If you've read this blog from the start, you know my still-new-to-me home has a serious insect problem. The brown recluse sighting confirmed that.
It's been pretty under control for a while.
Till last week when I saw a trail of ant marching from the back door frame, across the wall to the kitchen counter.
Ants.
The one thing we didn't have yet.
If I were a poisoner, this would create an issue. The ants have figured out how to crawl up inside the closed door frame, then to march inside about 2 feet off the ground. No flat surface for poison.
Instead, I tried vinegar. It's supposed to mess up their pheromones.
It works ... for a bit. They get confused, because they don't know where their well planned trail was. They wander, they back up, they wander, they come up with a new path.
Darn.
And there are tons of them, so this isn't a a "kill a few and move on." The ants have got to go. They don't seem to care if there's a food. They just show up. Must I poison? Any ideas?
My husband, btw, is usually concerned about bugs' ability to bring in germs. The ants made him grin. He hasn't lost it. It turns out ants actually secrete an antibiotic. So if they are climbing in our cupboard - god forbid - they're actually making us healthier.
It's not enough to weaken my resolve. They've got to go.
Any green sure-fire tricks?
Send in the anteaters
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Julie Todd
Julie Todd is the night editor at The Herald News in Joliet. She and her
husband are looking to cut the chemicals and get back to basics -- minus the
granola and hemp clothing. They live in a home they bought last year in
Plainfield, where they're making changes to create their own little patch of
utopia.
I live in the Los Angeles area, and I combat ants a lot. Basically, the counties of Los Angeles and Orange in Southern California are one huge ant hill. So residents out here battle ants almost year round because of the mild climate. The most typical variety of ant out here is the Argentinian ant.
Instead of spraying Raid, or some othe insecticide around the inside of my house, a chemical engineer friend suggested I use a solution of liquid antibacterial soap and water. I keep a spray bottle of this always at the ready. The soap kills this variety of ants instantly.
See if it works for the ants in your area.
Good Luck,
Bob in "LA"
A sprinkling of Borax in a thin line around the outside can help. You can also sprinkle around it around the perimeter inside where they're coming in and just vacuum it up every few days. Another thing you can try is instant grits--you sprinkle down the instant grits, the ants take it back to the colony, they eat the grits (as does the queen ant) and they die. I don't know if you want to go that route because it doesn't really deter them, but kills them, but it's very effective.
Sorry, I can't help, since the only thing I know would be poison and I know that's last on your list of treatments.
I copied this bit from another web site (www.ghoranics.com)about ant control. I don't know how you feel about boric acid powder but if you are not opposed... here it is..
"One of our visitors wrote to us about an ant remedy his grandmother used to use for ants. It does contain boric acid and must be kept from children and pets. The beauty of it is the peanut butter gets the grease feeding ants and the sugar gets the sugar feeders. This may need to be repeated for complete control. So far this has worked for a serious infestation of ants they had in their house.
Cora's Ant Control Recipe:
Mix together in a container that will not be used for anything else:
4 ounces of peanut butter
4 ounces of sugar
4 ounces of boric acid
Set in place where the ants are congregating. Leave in place for several days allowing the ants to feed. May need to be repeated.
CAUTION: You want to place the bait where the ants will eat it but not where children or pets can get it.
If you find a way to fix the ants, can you help me with slugs. I didn't even know we had them until a few nights ago. How does that happen in a new house?
We had ants in our kitchen and bathrooms this spring. My daughter was 1 at the time so I was desperate to find something safe. I don't know if this would work for you because they aren't coming in on the floor, but I sprinkled cinnamon along the areas where they were coming in. I guess it messes with their trail scents and also burns their tiny little feet. It kept them out as far as I could see but that didn't mean they weren't still lurking somewhere. I don't think you want to go spreading cinnamon around on your wall though.
I have not tried this remedy yet but have heard that if you follow the trail to find where the ants are coming in from and leave corn meal in that area it will kill the ants. I am ready to try this one myself, my counter and pantry have been taken over by the little rascals no matter how much I clean.
I used to have the same problem. Somebody told me to put old coffee grounds near where you think they're coming in. It worked for me.
The idea about grits is a good one. It doesn't just kill the ants, it kills the colony which is more effective. Grits are not poisonous, but also might attract other undesirables (mice, pigeons, etc.).