Summertime and ants... what do you do?

[scottmandue]

Okay the little buggers are really starting to piss me off! I did my usual... loaded up the sprayer with malathion (sp?) and sprayed the perimeter and around the sidewalks where they are known to congregate (while mumbling something like "I am the angel of darkness, bringer of death"). Even went the extra step of sprinkling the little granules of bug bait around.
Then with it being so hot and all the windows open I get to revel in the aroma of insecticide wafting through the house, yum.

Now it is only a week or two later and they are back! The above treatment usually last at least a month or two.

Anyone got some special tricks to get rid of ants?

[Mr_Wizard]

A magnifying glass May take a while though.

[legion]

I do the same thing...but they only stay down for a week or so. Persistance, ant traps, spray, and the granules...and the mounds will be in a different place next year.

I'm thinking of hiring ChemLawn next year, I think their service is supposed to help.

[kang]

Follow the trails to the nests. Blast them with the insecticide.

But you are right, the sprays only last a month or two. By that time, new ant colonies have populated your yard and you need to spray again. Consider it maintenance.

[john walker's workshop]

borax powder.

[id10t]

borax is a good idea. a friend gave me a recipie for a good roach powder - 2 cups flour, 1 cup coco powder, 1 cup borax. Put it where kids/animals can't get at it, and it takes care of roaches fairly well - not the little german ones tho. I've used the same combo on ants - moves the mound about 10 feet in some random direction when you scatter it around/on it. Just got to get them to move until they are off your property or out of your way.

[lendaddy]

I pay for a twice a year service, it's worth it.

I should add that they guarantee their results, so if I see ants I call and out they come fo-free to douse the killing fields again.

[LeeH]

I had them coming in the front and back of my house 2 months ago. My wife bought something that looked like a roach motel... just for ants. They find the bait and take it back and feed it to the entire colony. I was shocked at how well it worked. Two weeks after putting them out the trail stopped. Haven't seen an ant since.

[1973911s]

Grants kills Ants, you can get it home depot. little strips you put down.

Michael

[motion]

Even if you can control the population in the house, the little buggers are still outside, ruining your flowers. Its a never ending battle trying to do it yourself. Get yourself a service, like Orkin or Terminix. $30 a month and you don't have to worry about it.

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by lendaddy
I pay for a twice a year service, it's worth it.

I should add that they guarantee their results, so if I see ants I call and out they come fo-free to douse the killing fields again.

+1

No ants here ever and we have them 12 months a year.

[Evans, Marv]

Just had my first incursion a few days ago. They came into my kitchen. I put down a Terro liquid ant bait plastic box I got from Lowes. It takes about 2 to 3 days, but they take it back to the nest & it's wiped out including the queen. They went nuts over it and only went directly to it & nothing else. After about 3 days there were no ants & I threw it in the trash. Sofar I havent' seen more. Seems like sometimes these things work & sometimes they are less effective.

[Tim Hancock]

We had large black ants for the past two summers mainly in our kitchen. My wife bought some Terro (sp?) liquid that has a borax type product in it. You place a couple drops on little squares of cardboard and place in locations where you have seen the ants. The little bastards eventually find it and gorge themselves on it then disappear. After a week passes, no more ants. Supposedly they take it back and share with their buddies and it eventually it kills them.

We tried many other ant poisons and baits without much luck, the Terro thus far has worked every time.

[trekkor]

The ant problem here is so bad...I woke up out in the yard.

They were trying to find a way to get me down the ant hill, but they we're arguing really loud about liberal and conserative views and woke me up...


KT

[Jims5543]

We have these really neat red ants called Fire Ants here in Florida.

When they bite you, and they like to do that, they inject a venom that makes you swell up. It ends up looking like a big nasty whitehead after a day or so.

They can overwhelm a little kid and really jack them up. So I get my entire yard sprayed and call whenever I see a mound. I cannot remember the lawn service name but they spray from time to time and I never see any ants or other bugs for that matter.

Money well spent for me.

[gatotom]

ahhhhhh, those little pesty buggers......the problem with instantly killing them is the next time they come back in masse.

Trust me on this one, I live in the mountains and ants really do rule this earth but I think I found the affordable solution that kills them without killing people.

Go to epestsupply.com and do the research on the type of ant that is raiding your house. The KM antpro-ant feeder station with gourmet liquid ant bait is the ticket to happiness. They have a special that includes 4 stations with 4 qts of bait, it is the best money spent you will ever do, it works fantastic.

I will tell you my story, not only did I have carpenter ants running thru my kitchen but I had those little ants thru the house, the ones that when you squash them they stink. I was ready to burn the house down to get rid of them, until I discovered epestsupply.

Remember the whole dig with ants is if you don't kill the queen ant and the colony, you did nothing and they will be back, they are random feeders but the also follow their scented trails back. Anyway I got my four stations with bait and placed the first one in the middle of my kitchen at around 12:30 one day. When I got back from work around 6 pm there was already a trail to the feeder and they were moving really fast, they couldn't get enough of it. Sooooo, I then moved the feeder to the spot where they were coming into the house, a small crack next to a cabinet. In the next 2 days the activity was awesome, no more movement in the kitchen just going to the feeder but the movement started to get in slow motion. By the third day the ants looked like they were really drunk and I started seeing dead ants near the feeder. On the fourth day I sprayed alittle killer by the cabinet and moved the feeder outside corresponding to the cabinet, carpenter ants are now history in my house

The little ants took awhile longer because they were really rooted into the walls and wood flooring. Every day there would be hundreds and hundreds of ants dead near the feeder but eventually they are all gone too. [img]

My advise too you is get those feeders and bait and they WILL GET RID of your ant problem. Now I have the feeders outside around the house, I have no problems with ants outside, just don't come into my house and after 2 yrs the system is working .

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[red-beard]

I use "Over and Out" for the fireants and have a pest service for the inside bugs. About $300/year and they come out and spray 4 times a year plus more if we see problems.

[Mike Bonkalski]

Amorphous diatomaceous earth works great. It is non-toxic to humans and larger animals, odorless and remains effective as long as it is present. Ants come in contact with the powder or ingest it and literally dry up and die within 48 hours.

Its cheap enough to spread around the perimeter of your house or cover an ant hill with it.

[scottmandue]

My neighbor has a cat that I don't want to poison, will the Terro or the The KM antpro-ant feeder station get to the cat?

[Evans, Marv]

My cat has never shown any interest in ants or the Terro bait stations. Of course she's over 19 years old, can't hear, has lost a bunch of teeth, and I don't know what else has gone down hill with her.