Re: Have you heard of killing fire ants with steam?

Thank you for your question about killing fire ants with steam. There is 
great truth to the idea. You don't need steam however, becuase heat itself 
should work just fine. Insects are animals, and all animals can, of 
course, be burned. There is a limit to how hot we can take it. Most 
insects cannot withstand temperatures over 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat is 
very effective at killing insects and their larva in food supplies and has 
been used for many years. The typical temperatures are 130 and 140 
degrees. They usually keep this temperature for about one hour. This will 
not "cook" the grains, but it will kill all the insects, larva and even 
bacteria.
To get back to your question a little more: Steam is quite dangerous. The 
200 degree temperatures are enough to burn you severly. Because of this, I 
would not recommend it. Especially if a normal hair dryer will do. If you 
were going to actually try this in an ant hill, you better call some 
experts, because the earth does not heat up very fast. In this case you 
would need a very hot temperature or something like steam which keeps it's 
temperature better than dry air. My suggestion - stay away from steam. If 
you have to kill some insects, heat is sufficient, only you'll have to get 
the insects out of the holes first. 
For more inforation on this topic, do a search on the internet for 
"insects + heat" from ALTA VISTA. You'll find there are many ads, 
particularly in California, where heat alone is used to exterminate 
insects. It is a non-chemical form of extermination that seems to appeal 
to many insect-conscious Californians. Oh well. Here is one of those 
links. 

Keep on thinking about Science !!!
This was a good question. Thanks.