Fire ant puns anyone??

[Barb]

Yes, much better today, thanks Jon.  Ice water is my best treatment, Benadryl has never worked for me.  Bill says I need to wear a hasmat suit when I go out to protect me from all the bugs, flying and crawling.  I have a great sensitivity to all insect bites/stings my whole life.  Thank you all!
Barb

[Mugwump]

Yes, much better today, thanks Jon.  Ice water is my best treatment, Benadryl has never worked for me.  Bill says I need to wear a hasmat suit when I go out to protect me from all the bugs, flying and crawling.  I have a great sensitivity to all insect bites/stings my whole life.  Thank you all!
Barb

That's good, Barb... ...you realize that I was talking the topical, rub on Benadryl..right?..better than calamine lotion too...

[PaulineMi]

Glad you're doing better today. Bill has a good point.  My son is the same way with insect bites. It seems like the more sensitive one is to the bugs the more attracted the bugs are to them.

[sschind]

whenever I get stung by something the first bottle I reach for is Jack Daniels.  Eventually not only does the itching go away but I have a tendency to forget the entire incident.

[LizStreithorst]

whenever I get stung by something the first bottle I reach for is Jack Daniels.  Eventually not only does the itching go away but I have a tendency to forget the entire incident.

YOu could put it ON the bites too, but that seems like a terrible waste.

[Mugwump]

whenever I get stung by something the first bottle I reach for is Jack Daniels.  Eventually not only does the itching go away but I have a tendency to forget the entire incident.

Pint of 'mad dog' will do that too.....LOL

[Barb]

I just walked around our front yard which is almost 1 acre, and "fed" over 15 fire ant mounds.  I stopped counting after 15.  I still have the side yards and 2 acres of back yard to "feed" the white powder to.  I enjoyed every sprinkle of it!!!  I am killing billions of ants.  Bill used to do this job too.  We have almost 3 acres of lawn to treat.
Barb

[LizStreithorst]

The insecticides we have available today makes them move.  If you treat assiduously enough perhaps you can move them to your neighbor's yard.

I'm sorry I didn't have more sympathy.  Only time I suffered from bug bites is when a nest of wasps came after me.  I must have thick skin or something.

[BillT]

You could try dilute formic acid if you have some. Formic acid is what causes the smell of ants if you crush them.

There is another kind of ant (tawny crazy ant) invading the fire ant territory in TX and FL. It uses formic acid as an antidote for the fire ant's very toxic vemon.   http://news.sciencemag.org/evolution/2014/02/fire-ant-meets-its-match-texas

[Barb]

Very interesting Bill, thanks.  The poison we use kills the queen at the bottom of the mound, many feet below the lawn.  Kills the workers too, I see them lying all around the mound dead, the next day or two.
Barb