Ant Invasion

This worked very quickly, and we've never had a problem since. There is no mess, and it isn't toxic. http://www.antcafe.com/ANTPRO.htm

Try using vinegar to wipe down the areas they are crossing. The vinegar interferes with the scent trails the ants leave for each other. Good Luck.

We had the same problem with ants and also did not want to use a pesticide we asked a friend who works for an extermination company what we could use that is non toxic and he told us cinnamon we put it everywhere we had ants last summer inside and out and the stopped coming in.We have also heard to use peppermint oil, but we did not try it. Good luck!

Hi C.! We rent a house and last year, our first year to be here, we had ants. Thank goodness they were in the bathroom and never found the kitchen! But a couple of times our bathroom floor looked like something like you'd see in a horror flick, also! My babysitter's husband is an exterminator and he said to try Terro Ant Bait. That worked great for us! However, if you have little ones it could be dangerous. Our son was 2 last year and we had to put some on the floor in the bathroom. Luckily he's a really good kid and never bothered it. Basically its a little plastic container that you tear the edge off of. The ants go in and get the liquid, take it back to the nest, and it starts killing them off. He said that it would get worse before it got better and it would take a few days, but I didn't notice that at all! It's best if you can put it right where they come in. You can buy the Terro either in packs of 6, or you can get some gel that you put on paper (I think that's how it works). We just got the 6 pack. We also have HUGE ants outside so we put a couple on the front porch to help control the population. I just saw my first ant of the season in my bathroom on Saturday so we went right out and got the Terro...I'm not wasting any time this year.

Hope this helps a little!
A.

We used the ant traps (as others mentioned) last summer and they seemed to work ok. This year we tried them and all it seemed to do was move the ants from one spot to another! Never getting rid of them... (We've already had them for more than a month!!!)
I picked up some ant and roach stuff at wal-mart a couple weeks ago and they were GONE within 2 or 3 days. I don't remember the name of the stuff... It comes in a tube, like a surenge (sorry about the spelling). The box is white and the stuff in the tube is a tannish color. It works VERY well. I know it runns almost $7.00 at our Wal-Mart, but is worth every cent.
My husband just went around the house putting dots everywhere he saw a line of ants or were he saw more than 4 or 5 in the same general area. The first day it looks kind of gross though because you will have black dots as the ants all run to it.

Good luck!!!
Those little boogers can be hard to get rid of. :)

Hi! I have to add my vote for Ant Terro! We get a small invasion of ants every year or so, and Terro seems to be the only thing that gets rid of them. As everyone has said, it takes a few days and sometimes it seems as though it is getting worse, because they go tell their friends (LOL) but after a few days to a week, they are gone! I leave it out almost all summer, just in case a few new ones come to visit!

i found these natural remedies online. here is the link http://www.eartheasy.com/live_natpest_control.htm

" The first line of defense is to remove the attractants: keep counters free of crumbs and sticky spots. Cover the sugar and put the honey jar in a plastic baggie. Cut off water sources such as drips or dishes left soaking overnight.
If the ant invaders persist, try these simple measures:
Keep a small spray bottle handy, and spray the ants with a bit of soapy water.
Set out cucumber peels or slices in the kitchen or at the ants' point of entry. Many ants have a natural aversion to cucumber. Bitter cucumbers work best.
Leave a few tea bags of mint tea near areas where the ants seem most active. Dry, crushed mint leaves or cloves also work as ant deterrents.
Trace the ant column back to their point of entry. Set any of the following items at the entry area in a small line, which ants will not cross: cayenne pepper, citrus oil (can be soaked into a piece of string), lemon juice, cinnamon or coffee grounds.
Mix a half teaspoon each of honey, borox, and aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet, etc.), in small bottles. Place bottles on their sides, with lids off, in areas of most ant activity. Ants will carry the bait back to their colonies. Important: use indoors only; must be kept away from pets and children.
Leave a small, low wattage night light on for a few nights in the area of most ant activity. The change in light can disrupt and discourage their foraging patterns.
Ants on the deck? Slip a few cut up cloves of garlic between the cracks.
Clove oil-based commercial ant deterrents are available online."

Don't laugh but this worked for me when I was a college student living in a trailer and for my mom when she moved to a new house. Put some jelly, jam, syrup in a jar lid just outside your house. The ants will go to it. Keep refilling and move the jar lid farther and farther from your house, 6-10 feet at a time. The ants will keep going farther and farther,too.

I don't have a big infestation now, but they do show up every spring. I'm not sure of the brand, Raid or something, that has these small round top with metal stakes (all about 3-4 inches long) you put up around your house. I use those every spring and it helps.

