Controlling Ants around Pool

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Oskee2004

Oskee2004

Active member
May 7, 2020
40
Illinois
Not sure where to post this, so I thought this might be the spot... we've had trouble the past several years with ants in the fall (we live in Illinois). Clearly, we have several large ant colonies in our landscaping, and when the males become sexually mature late summer/early fall, they grow wings and set out of the colony (or so we're told). They are attracted to water and land in the pool, where they inevitably get waterlogged and struggle for survival. We may encounter 20+ each pool session. The biggest problem is that they sting, and so if you happen to float into one while its panicking for survival, it will inevitably sting you - pretty disruptive to the standard pool "chill" factor.

I'm wondering if anyone else has this issue, and if so, how do you deal with it???
 
We have them- they’re evil 👿
Only having 20 a season would be a dream!
Don’t scoop them & throw them out - they will just come back in. Instead I scoop them but deposit them into the skimmer where they will meet their demise.
They seem to come in waves & then they’re gone. I use borates to hopefully ward off some insects & spray my yard with Bifenthrin &
Lambda-Cyhalothrin
regularly but as you said - they fly so they can be coming from far away.
I just try to get all of them out before getting in & guide the ones that come in while I’m in there to the skimmer.
 
Try either Amdro ant bait - AMDRO : Home . You need the ants to take the poison back to their nest where the queen lives so that she is killed along with the rest of the hive.

Or 7.9 % Bifenthrin Pest Control Multi Insecticide (same as talstar pro & Bifen I/T). It's concentrated and you mix it into a pump sprayer.
 
I second the use of Amdro bait. If you know where their nest is, you can sprinkle a cap full around it and they will take the bait back to the Queen. The queen dies as well as any workers that ingest it and the cannibalism transfers the poison along to the rest. Eventually the colony dies. We get LOTS of different ant species around here and I have personally witnessed huge ant mounds with hundreds of ants actively moving in and out go completely dormant and dead within days of applying Amdro. You can sprinkle the Amdro bait discretely around the pool area (show any kids what it looks like and tell them to stay away from it) and it will get picked up eventually. The bait is a bit waterproof so it can survive getting wet from rain or irrigation.
 
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Not a lot to add here, I use Amdro if I see any ant mounds. On actual tile or pavers I choose to use a gel based ant bait like Optimum. Also since I have started spraying Cyzmic I am seeing a lot fewer ants.

Once a quarter I also apply Imidachloprid which is a systemic. I dont spray it for ants but it probably works on them too.
 
When it comes to pest management (murder) the most effective treatments are based on the identification of the pest. There are many different types of ants and they have different tastes. Broad spectrum insecticides will kill everything but baits and gels get munched on if the ant likes the taste. A coke ant won’t go for Pepsi. Identify the ant then find a specific bait for that ant.

Ants

Despite being beneficial in nature, ants and termites become pests when they enter structures and destroy property. Similar to ants, but not closely related, termites have been called "white ants." Persons attempting to control ants or termites should be able to tell them apart. There are three...
dph.illinois.gov dph.illinois.gov

 
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