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It is hot and dry and the ants have moved inside. Tiny little guys who are all over the counter. I have ant traps on corners of the counter, borax sprinkled across the doorway inside and out to discourage them but they seem to survive.
This only happens when it is very hot and dry.
:help: What do you suggest
Tussiemussies
7-1-12, 4:45pm
Hi razz, here is a site that gives you natural aromatherapy to use. Smells good and safer than chemicals. If you have children I wouldn't use this remedy since there is not enough information about how much of a concentration of the oils that children can be exposed to. :)
http://www.experience-essential-oils.com/natural-ant-killer.html
P.S. even if you have pets I wouldn't use this since there is no research on how much they can tolerate. This natural remedy would only be for an adults only household.
We had the same problem - it drove us crazy. Finally we tried Terro (brand) - find their trail and put the
Terro there and let them feed -- You will see LOTS of ants, but just let the fill up. Some times it takes a whole day, but soon the numbers will die down and then you can just squish the few remaining!
Keep this up -- now we see just the occasional ant.
I used the old tried and true powdered sugar and Borax this year, and although it took about a month to get rid of nearly all the ants, I think they must have carried the stuff back to the nest and poisoned the whole lot of them. I get ants every year, coming in at the same place, and I suspect a nest in the wall. Here's hoping that's been destroyed.
Since then I read a tip on Dollar Stretcher which seemed to clean up the last of the ants, and that was dribbling lemon-scented dishwashing liquid around the foundation of the house.
I just wipe up the ants and then clean up their trail with vinegar.
We tried the wiping the areas with vinegar idea and they were not discouraged. We cannot figure out where their trail is as they seem to show up on the stove, the kitchen counter, on the floor near the laundry...
I finally did find a Pest Control suggestion in a 2011 column from one of our daily newspapers that suggested combing jam or peanut butter with borax and placing it where the ants are showing. Will try that as the object to get the borax back to the queen of the colony...sounds so cruel but they are really a pest.
I will try the lemon-scented dishwashing liquid as well.
Thanks for the input and help.
If you can find where they are getting in, you could try sprinkling whole cloves around the entrance. They hate cloves!
try2bfrugal
7-1-12, 8:49pm
We have found Terro bait stations to work great for getting rid of the colonies. For ant attacks on the inside that require immediate action we use Orange Guard spray. Terro stations are a sticky liquid laced with Borax, and the orange guard spray has an orange peel extract in it.
Well, I placed a mix of jam and borax and a cardboard tray of sugar and boraxmix in two of the places that they travel and the ants are avoiding or going round them as though someone had placed a detour sign on them.
Lemon zest and soap are next on the agenda.
Well, I placed a mix of jam and borax and a cardboard tray of sugar and boraxmix in two of the places that they travel and the ants are avoiding or going round them as though someone had placed a detour sign on them.
Lemon zest and soap are next on the agenda.
This looks ugly, but I spread the sugar and Borax mix all along the crack where the sink countertop meets the front wall of the kitchen, the main area where ants come in. When they were gone I vacuumed up what I could of the sugar/Borax (it was mostly crystallized from splashes and humidity) and then spread wet paper towels over it until it was softened enough to wipe up. Definitely not pretty and annoying work to clean it up, but I'll be rejoicing next year if the ants don't show up!
I second the 50/50 Borax/powdered sugar mixture. When it's time to clean up, simply vacuum.
We have found Terro bait stations to work great for getting rid of the colonies. For ant attacks on the inside that require immediate action we use Orange Guard spray. Terro stations are a sticky liquid laced with Borax, and the orange guard spray has an orange peel extract in it.
It feels my entire town is one giant anthill. Terro is the preferred bait. I will rub Vaseline or tanglefoot around the feet of tables or cabinet edges to keep them off or out of areas.
Well, the ants were not responding to the jam and borax or sugar and borax or the sprinkling of borax in and around the doorsill, so I got my bottle of lemon juice and washed the floor area, the wall and the counter (done in reverse order actually) with lemon juice leaving all the other baits in place. I wiped the wooden doorframe with lemon oil and the ants disappeared! Gone!
Thanks for all the advice.
Tussiemussies
7-3-12, 8:18am
Glad they are gone now!
PS I keep ant baits at my garage door that goes up into the house and on the porch windowsill. They all are on the outer side of the house since we have a dog and I don't want her to get a hold of it. So far so good.
Once I finish my deep house cleaning I will have lemon aromatherapy on a diffuser. Will have to put around the doorways too.
I never before have heard of using lemon juice. Thanks for the nifty tip, Razz! P.S. Glad the ants have moved on...
I've used Terro for those little tiny ants but have recently discovered food grade Diatomaceous Earth--look it up; it's GREAT :)
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