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Getting Rid of Ants
Q. I have a question about ants. We have had a problem with the small, brown ants. We have tried the borax & sugar, and poison, nothing works. Does anyone have any suggestions?
• We have 'them, too. About everybody we know does, here in Southern California. We don't like to spray poisons around, so we have to put up with them to some extent, but we have found that they hate baby powder (preferably scented talcum). If you find a trail of them in your house, or some "scouts" looking for food so they can bring the rest of their nest to enjoy it, just sprinkle the baby powder on the ants and wherever they are coming in from, if you can find it, and you will see them begin to get upset. After a while, they'll be gone, and they won't be back again for awhile, even after you remove the powder. We dust baby powder on our honey jar and sugar bowl, as well as the outside of the cats' dish and it keeps the ants off.
• Sounds crazy, but try vinegar!
Fill a squirt bottle with plain old cheap white vinegar, and squirt it
anyplace you've seen ants (kitchen counters, windowsills, etc) and let
it dry. It's non-toxic, won't harm anything, and the smell will go away
in just a couple of minutes. It worked for me!
• I have a suggestion for the ant
problem; plain old cinnamon. I put in or at the site of the ant invasion,
they back off quick!
• Black pepper is a nonlethal, poison
free, cheap, and safe way to get rid of ants - sprinkle the black pepper
where you see them congregating and watch 'them scatter. Follow them
to where they're exiting - which is the same spot they're entering in
at - and sprinkle the pepper at that spot to keep them from coming back
in. It's safe to use in your cabinets, on windowsills, near your pets
and kids, around food, etc.
• I have a book with several tips
for the use of apple cider vinegar. One of them is getting rid of ants. Make
a mixture of 50/50 water and vinegar and pour it into a spray bottle.
Spray the surface with the solution several times a day. Ants guide themselves
with their scent. Vinegar has a natural chemical that alters ants' scent
and which ants avoid.
• My husband was in conversation
recently with a gentleman in the pest control business. This man preferred
to use environmentally safe methods to control pests. His recommendation
for ants was: equal parts Windex and Ivory Soap. Simply mix, and spray
problem areas.
• Most ant poisons have a sweetness
to them that attracts most but not all ants. Some ants are attracted
to grease. Observe your ants and see what they like, maybe you need a
different bait. Also, though this is sometimes difficult, see if you
can trace them back to where they are getting in, because caulking is
usually the best solution, as it prevents recurrence.
• I live in south Florida, the bug capital
of the world, and I don't use anything toxic in or around my home. I discovered
a safe way to get rid of ants. I found Shakley's Basic H. It is a non-toxic
soap made from soybeans. I take a pint spray bottle, fill it 1/3 with Basic
H and 2/3 with water, mixing gently. Follow your trail of ants to try to
discover where they are entering. Spray a thin stream of the mix around where
they are coming in. I also spray around my door frames and into any openings
where they might enter. Caulking any little holes or openings is also helpful.
Please remember this is a SOAP. Do not spray where it will be stepped on
and someone will slip. I reapply it as needed. Try to keep it off painted
surfaces as it will eventually bubble the paint. You can also put three tablespoons
into a Miracle Grow feeder full of water and spray outside around the foundation
of your house. It will soak into the soil and get into the nests. Do this
once or twice a month until the problem abates. As an added bonus, use the
same mixture in your feeder and spray your lawn to keep it flea free. I
also keep the little spray bottle handy to spritz any bugs that try to dash
in the door when it's open. If it can kill a palmetto bug (roaches that are
as big as B-52's), it will kill anything!
• I had a bad problem with them last year and tried everything.
Then, I read in a book to place Bay Leaves on your counters and preferably
along the trail where they are coming in (if you can find it). It worked.
Now I make sure that I keep some behind my canisters, etc. on my countertops.
• We use plain white chalk
drawn in a line at the place they come in they wont cross for some
reason and also I use comet cleanser sprinkled where children/animals
don't go.
• So far this has worked in
my house. First you need to find out where they are coming in at.
To kill ants that have entered your home without poison I use
straight Simple Green. Believe me it works. Then after they are all
dead, clean the area and spray the area with a peppermint spray.
Fill a spray bottle with water and add approximately 10 - 15 drops
of peppermint essential oil , sometimes called Peppermint Spirits.