I have put the sugar traps outside the house, where I could see them coming in the walls. That helped a lot. Good luck!

We have used Terro liquid ant baits with a lot of success. They are pre-filled liquid baits that can be used inside or out. We use them outside mostly. they will attract the ants to them, then the ants take the bait back to their colony and feed the poison to the rest of the colony. We have almost no ants in our house anymore.

We had them really bad when we bought our house. We use home defense. We spray 2-3 times a year when we start seeing ants. Spray it outside in all the window tracks, door ways, and around your foundation and we have sprayed it in the cracks between the foundation and the siding. I have also sprayed 409 or lysol kitchen spray on them when they were crawling on the counters and it killed them. Also draw chalk lines in your doorways and window sills and you will have to do it often as it wears off but they don't like to cross a chalk line. I have also planted saige close to the house as I heard they don't like those plants.

I don't know which of these helped the most but we don't have them all the time now and usually get them in the Spring and fall but get rid of them pretty quick with the home defense.

My husband sprays the house inside and out with Ortho (brand name) Home Defense Max. It creates a barrier around the house that if the bugs cross it, they will die. This stuff has worked great for us so far. I do see bugs occationally but they are usually dead. We have also used Terro traps in the past and they do work wonders. The ants come and eat from the trap and then take the poison back to the collony so that you are getting rid of the whole group and not just the ones that come into your house. Since you already have them in your house, maybe you could use a combination of the two to get them out and keep them out.

I haven't seen this as a response, yet, but this is the only thing that works for me. Baby powder. I read it in a magazine or something a couple of years ago and it's all I use. I sprinkle it around the outside of my house. Usually not even my whole house. Just on the back wall and the front wall. Last year, I had to do a line of powder in the crack by my front door and in the window sill between the outside and inside windows. I read that they bring it back to their homes and they dry up from the powder. We got an overload of baby powder from my first child's baby shower, so I tried it and have telling people about it since. I hope that you find something that works for you.

C.,
I feel your pain!! I didn't want to use pesticides either, but because of my animals (still trying for a baby..) and after doing some research the only option I found was mint like one of the other women said. I however have a black thumb as far as growing anything, so we bought peppermint oil (not flavoring..the oil) and used a qtip to put it around the door, and windows, and anywhere else they were coming in. It really did work! My husband decided to test this when we first started and drew a box around an ant on the wall (with the peppermint oil) and the darn thing looked like an ant mime, it *Wouldnt* cross the box. Downside is you haveta reapply every so often, but it is chemical free... This year I have gone for the little ant bait traps that have liquid and look like a plug in that you set on the floor of window sill etc (this way I can hide it under the washer, or sink out of pet reach) ... they work wonders! Good luck!!

C.,
A few years ago, we dealt with an ant problem for a season. Having those little buggers in my house grossed me out horribly! First, do you have any peonies in you r yard, especially close to the house? They are huge ant attractants. We had to pull out the one that was right by the house but it definitely was worth it! Secondly, have you tried Terro (sp?)? It doesn’t have any pesticides in it and it takes 3-5 days to start working but it’s amazing! You can pick it up just about anywhere! HTH!

We live in the country and had bad ant problems the professionals couldn't even cure at first, after many many sprays, traps, and some type of ant repellent drilled and placed into our walls. The only way we got rid of them was to find the nest (apparently in our crawlspace) and get rid of that. I don't know if it's an option for you but if your ant problem is persistent like ours was, it may be the ONLY way to get rid of the ants for good. If your ants are stubborn, they may live somewhere in your house. Make sure you get your money's worth and if you hire a professional make sure they GUARANTEE that they will remove the ant problem no matter how many trips it takes for whatever you pay them.

Good Luck!

I have read that if you put out corn meal, they eat it but cannot digest it so they die.

For us, it worked to pour a line of baking soda across the openings such as doors and windows. Supposedly the ants won't cross it.

Hi C.,
I have found using those little ant trap things that they sell at walmart helps, and spray them and all areas you've seen them in with pin-sol. It kills them some how.
I hope this helps!

I have had the exact similiar problem and we have had to simply spray ourselves on the outside too. On the inside, it seems to work - I use Lysol Anti-Bacterial Spray wherever they are. I spray them and it kills them instantly, then I spray all along the windows , and every little cranny they were running along. Most of the time they do not come back, a couple times they have come back once or maybe twice after the Lysol spraying but not with as much force as before, and I have never had them come back a third time. I definately suggest it!

I have two cats besides children in the house, so I didn't want to use pesticides of any kind. I have had luck putting salt down on the edge of the counters where the ant trail goes. They don't cross the salt. I haven't tried putting it down outside, but where ever I have put the salt inside, the ant trails have stopped. Hope this helps.

