ant colony in compost bin

Hi folks,
I have two plastic council compost bins (lucky me!) and have been leaving one to work its wonders whilst using the other for my general skraps. I opened up the one Im not using today to give it a good turn only to find a rather large ant colony with eggs etc., Can anyone advise what, if anything, I should do? They seem to have made a lovely job of composting, but Id rather not have a swarming mass of compost complete with mobile ant army.
Any comments much appreciated.
Thanx Bonnyrigg Lea x

 

Hi B-L...I get the tiny black ant in mine and I give them a regular dose of Nippon powder. If I don't they get so numerous ,when Mrs Pal lifts the lids they run up her arms, and she goes ballistic at me!!!!!! :eek: .... :D

 

I had an enormous colony in two of our composts last year - you're right - they do a wonderful composting job! I just left them to it - though it did make life more interesting when harvesting the stuff!

 

My compost bin is full of the black ants. I hate using chemicals but I too went for the Nippon powder as I didn't want pots getting filled with ant colony compost!!

 

I too have black ants, as well as my friendly red worms. I leave well alone - by the time I get to spread it on the borders in the autumn, most have gone, but if not they rapidly disappear.

As I recall, it is the queen that decides the next site so its highly unlikely that having broken up the next another will reform where every compost with an ant is falls.

 

This is the first year I have noticed swarms of ants in one of my composters. Think I'll give em a dose of nippon!

 

I really don't see the problem with ants. Maybe I'm missing something, do people find they cause trouble? I think they're quite good at cleaning up any bits of food Ive dropped.

 

We have had ants in our bin for years. They have never caused any problems, and have never spread because of spreading the compost. I leave well alone, as they are beneficial to the garden environment.
...... but when they get their wings, I douse the bin with loads of boiling water.....

 

Hi, I read here:

http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/useful_info/advanced.html

that the cause can be that the compost is too dry, not hot enough or has kitchen s****s ( :eek: that is not a swear word, just a word that means bits of left over food!!) close to the surface...

having said that they make great compost so I would leave them alone and pour some boiling water on them just before you use it to stop them rebuilding the nest where you put the compost. :D