Flying Ant Day
Watery
Posts: 388
Flying Ant "Day" happens every year..... Today's the first in my garden this year. I noticed that all newspapers have articles about them in July and many have suggestions about how to get rid of them. Why? Most articles also have this blurb:
"However, keep in mind when killing flying ants that they are actually good for outdoor environments. They aerate soil, help to cycle nutrients, improve garden fertility and control pests.
Flying ants also provide a vital food resource for many species of birds, particularly swifts and gulls."
So why do they start with "how to kill them?" I have lots of ant nests in my lawn. I have no ants in my house. And it's not that I'm that clean.
Remember your flying ants will be gone in a day, and the rest of the workers will go back underground, aerating your soil etc.
Enjoy the spectacle.
Last edited: 17 July 2017 17:16:47
Posts
I like to watch the birds catching them in mid-air.
Far too much emphasis on killing things in the press, the GCs and this forum.
It's all part of life, observe, wake up, it's not all about us, we're just one species among millions
In the sticks near Peterborough
I've noticed a lot of articles on you tube from USA that tell you how to kill everything, one I was reading said pour vinegar on your garden, maybe that's not a generalisation, just the ones I was reading.
There's a day for everything that anybody wants to sell - chocolate coated ants anyone?
Our flying ant day was yesterday. Quite spectacular I must say. All over in a flash though.
Flying ant day was last Monday up in Hull and strangely enough today in Coventry ! ?
Never seen 'em. Perhaps we don't get them up here.
Not sure why they make such a fuss about these things though. The 'meedja' has a lot to answer for. Is it to divert everyone away from all the real s**t that's going on....
Perhaps they'll have 'waddling penguin day' as well Philippa
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
an amazing sight in the meadow earlier. Rising ants in the sunlight against a dark background. Looked like a bonfire.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Next month will be the day when the cornish plankton eating basking sharks get mistaken for man eating great white sharks. All fake news. They trot it out every August on a slow news day.
And then there's 'Phew wot a scorcher!' Children come out and eat ice cream and pasty people lie on grass day.