Terro is THE BEST! You can find it at Home Depot- maybe also at Wal-Mart and Target? The only thing is, with little ones, you need to be careful where you put it because it's poisonous. Maybe you could put it in the bathroom and close the door. It's basically a syrup that you put on a little square piece of cardboard and then the ants come to it like a watering hole. Then, they bring it back to their colony where it kills all of them. I swear by it.

Hi C.,
It feels so good to know that I am not the only one suffering:)
I have had ants for over 5 years now and they usually start comming in April non stop! I have tried everythign they suggested exept for the baby powder and the mint, I will try them both, Terro didn't work for me, not any spraying, I have tried tham all. Last year I decided to get rid of them and spent over $200 in products but they kept comming. I think Gretchen is right and we might have the nest in between wals or floor, they change places but keep comming. They don't care for the baits, they like the Terro but I fed them for over 6 month and they came for more, I also used the amber syrup (don't remember the brand) that comes in a syringe. I have tried poissons and baits, and killing as much as I could see, but kept comming:( all they want is my food and my water! They appear in bathrooms and kitchen more often but sometimes even in the bedrooms! I understand your pain believe me! I have spent hours clenaning cabinets with ants, they even open unopened boxes!!! cereals, crackers, candy, they also like greasy stuff, I had trown away lot's of unopened packages and lost hours of work because of them.
The powder is a thing to try, I recently bought team Borax for clenning and I am using it to clean the countertops with vinegar and they haven't come as usual yet....I have only seen a few but didn't get into a problem...yet....
I have also heard form a friend that swears by it that the diatomaceus earth (they use it to filter the pool water) works and it is cheap, I haven't found it but still looking for it, it is probably the same than powder, they dry with it and you don't need to reapply since it stays there (around the house).
So far the Borax is working, not completely but better than other years. It hasn't been hot though....If you find what works, let us know! I will continue with the borax/vinegar and poisson outside the house and will try to find the diatomaceus earth or will try with the baby powder.
I wouldn't put food on the outside for them, I have tried that and all it did was gettign their colony stronger and bigger! We'll never get rid of them if we feed them!
Best of luck to you and we'll fight our battle together:)
Mariana Abadie
www.MaiaCreations.ecrater.com
www.MyKidsFirst.com

If you've paid for a professional, call them back to amp up their attack. This is their business and, if they don't know you're continuing to have a problem, they don't know that they need to do more. They want to keep you as a client and will probably re-treat the outside, to create a barrier through which the pests can't penetrate. Talk to the owner, if necessary. If their methods remain ineffectual, they're not worth keeping.

Two things work for me:
1. Taro. It is a thick liquid that you pour on a small piece of paper. The ants eat it, take it back with them, and die. They do not come back. But it is a pesticide.
2. Cornmeal. Put little piles of it around, raw. The ants cannot digest it, but they bring it home to their colonies, and they die from not being able to digest it. (much better with little kids around!)
Good luck!

I use Bay leaves. They don't like the smell of them. Just place them in the cracks, under cabinets, and around sweet things. Also Vinegar in door way and window seals. I do this every month and I keep them out. Also sweet in low sugar makes them die too. I use to spread the sugar around the outside of the house. Just watch where they are coming in and it place bay leaves or vinegar. I have kids so I don't have to worry about them getting a hold of. I hope this help

Hey C.,
I feel your pain girlie... We are having the exact same problem here too. We tried everything from orange oil to putting cinnamon in our window seels. (the cinnamon did work by the way. they HATE cinnamon) We've been having to spry everytime it rains which is really annoying. A friend of mine said to break chicken bone in half and bury them around the perimeter of your house and that will keep them out of your house because they will eat the bones. He said that he and his wife used to have a huge problem with ants in their old farm house and they never saw an ant again after they burried those chicken bones. I haven't tried it yet but I am going to go pick up some chicken legs tonight!

Good Luck,
K.

I've heard that Nutrasweet kills ants. It was supposedly invented to be an ant killer, and they the powers that be figured out that it works great as a sweetener, and supposedly doesn't harm humans. I still use it, and I do wonder if maybe that is the reason for my dymentia. LOL Not really, but YKWIM. LOL HTH

we bought some spikes that you put around the foundation of your house and they work wonders. It's about $7 for 4 and I think they are great. We put a few extra around than it called for and they stayed away for a year!

I use vinegar. Spray it full strength around all your doors and windows (inside and out) and anywhere else you think they may be coming in. You may need to repeat every so often, but vinegar is relatively inexpensive and completely safe for people and pets, so I figure it's worth a little extra work.