Ants won't cross the area because they hate the smell. Hope it works
as well for you as it has for me. Please note this can be dangerous to cats!
•Ants will crawl away from mint. I did this as a science experiment
and it worked. Just plant mint all around your house. Especially
near doorways.
• A line of cayenne pepper usually stops them from
crossing over it.
• Try putting some whole cloves around. I
put them on the window sills and door jams and also sprinkled
a few around in my bottom cabinets. It worked.
• I recently purchased the book “The Garden
Guy – A Seasonal Guide to Organic Gardening in the Desert
Southwest” by Dave Owens. Below is quoted information
that may help you out. Dave Owens, does the Garden
Guy's segments on KTVK (Channel 3) in the metro Phoenix
area during Good Morning Arizona. – C.L.
Outdoor Ant Control
Supplies: 1 to 2 gallons water
Stove or barbecue grill
Instructions: Heat water to 160 to 170 degrees. Quietly sneak up to the mounds
of ants and pour the boiling water down the hole.
Note: I normally try to do this between 11am and 2 pm.
Indoor Ant Control
Supplies: 1 tbsp. boric acid
1 tbsp. mint jelly or peanut butter
1 cracker
Small cardboard box
Instructions: Mix the boric acid and mint jelly; spread mixture on a cracker.
Punch pinholes in a cardboard box; place cracker inside. Place box in an
area where ants cause problems, but away from children and pets.
Note: The mint jelly or peanut butter lures the ants in and the boric acid
kills them.
Indoor and Outdoor Ant Control
Supplies: Diatomaceous earth
Instructions: Dust food-grade diatomaceous earth along the ant’s pathways.
Note: The white powder will cut through their exoskeleton and they will dehydrate
and die.
Indoor and Outdoor Ant Control Supplies:
1 1/2 cup Cream of Wheat
Instructions: Place a dish of Cream of Wheat where the ants can access it.
Note: After they eat it, the cereal expands and the ants will explode.
• Red chili powder !! I've been using it to
repel ants for years. Make a paste using a little water,
find where the little black pests are coming in and going
out and paste the area. you can sprinkle the powder too,
but I find adding water makes it more potent. The ants hate
the stuff. Brooke and Mary B.
• To trap ants leave an open bottle of maple
syrup (cheap stuff is ok) the ants love it and they drown
happy. Just make sure you your children and sig. other know
about it (LOL). Also I have had luck with the Torro ant poison.
It's like a syrup. This they take back to the colony. - Lucy
• Mix borax with sugar water. Place it on the
ant trails and where the ants are coming in. It kills any
ant that eats the mixture. From CSinbad
• Some mint oil and mint chewing
gum help repel ants in a house. placed a stick or open pack of chewing
gum on a shelf. Outside you can plant mint around the foundation.
It makes a good groundcover and is fragrant when it's stepped
on. I hope this helps. Please let me know. - Diana
For More Ant Removal Suggestions Click
here!
Commercial baits contain about 10% boric acid, you want about 3%. It seems that kitchen-type ants like either sweets or grease. Get some of the commercial bait and mix it with sugar water or grease (shortening, meat drippings, etc), 1/3 bait, 2/3 sugar water or grease.
Boric acid is mildly toxic (mostly as an irritant), so I put the poisoned bait in a small screw-top jar with some holes put in the top, saved for just this purpose, and put the bait in that. It keeps it away from curious cats, and the dog can't get into it even if they knock it onto the floor. LABEL THE JAR!
thank you!!!!!!!
from experience, i made an air freshener ( a few drops of essential oil in a sprayer full of water). after one spray , my little parakeet was showing respiratory distress!!
( the little guy recovered but i learned a lesson!)
i would be careful to apply on the ant trail as even the fumes might hurt your birds.
it is a poison so be careful
Several companies (A--------) have come up with granules that WORK! Sprinkle granules outside, boric acid inside.
Molasses pore the molasses in the hole the will not be able to get out or in. under rocks when you lift it you will find the eggs and nest pore the molasses on the eggs the ants cannot go through it is like tar for them. So this year I do not have any ant around the trailer the one that decide to survive they went further and I have peace. In the house I use Pledge cleaner were they get in and problem solve.
Good luck
I'm open to all sollutions
thank-you
I have tried this, and watched as the ants just crawl right over it. If you don't believe this, just grab a piece of chalk and draw a circle around any ant on your sidewalk or driveway.
