Articles/Letters
Sweet times for the sugar ants Right now the humble sugar ant is doing great things in your backyard and neighbourhood. As you start seeing them more during the warm summer months, just follow some handy tips and the sugar ants will leave your house alone. Instead, they will get on with the business of planting trees, aerating soils, farming, and cleaning. Susanna Bradshaw, CEO of the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, says, ‘Like their name suggests, sugar ants do indeed like to eat sugar and all things sweet but they aren’t fussy and will go for a wide range of foods from insects to seeds. So you can thank these ants for helping to keep your backyard clean and tidy.
Exploring ‘During the summer months, sugar ants become much more active as the heat and wet weather drives them out of their nests to explore their surroundings. ‘Because of the large size of their colonies, pheromone trails are used by sugar ants to communicate to each other. It’s a good thing these trails are invisible to humans or you might be a little shocked at how many hundreds of ant highways there are in this Earth. Thank you, Peter, and The Echo for this astounding image. Jo Faith Newtown, Sydney
Keep it up In response to Jenny Coman (Letters, January 7) I should like to voice my appreciation at the work done by Minister Morrison in stopping the vile trade in human cargoes.For far too long, the likes of former PMs Rudd and Gillard, supported by minor parties, Brown and Hanson-Young etc, and aided by some sections of the media, including our disgraced public broadcaster, have given aid and promotion to those willing to send unsuspecting prospective immigrants to their watery graves. During the Rudd/Gillard years, an unknown number of ‘boat people’, in excess of a thousand, drowned in our northern waters, a shocking disaster of human misery and tragedy. Those responsible, the ones who encouraged this vile trade, should hang their collective heads in shame. The guts and determina-
their nests during the day and then escorting them back outside under the cover of darkness. ‘This is a mutually beneficial arrangement as the ants eat the “honeydew” secreted by the insects and in turn the insect gets the protection of the whole ant colony. Some of Australia’s rare butterflies actually rely on this help from the sugar ants to complete their life cycle.’
“For those who would embrace a life based on heart-breaking Freedom – I am here.” Adi Da Samraj
www.adidam.org
Safer Drivers Course for young learner drivers Preparing you for your P s
Become a safer driver and earn 20 hours of bonus log book credit by enrolling in a Safer Drivers Course. The Safer Drivers Course is available to learner drivers under the age of 25 who have completed at least 50 log book driving hours.
A sugar ant moving eggs. Photo Arthur Chapman
Tips for living with sugar ants
your garden and house! ‘Sugar ants are great little weather predictors. If you see hundreds of ants running around the place in a frenzy, chances are they are trying to find somewhere dry before a storm, so it might be a good time to get your washing off the line. ‘It’s a shame that when you look up sugar ants on the internet, most of the websites that appear are for pest control and tips on how to kill them. These ants are harmless, native animals that play an important role in our natural food web. It is better to find safe, non-toxic ways to deal with any troublesome sugar ants.
‘Ants are the great vacuum cleaners of our natural world. Without them we would have plenty of old food and dead insects lying around. Plus ants help aerate our soils and bring seeds into their underground nests that help grow our forests.
• Make sure the ants aren’t enticed into your home. Keep all your ingredients in sealed containers and your surfaces free from crumbs. • Make your garden more sugar ant friendly. They love leaf litter and bushes that attract sap-sucking insects from which they collect honeydew. • Ants hate citric acid, so a safe and natural way to keep them out of your house is to make a lemon-and-water mixture and spray it around the perimeter of your house. If you know where the ants are getting in, spray just lemon juice around the spot. Download a free fact sheet about sugar ants at www. backyardbuddies.net.au.
NEXT COURSE 9.30AM TUESDAY 20 JANUARY
tion shown by Abbott and Morrison in stopping people smuggling should be lauded by all fair-minded Australians. Tim Harrington Lennox Head
Farewell Ra
It had been there for at least seven years and I was on the lookout for a nice plant to re-pot into it. A multi-coloured pot with large Roman numerals around it near the lip, it was a bit of colour at my workshop door. The thief obviously thought it looked good as well, since they waited until I was not at work, then, having emptied it and breaking the little statue next to it, absconded. I don’t expect to have it returned or the statue replaced. Peter McCullock Brunswick Heads
An open night will be held at the Byron Bay Station, 3 Kingsley St on 27 January 2015 at 6.30pm. For further information phone 6681 1847 or visit
Echo wrong
We live in an age of spin and intentional obfuscation. Thus it is important to be able to trust the source of your information. Usually the ABC is trusted as a fairly reliable source. I think The Echo made a mistake in the number of cars washed down the Main Arm on January 1. I assume The Echo echoed the ABC in that they shared the count of ten. The local count was four. It is a journalistic sin not to check one’s facts. Somebody should be made to eat cane toad legs. That our local news comes via the cities is passing strange. How many degrees? Cognisant of the fact that The Echo strives for the triple-bottom-line truth, I was a little disappointed. Enjoy the toad legs. Jim Nutter Main Arm
North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
Farming ‘Much like farmers tending their livestock, the sugar ants often tend aphids, caterpillars and other sap-feeding insects. They move these insects to better “pastures” and protect them from predators. Some of our common nocturnal sugar ants have even gone as far as bringing caterpillars and other bugs into Farewell Mere Rawinia (Ra) Ferguson – rest in peace. I knew Ra for the last ten to eleven years and first met her when we had the environment centre above Santos. Ra used to do Reiki next door in the Heart Space with other people, so naturally I would go in and get a lovely bit of healing from Ra’s energy. When I used to get frustrated about environmental issues Ra would always advise me to breathe. Good advice, Sis. I will miss our little chats whenever we saw each other. I am sure that all the people who Ra touched in our community will be that much more enlightened. There was a great celebration of her life at Durrumbul Hall on January 3. Paul Brecht Mullumbimby
Pot thieves Stealing seems to be spreading. Like your letter writer from Ocean Shores, I had a plant pot stolen from outside my workshop door just the other day.
AT BYRON YOUTH SERVICE
For more course dates & bookings www.steerproject.org.au Phil 0414 809 330 phil@steerproject. org.au
Your one stop service centre and repair shop Next to Liberty Service Station
40 Dalley Street, Mullumbimby
Become an on-call Fire Fighter at Byron Bay Fire Station
www.fire.nsw.gov.au
Poo bags Last week I went to South Golden Beach quite a bit. I picked up over half a dozen black plastic bags, supplied by Byron Council, filled with dog shit and put them into the overflowing bin. I had a short conversation with our smiling mayor about the dog poo in the bags on the beach. Me: Hey Simon, why is there a plastic-bag dispenser on South Golden Beach for continued on page 12 The Byron Shire Echo January 14, 2015 11