Hi C.,

I had this same problem for several years, but one day my husband found something called "Grants Kills Ants". They are little, flat, round discs filled with something that is apparently appealing to them. They take bits of it back to their colonies and it ends up killing all of them. It seemed to take a bit for it to work, but eventually we won the battle. Now at the beginning of each season I automatically place them in cubbords and such where they tend to trail and it has helped so much. I don't have to worry about kids getting into them either as they are small and you can place them in out of reach places where ants tend to travel, but kids can't get to. Hope this helps.

V.

Whenever we have paid a professional to take care of an ant problem, they have guaranteed the job for a certain period of time. If the ants returned within that period of time, which soemtimes they did, the pest control company would come back and retreat the areas again at no charge, often using a different remedy.

Keep that in mind if you use a professional.

For some reason, ants hate mint. I've kept mint planted next to every house I've lived in. It's a very hardy plant and spreads great. You can keep cutting it and it keeps coming back! Plus it smells great when you cut it. If I have found ants inside, I try to find where they are coming in at and lay some unchewed pieces of mint gum (the cheapest spearmint you can find) around that area. I also keep pieces of mint gum around my countertops and inside my cabinets (just make sure the little one doesn't try to eat it). I hope this helps!

Look for at the store the small disc like ant bait. They are small usually round or square and found right near the other pest treatments. They work great!! We sometimes get ants in the spring when it is very wet out. I swear if you put several out in the places the ants seem to be entering(ours are near the front door and back door) both inside and outside they will be noticibly better that same day. From what I understand the ants enter the little disc and take the "food" out with them back to their home and it kills the entire colony. They have worked so good for us! I hope they work for you too!

C., it's kind of a funny thing. I lived in East County San Diego for a few years. I never saw ants until I moved to California. It's not just that they have big ants or lots of red ones. It's that they have so many types from tiny to huge and the queen ants come out and at times there may be thousands of ants in and around our old house. I have seen as many as tens of thousands converge on a huge in ground pool until the top of this 20 feet wide by 30 feet long pool was covered with ants.

We used to have them streaming in the house in such a thick mass that the wall looked black. They changed places they would come in to. So what we did was vacuum them up. It was a pain and the vacuum was always out. But we would vacuum for 30 minutes or so and they would eventually stop coming in for awhile. But a little while later they would just pick a different wall.

On the outside of the house I put that ant killing syrup. I was afraid I'd have a sticky mess to clean up because I drained several ounces of the stuff everywhere. But the ants licked it all clean and nothing seemed to slow them down. In the end the vacuum was the best weapon though it was still time consuming.

Suzi

OMG! The ants seemed to start earlier this year than the last couple. They are annoying. We've tried the cinnamon and bay leaves in the kitchen. We used professionals and they even used the professional powered stuff, but it didn't work. The one thing we do use that seems to consistently keep them away is baby oil. I don't know if it's safe for pets or babies, but we rub it around our sink and in our cabinets (the corners, not all over) and we don't have a problem. I'll be trying the mint, the cornmeal and the borax solutions, though.

Terro works great - it takes a day or two, but does the job. you can get it at Tractor Supply, or Walmart, and it can be placed just about anywhere - obviously you want to place it where your kids can't get at it. If you can put it along their path, that's the best. It comes in a "trap" form, and a bottle form where you place a little on a piece of cardboard. I find that the traps work best - then you don't have to worry about the poison being out in the open.

used ground coffee! it works wonders. if you know where they come from, just everyday after you drink your coffee, dump the grounds where they need to be! the little boogies won't cross it! good luck!

I have used a product called terro. You can usually find it at WalMart. It is a syrup type solution you put on a small piece of cardboard and set in the path of ants. The ants will swarm this and take it back to their nest. I love this stuff! It has never let me down. Once you see the ants have stopped coming for the syrup your problems will be over. Good luck.

Hi! There was an article about this in Mother Earth News a while ago. I used the cayenne pepper and the vinegar (pepper around the outside of the house-- if it gets into the baby's eyes it's a nightmare) and vinegar on the countertops and floors. Voila! In a few days we stopped seeing ants, and we still clean with vinegar (it's better than most commercial cleaners for the environment & our health anyway) but have stopped the pepper-- and we are still ant free! I've linked the article below:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/1988-07-0...
Good luck!
A.

My mom used to put sliced green pepers at the entrances where the ants were coming in. I believe it worked pretty well. Be sure to replace every 2-3 days. Also, Check with your local helth food store for info as well.

I would have to agree with Lauren about the Terro. These have always seemed to work the best for me. I usually put some out if I have an ant problem and then I put a few new ones out after they are gone to keep them away before they start again. They do take a few days for them to go away and you may see a train of ants going in and out...but they do work. Good luck.