Homemade mixture leaves yard ant free and smelling sweet

11:34 AM CDT on Monday, May 16, 2005

By Jason Whitely / 11 News

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HOUSTON -- If you spent time outside this weekend you likely ran across fire ants. Pesticides can cost you $20 or $30 dollars a bag these days. And many worry their children or pets may come in contact with poisons if they're spread on the lawn.

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Gordon Waggett said the molasses mixture has worked well for him the last three years

However, you may be able to hit pay dirt by simply looking in your pantry.

Heat and humidity haven't yet arrived, but fire ants are already here.

But wait until you hear how Gordon Waggett gets rid of them.

Just a jar of molasses and a couple tablespoons of orange oil mixed into a gallon jug of water.

"It really does work," said Gordon Waggett, Texans for Alternatives to Pesticides. "You can come out there and have children playing in the grass. Have your pets playing in the grass. Have adults playing in the grass right after it has been treated and you don't have to worry about toxic chemical residue."

Molasses and citrus oil aren't new recipes, just ones you don't hear about very often. Soapy water and even boiling water supposedly work pretty well, too. But just how effective are they?

"What you see is what you get," said Dr. Paul Nester, Texas A&M Fire Ant Expert. If you think you get good control you may be getting good control. You're moving them out of the way so the ants in that area are no longer present. That's what we see with a lot of these concoctions people make. Really, all they're doing is moving their problem somewhere else."

You move the ants, experts said, but you don't kill them with most homemade concoctions.

Gordon Waggett said the molasses mixture has worked well for him the last three years, leaving his yard ant free and smelling pretty sweet.

The molasses mixture only treats individual mounds, not the entire yard.