Went to stir my pile today and found about 1000 new friends. All carrying little white larval friends. Is this good news? Bad news? Neutral news? I’m a baby composter and have no idea. Pile is a good mix of brown and green yard waste and some coffee grounds.
by JuggernautRich4148
13 Comments
It’s literally just nature doing its thing. Theoretically they’ll remove some of your pile, but even a huge nest isn’t going to make a noticeable dent in a decent sized compost pile.
Unless you’re very close to your house, I wouldn’t worry at all. Birds and other predators will likely see it as a buffet, and mixing your compost will disrupt them, they’ll probably leave it alone on their own if you’re mixing it regularly.
Neutral news, but probably too dry if Amy’s are comfortable living there.
Ants are great if you want to not worry about mixing your compost up for a while they’ll help a lot of things breakdown
They steal all the good stuff!!!
probably not but that’s how I see them. Just keep turning it
Good or bad if you’re making a pile on the ground I imagine it’s just “ants unavoidable” and you learn to live with them. Unless they’re fire ants I’d say just leave them be.
Ants are great. They impact soil structure a lot in gardens and are facilitating the process of composting here
ants ants
What larval friends do you think they are stealing? Maybe those are the real friends? Or common enimies?
Compost is cool and dry. Pee on it.
Ants natural.
I saw them doing the same thing in my pile earlier this summer. I think they are fly larvae. I mixed borax and sugar and dusted the top of the pile right after turning it. I do turn my pile roughly every 4 days but they were gone after a week.
I’ve gotten fire ants in my pile, and all the other critters disappear. If you keep the nest disturbed like you just did, which is easy to do in compost, they will leave. I want earthworms!
Ants are always good.