If you are boggled by fire ants this season, help is out there. Florida State University professor Walter Tschinkel, an internationally known scientist’ and expert on fire ants, is giving a free lecture from 7 to 9 p.m. this Thursday at FSU’s Coastal and Marine Laboratory in St. Teresa.

Anytime you have an opportunity to receive fire ant advice from local extension agents or professors, it can only benefit your prevention and control methods, especially if you have never dealt with fire ants before or are new to the area. Local experts know how to handle pests in your backyard best. Remember, they too are living in the same conditions as you are.

The Coastal and Marine Laboratory is located at the intersection of highways 319 and 98, halfway between Carrabelle and Panacea. If you need more information, contact the lab at (850) 697-4095. FSU is in association with Second Harvest of the Big Bend, so they are collecting non-perishable food items at the lecture.

It’s not too late to control fire ants in your lawn and enjoy the hot summer days, so attend a free lecture or two and get a grip on your pest control.

Fire ants do not live or travel alone. In fact, an average fire ant colony hosts about 100,000 worker ants, not to mention the queen ant.

Are you thinking about a prevention plan to control the pests in your yard now? Well, you should if you haven’t already.

Fire ants reproduce in the current weather conditions we are experiencing in the United States – warm temperatures and moist soil. When you notice a mound, it’s important you act quickly before the queen ant relocates to a new location in your yard. Using a bait treatment on smaller yards with visible mounds is best.

It is an ant’s nature to pick up food and bring it into the colony to feed to the queen and other ants. It’s great because the ants believe fire ant bait is food.  You feed the worker ants and they, in turn, feed the queen and the rest of the colony. As the bait works, it destroys the entire colony.

Killing off the queen stops the reproduction process, stops them from spreading, and allows you to get a handle on your fire ant infestation.  

If you are worried about fire ants taking over your garden and damaging one of your favorite summer hobbies, we’ve got news for you, it’s not too late to prevent that from happening.

In order to protect your garden, you need to defend your lawn first. Fire ants can colonize in several spots in your yard, and they reproduce quickly. Fire ants can conquer your entire lawn, eventually moving to your neighbor’s lawn.

It’s important to survey your property once in awhile, keeping a close eye out for anything suspicious when you care for your yard. If you do notice mounds or fire ants, act quickly. If you wait to control fire ants, they will only continue to spread.

If you do notice fire ants in your garden, make sure you consult a local extension agent regarding safe prevention methods to use on your plants.