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Re: Ants in compost

At 11:04 AM 2/5/97 -0500, you wrote:
>I started a compost bin early January and things are not going well. I put
>dead leaves, lawn clippings and kitchen waste (vegetable waste only no animal
>waste) into the bin. At first the pile heated up for about a week. I thought
>all was going well when I saw the pile reducing in size. I noticed that the
>pile had gone cold so I decided to turn it. When I opened the botton of the
>bin I was surprised to find thousands of ants in my pile. After turning the
>pile I poured boiling water onto it in hopes of killing the ants. This seems
>to have helped a little but I think they will come back. What can I do to get
>rid of these things?
>
>Kurt
>(Zone 9)
>
>
Kurt,
Unless they are of the biting variety or invade your living space, I
wouldn't worry about them too much.  They do an excellent job of helping the
compost to decompose.  They turn it for ya.  My compost seems lighter and
finer when they move in for a while. I'm not sure if it's because of the
digging they do or if it's because they are eating some of the kitchen scraps.
If you turn it often they'll move out.
Happy Gardening.
Dawn S.
Long Beach CA (zone 10)
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