Ants in the crawler box

[Jaackrabbit]

[mad][mad][mad]

It's amazing how fast some ants can destroy your crawler box.

I went fishing yesterday and before I went I plucked out a doz or so. Everything was fine. Then today I went out to toss the few I had left back into the box (they spent the night in car...forgot to take them out) and there were ants everywhere inside the box. Most of the crawlers were dead and the whole thing is pretty much a complete loss. Somewhere between 4-5 doz I figure. (About $15 dollars worth around here) [mad]

I dug the box out of the ground and found a complete colonly of ants living right underneath it. They were getting in by a small hole I had put in the bottom of the box to let water drain out.

So the $10,000 dollar question of the day is..... How do you keep the ants out? If you completely seal the box moisture will build up and your crawlers will drown. If you put a small hole in for the water to escape... the ants have a way in.

Suggestions?
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[lonehunter]

Hey , there is a weed barrier you can get at your local lawn and garden center that will fill the ticket !
It is made of a plastic mesh that will allow water to pass threw and should block the ants from entering .

[davetclown]

the ones that get me are those little black flies... once they get in there you done with that box... a perfectly good box gone to the flies... they bite the worms and kill them, the bite you...[shocked]

who would beleive a tiny noseum fly could do so much damage... whats worse is they ride in on you in to the house so get bites in the middle of the night.....[pirate] and on a hot sweltering summers night, you may as well stay up cause you aint going to get a moments rest....[frown]
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[davetclown]

dont give the water a way out or a way in... Set the Box in the shade of the north side of the house. ants are less likely to fool around with that cold ground.

closer to the foundation of the house you get the colder the ground will be....

there is a metal screen "door screen" you can get small enough mesh that ants cant get in...

if you realy need a water drain hole find the smallest drill you can find, "1/64th" and put in a couple holes insted of one big hole...

add torn up news paper as bedding and change it once or twice during the season, the wetter it gets the more often you need to change it....

Use moss as a bedding insted of the paper fiber bedding. there is a moss worm bedding tho I havent seen it in some time... the moss will continue to soak up water and the worms will feed on it...

I could gooogle the up for ya, but you are about as good at it as I am....
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