There are many different types of ants you may find in your garden, however, of all the colours; the black, red and yellow ants it is only the red ones (which are from the Myrmica species) that sting. Other than this, ants are really more of a nuisance than a pest or a threat to you. Ants feed mainly on other insects and this includes other ants. They also feed on honeydew and the sweet sticky substance that is excreted by aphids. Ants are also known to actually defend the aphids against their predators in return for their harvest of honeydew.

The Solution:

Organic

One thing that can be said about ants is that they are persistent and it is almost impossible to eliminate them entirely in the garden. You can flush ants out from your garden containers by giving your compost a really thorough drenching with water. Repeat where necessary, although take care not to completely drown your plants or they will die!

To keep ants off your benches/shelves in a greenhouse try wrapping a grease band around each of your bench legs, or stand the legs on a block of wood within a dish of water. Using a stiff brush when removing ant hills that may live in the lawn.

Chemical

There are so many ant killing products on the market, however, they are mostly effective at killing ants that tend stray indoors than completely eliminating ant nests in the garden.