I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand seeing a parade of fire ants in the house. It’s gross to have a boatload of creepy crawlies wandering around inside. And so, there’s only one thing to do – get rid of ‘em. 

My encounter with the biting buggers.

Living in Florida for over 30 years, I know about biting fire ants.  However, in Florida, they were red.  On the other hand, these were black.  When I saw them, I figured they weren’t biters like the red ants. Afterward, I found out I was wrong.

This is what happened when I walked down the driveway to pick up my mail. 

(By the way, do you know about the free USPS service called Informed Delivery Daily Digest?  It notifies you by email when you have mail or packages to be delivered by the US Post Office.  Additionally, you get a picture of your mail and can track and manage your packages online.  Above all, if it’s available where you live, I highly recommend that you sign up for it.)

Anyway, I went to check the mail and, boy, was I surprised when I stepped in a big ant mound. Certainly, the neighbors got a kick out of the jig I did to try to get those little pests off me.

This is what fire ant welts look like. And, no these are not my feet.

I was able to get rid of the swelling and itching from the fire ant stings by using my colloidal silver gel. For me, it works like magic with any skin issue.

Now I know to give the fire ants the respect they deserve.

So, when they made an appearance in my kitchen last week, this is what I did.

To begin with, where’d the fire ants come from?

That’s what I wanted to know.  Why did I have an ant problem in my kitchen?  It’s clean and I never leave food out. Not to mention, these weren’t just any ants, they were biting ants crawling all over my kitchen window sill. 

Could it be my own doing?

Occasionally, we all do something without thinking. Well, when lots of peaches from my dwarf peach tree fell to the ground, I scooped them up and dumped the rotten peaches in the outside garbage can. When I went to take the can to the street for pickup, I saw the error of my ways. No doubt attracted by the peaches, there they were, a trillion black fire ants making their way up the wall towards my kitchen window. I now knew how I got ants in the house. My bad!

Ugh, ants in the kitchen…what to do?

The first thing I thought of was hairspray. Surely, that’ll ruin their day and they’ll skedaddle on out. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

The only thing left to do was to reach under the kitchen sink and grab the first spray bottle of funky, homemade solution that I failed to label. Oh well, whatever it is, let’s give it a try.

To my amazement, this brew stopped the fire ants dead in their tracks. Like, mid-scatter. A few of the bigger ones fought a good fight but soon waved a white flag.

Here’s the mystery recipe that worked so well to get rid of ants in or outside the house:

• 4 cups white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 good squirt of Dawn
• Put in a spray bottle and give it a shake.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Oh, if you’re wondering what the remedy is really for, it’s weed killer. Furthermore, it works for that, too.

Enjoy this Dance Safari post, “5 Health and Wellness Goodies I’m Never Without“.