Thank you, Joe. I noticed in the video a few ants were taking a free ride and munching on the coating. I'm going to try this and see what happens, as soon as it quits raining: "If you take a potato chip, and set it on top of the ant mound, and if the ants move it off the ant mound, that means they are building and have no interest in feeding whatsoever. But, if they break it up and try to take it down in the mound, that means they are in feeding mode or storing mode. And that's a great time to use fire ant bait." We got 5/8" rain today and expecting thunderstorms tomorrow. The fence should get a good rinsing.
Well that was embarrassing The man at the front desk at the Ford service department took a look at the tailgate. He just banged it hard with his fist toward the shut position and it popped right open. Trash from the sod had washed down into the corners making it bind when shut. Ordered the running boards. The part for the recall hadn't come in yet. I need to replace one basement window. They don't make storm or steel windows anymore except special order. There is a building surplus store right near the Ford dealer that used to have 100's of used oddball windows. No more. Only a few new ones, vinyl with double and triple pain glass that weigh a ton and none would fit anyway. Habitat for Humanity is across the street, but they don't carry building products anymore. I left a potato chip on each of two ant hills in the yard. After an hour, the ants were all over one, but not the other. I put ant bait around that one. Need to mow to find the other hills.
I'd be out there at dusk looking for where the yellow jackets enter for the night, and take care of that issue before running the mower over their nest. I ran over a nest of them once. It [literally] almost killed me.
Thanks for the reminder. I forgot about that problem. Fortunately the nest is somewhere along the back fence where there is no grass or weeds yet. I also got stung by at least 16 once while mowing. It was not pleasant. At least I know I'm not allergic to them. I had an uncle who died from yellow jacket stings while he was clearing out some brush. Edit: .I found the nest. Guess I need one of those long-distance insecticide spray cans.
If I had not been within 1 mile of an Urgent Care facility, I would have died. I don't know how effective insecticide is against them. I always poured gasoline down the hole and put a match to it. Also, they generally have a rear exit, so you may want to look for a second hole and attack both at once.
After reading @Joe Riley's explanations it answered my question of 'why are some ants on top of the chips?' Because they are getting their fill and when done exit off for another to jump on it and so on and so.
The most common DIY yellow jacket extermination method seems to be dishwashing liquid. Prepare a 5 gallon bucket of strong dishwashing solution in water and set it aside. Then pour some dishwashing liquid full strength down the hole. Wait a few minutes, then pour the whole 5 gallon bucket into the hole. They have a chamber inside that goes upward from the entry tunnel to protect from heavy rains, so you need to flood it. Sounds risky. I guess you would have to do it near dark. I may try that.
As you know, their nests are sometimes (but not always) underground. That's why I liked having skunks around here...they dig up the nests. I don't know exactly what they get that's edible. When I set fire to that nest I ran over, I got up the next day and there were pieces of the paper nest laying on the ground, circling the entrance. Apparently they tried to rescue what they could.
I like the idea of using dish soap! Here is another that I found. How To Get Rid Of Yellow Jacket / Ground Wasp Nest With ONE STEP! ....then he goes on to explain a SECOND STEP.
Great! What about a combination? Pour dishwashing liquid inside the hose before you turn the water on. That way you wouldn't have to get quite so close to the nest. I'm gonna try it. Maybe this evening.
Get an EpiPen @John Brunner . If you can't get a prescription, see if anyone you know has old ones. Even expired ones can save your life in an emergency. My son was once saved by an old Primatene mist inhaler. The full strength ones are no longer available since they can somehow be used to manufacture illegal drugs. The new ones are 1/6 the strength of the originals.
I have an old one kicking around. I used to keep them fresh, then that whole thing with price gouging occurred. I have gone through a desensitizing regime years ago (I am/was allergic to all bees & wasps except for honey bees) and have been stung a few times since with no reaction. But I've not had the acid test of a gang of yellow jackets. I knew a guy who died of yellow jacket stings a few years ago. He had a know allergy, did not have a pen on him and ran over a ground nest with his tractor. He was 70 years old. Maybe I should get a fresh script from my doctor after all. I wonder what GoodRx can do for me.
We used to pay about $3 for a two-pack, so yeah, the price gouging is obvious; the cost is now $600-700. I don't know about the effectiveness of any of them, but if you search for an "alternative to an EpiPen," you will get some results. The active ingredient is epinephrine, which has been around forever, so I would think that, while the EpiPen injection technology might have a patent, as it does, the patent for epinephrine has surely expired.