I've tried all the remedies listed here, as well as some that are not. But I've found the very best way is to get some diazinon. This stuff kills everything that flies or crawls. Just google diazinon
I'm all for the environment, but I've gotta draw the line somewhere. ;-)
I have a problem with ants also, especially around my animal dishes. Outside I use cayenne pepper circle on a plate around the cat dish to control them. Or take honey and put it in a soda bottle mixed with soap. The honey draws them to a specific location and the soap /honey mix keeps them like a fly trap.
Spray 100% vinegar on counters and around where the are entering. It also makes a natural room freshner for homes with pets.
I read that they do not like to get any powder on their feet.
2 parts Honey to 1 part yeast. Long time ago someone told me to warm some honey to disolve a some yeast. The honey attracts the ants, they take it back to the nest. The yeast swells up and bam their gone. I heard they actually take it to the queen and feed her, so this may get rid of the whole nest. I placed this mixture in a shallow dish, covered, so other animals can't get to it. They were all gone within a day.
2 things have helped me. I feed them cat food around the perimeter of my backyard they love it and also let these daddy long leg spiders reside in all the corners of my house. they are benign and when you look at the pile of ant bodies below their webs you will be amazed. so they kill the few scouts who meander in and I feed the large flock outside. The ants have actually built a pyramid with my face on it outside (just kidding) but I have had the best antless summer. (occasional attacks occur that are shortlived.) Hearts and minds so to speak.
So we tried the borax/sugar/peanutbutter mixture. It was more liquid than pasty. Perhaps we failed in making the right mixture. Irregardless, 3 cups of sugar to one cup of borax and pb simply bored them. Not a single curious ant. Not a lick, not a nod.
Windex was used as the first thing to grab upon discovering a 'train' in the kitchen lined up to the chicken packaging in the trash. HUH? they aren't interested in sugar....they are meat eaters?, The Windex killed them on contact and softened the paint on the cupboards. But it didn't stop the cavalry from returning time and again.
I did not have any opened food in the cupboards, so they seemed to stay away until today. I now take whatever piece of trash outside to the trash can and have turned into a neurotic vigilante, armed with Windex. They never bothered with the fruit bowl on the counter, or the containers of grains...sealed before they arrived.
Cinnamon headed them off at the pass, but the thousands of armies only relocated elsewhere in the yard, and most likely under the house where it is a crawl space with screened air vents.
There is a huge colony in the base of our orange tree...and they plowed through the 'Great Wall O' Cinnamon' with swords drawn and royal shopping carts filled to the brim for their Queen.
I might try the corn flour around the foundation? Maybe some Castille mint soap? mint plants? I dunno!! I need HELP!!
I think our problem is gargantuan, and any effort is nothing more than using a tin can to bail out the Titanic.
What's left?
I feel like I'm ready to arm myself in true Elmer Fudd fashion and just blast their wasskally holes to smithuweeeenes, but that wouldn't help and I don't own a gun anyways.
Sooooooo, chemicals? I might be ready....since my kitchen counter is covered with sterilized pots n' pans & de-greased skillets. All food is hermetically sealed, and I'm going away for a week. YIKES! What will I come home to?
I would consider feeding them cat food, but the possums who make nightly visits to our orange tree would simple gorge themselves.
HELP!! HELP!! HELP!!
For the sweet eaters mix 20:1 maple syrup --- borax powder. Mix well with 1-tsp icing sugar add a little water to make a runny consistency and place in a flat container eg. jar lid, where the ants are, being vigilant to keep away from your pets.
Now for bull ants. I live in Tasmania with nasty bull ants called "jack jumpers" that can kill men with just one sting and have done so in the past. The only effective way deal with these marauding soldiers is to locate their nest mounds, which may take a bit of time. This can be done by following a fully laden individual with food in its jaws as they usually make a B line strait to their nest. Once the nest is located be careful not to aggravate them and return to the site at dusk when the troops are back home. Pour petrol down the entrance to the nest. No ignition is necessary as the volatile vapours do the job. This kills them outright, queen and all. This seems a bit over the top but it works. By the way don’t smoke when you carry out this last exercise.
Good luck
To discover that this is a very affective and fast action plan.
I put on the front doorsteps, and on the carpet where entry points are.
within minutes the ants went nuts and they were gone.