Alternative to pesticide (buy, to relocate, yard)

[nehag]

Hi, we found red ants in our front yard (which we were told they are fire-ants) and lots of red/orange-black flying insects in our back yard. We would like to get rid of them by using alternative method to pesticide (if possible)because we have young children and pets.

Appreciate if you can recommend pest control companies with these alternatives, or products that we can buy and doing it ourselves.

Thank you.

[jimboburnsy]

Fire ants are nearly impossible to eradicate without serious pesticide. You can try pouring boiling water over the colony several times a day. That will not kill them all but it will force them to relocate (possibly out of your yard). You can buy powdered boric acid and sprinkle it over the ant hill and then water it in several times a day. It may kill some grass (not permanently) but shouldn't damage trees. Alternatively, Look up a recipe for boric acid cookies on the internet and leave them around the colony. Good luck with the ants. These black and orange flying insects, do they often fly in tandem joined at the posterior or are they clearly ants? If they are ants, getting rid of the nearby colony will eliminate them. If they are what I grew up calling "lovebugs" then they are seasonal, completely harmless, and a fact of life.