Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Brad Johnson on October 04, 2021, 01:06:25 PM
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Went to unbox the new generator yesterday and got a nasty surprise.
The box has been sitting on bricks on the back porch since it arrived. One per corner so there was plenty of air gap and as little contact as possible. I threw a tarp over it lest wandering eyes from the alley get any unlawful ideas. When I pulled the tarp back the box was covered in a thick layer of fire ants. Hundreds of them. I keep a can of wasp spray on the back porch so it got put to use. A few spritzes and the ants were all dead. I figured that was the end of it. Nope. Not by a long shot.
I cut open the box and was greeted by even more. A lot more. Thousands more. Turns out they had established a colony in the Accessories Kit box. When I opened it there were pupae and ants in an almost solid mass. Hosing down everything with wasp spray worked well enough. I got all the little buggers without getting any stings, but it was a bit unnerving.
We're right on the edge of fire ant territory so it isn't terribly unusual to hear of them, but having them establish a colony in a box set three inches off a concrete surface is a new one. One brick per corner so there was plenty of air gap. I figure the tarp was the key, it draped to the porch surface and the wrinkles on the box top gave them a nice comfy place to congregate. The inner box was just a bonus, a pre-made colony space.
I swept them up and collected the bodies in a coffee can. There were enough that it was over half full. I hit it with another round of wasp spray for good measure, then tossed it in the dumpster. Pretty sure I got the colony core, but I'll be putting out Extinguish Plus this evening just in case.
Brad
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Are you sure they were fire ants and not crazy rasberry ants? They are attracted to electronics and can do a lot of damage
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Thankfully they didn't seem to be attracted to the electronics, or anything else that was bagged. Everything, including the generator proper, was bagged. No critters in them. Even the bags in the accessory box were critter free in spite of the box being brimming full of ants and nest.
Pic attached. Asked an entomologist I used to work with if it might be carpenter ants. They can have a very similar appearance to fire ants. He said not likely as carpenter ants in this area tend to have solid black bodies.
Brad
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Has the weather changed recently?
I have to be careful as ants try to move into my House walls if I don't keep them under control. More often during or after rain storms when the ground is saturated. Especially if I let grass grow up the foundation to the siding. I figure the box is a similar situation. Cool, damp place and the queen decided it was better than a hole in the ground.
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We had our first round of cooler overnight temps (mid 50s F vs mid 60s F) and a couple of days of rain. Other than than, not much.
Damp is also relative. Avg daytime humidity this time of year hovers in the 20-30% range, though morning RH can push 60 or 70 percent. The box was under the porch and hadn't received any direct rainfall. Plus, it was elevated 3" off the concrete with only four small contact points at the corners. It wasn't damp, but it was certainly dark and cool compared to the remaining yard.
Brad
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I remember reading that in one bug-infested place, they would sit the four bed legs in metal dishes of kerosene. (This, as well as using mosquito netting.)
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I remember reading that in one bug-infested place, they would sit the four bed legs in steel dishes of kerosene. (This, as well as using mosquito netting.)
Eh ... No smoking in bed!
Woody
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Rule Of Thumb #738 §27B: "Do not smoke in the bedrooms especially if flammables like mosquito netting and kerosene-filled bed-leg saucers are used."
Incidentally, ROT #738 §27A says: "Do not smoke."
Oh, by the way, ROT #738 §27C says: "Do not smoke anywhere you can fall asleep and have the lit tobacco thingie fall out of your hands and onto flammables so you can burn to death, but after all, that's faster and cheaper than fighting and dying from a lung disease."
Honest. I just looked it up.
>:D
Terry, 230RN
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I believe you!
Woody