We don't receive reports on ant activity, so can't say if it's a "bad year" or not. Ants are normally quite abundant in many landscapes, being important contributors to the ecosystem. In home gardens, ants are great predators of other insects (many we consider nuisance pests) and their soil nesting habits help to aerate the root zones of many plants. The colony's waste helps fertilize the soil, and ants are also key seed dispersers for many of our woodland native wildflower species.

Ants do not need controlling if not nesting inside a building. If they are causing eyesore mounds in a cobblestone walkway, for example, disrupting their activity by repeatedly sweeping away the soil with a broom every time a mound is rebuilt, might encourage the ants to pick up the colony and move elsewhere.

Miri