Ants!!!!

[JR'smama777]

I can't get rid of the little boogers. It seems they're mostly after meats and catfood. They're little black ones that have stung me a few times. I've put Grants stakes all around the house and kitchen (which have NEVER failed me). They're just laughing at them and going around them. I put Comet by the place outside in our carport where it seems like they come from. Nothing. I CAN'T take out the garbage 2x day, keep our counters clear 24/7 or keep all our open food including cereal boxes in the fridge forever. Is an exterminator the only answer?:

[adtake]

Are they the little sugar ants? I have a problem with them last week and I got rid of them..I think at least.. .. cornmeal! yes cornmeal...they eat it and take it back to the nest and they drink water and blow up. Horrid death..but no more ants in my house!

Good luck!!

[GoddessKristie]

I had a real problem with this things too. Last year I fought them all summer with all kinds of poisons and they just kept comming back. This summer when they showed up I poured borax in their path. They kept comming for a couple of days, but they stopped comming and haven't come back since. I cleaned up the borax and havent' seen them since!

[avendesora]

I solved our ant problem (after unsuccessful attempts with cinnamon, peppermint, etc.) with confectioners sugar mixed with borax. They like the sugar, but can't pick out sugar without the borax. They take it back to the colony too, if you don't put too much borax in it. Too high of a borax/sugar ratio and the ants die before getting back to the colony. I think I did maybe 1 -2 Tbs borax per half cup of confectioners sugar.

Good luck!

Aven

[JR'smama777]

Is this Borax the kind I sometimes use to wash clothes or the smaller canister I used to use on my carpet for fleas?

By the way, I hate to admit it but came home at 9:45 pm one night to find an army in the catfood, went ballistic, drove immediately to the gas station, bought a can of Raid and went all Rambo on them (floor and limited areas where they were coming in). I haven't seen them since

[Naturalyst]

Boric acid works better than borax. You should find it at the hardware store, often packaged as being for ant control. By me, it's even available in the chain drug stores. It's usually in a tall plastic bottle with a pointed applicator cap.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

An important part of the ant solving process:

Enzyme cleaner (or bleach if you're not so mindful) to clean up their scent trail. It's the way ants follow one another, and they can be foiled by a good squirt of bac-out or a sweep of bleach.

Also, salt and/or diotomaceous earth will work to keep them out.

[GoddessKristie]

Originally Posted by Naturalyst

Boric acid works better than borax. You should find it at the hardware store, often packaged as being for ant control. By me, it's even available in the chain drug stores. It's usually in a tall plastic bottle with a pointed applicator cap.

This must depend on the type of ants because I was using boric acid the first year, when I couldn't get rid of them.

[Pepperdove]

Oh god the ant thing has been making me want to hit the bottle this past month! Things are starting to get under control. It got so bad when we had a really really big bad storm, and I guess everyone came inside for shelter. I enjoy vacuuming them; it makes me feel very good. DH won't let me use traps or anything to kill them; apparently killing is wrong. ;D He keeps me honest. However, I still like killing them. Oh well, I am eeevil.

They are starting to subside. It has been drier weather for a week. It will be interesting to see if there are more tomorrow am since it rained today. Can't wait for winter when they are just gone gone gone...

[Naturalyst]

Originally Posted by GoddessKristie

This must depend on the type of ants because I was using boric acid the first year, when I couldn't get rid of them.

There's more of what it is that kills the ants in boric acid than in borax. But, yes, what you bait the boric acid (or borax) with must be geared to the type of ants - whether they eat sugars, grease, or proteins. And, there are some ants (for example, carpenter ants) that don't tend to carry enough bait back to the nest to make it a very effective control.

As a specific example of what I mean, if I were wanting to get rid of the ants that were in my kitchen this morning (both grease-eating ants and sugar-eating ants), I'd fold together equal parts of peanut butter, sugar and boric acid, and put the mixture where I saw them gather (but away from pets and kids). Instead, though, one of my pets that loves to eat ants took care of the matter for me.

As for the carpenter ants I saw running across my driveway this morning, if they step indoors, I'm going to follow them back to their nest and that nest is history! It's boric acid in and around the nest that awaits them if they more than peek inside my house. Carpenter ants invaded my house earlier this summer and it was a lot of work to get rid of them because I hesitated too long before dealing with them.

All sorts of good information is available on the internet to help people identify ants and the best control for such ants. Many of these sites are hosted by the entomology departments of universities. A quick Google search gave me the following University links on the first page:

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resour...ntrol003.shtml

University of Kentucky

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef619.asp

Clemson University (South Carolina)

http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/hgic2400.htm

NC State University

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Urban/ants.htm

Texas A&M - about fire ants

http://fireant.tamu.edu/ And, here's some general information on non-toxic ant control:
http://www.ecologycenter.org/factshe...t_control.html

[DBZ]

When I lived in Florida I would use Lemon juice to get rid of the ants that follow trails

[rabbithorns]

The ants are swarming here because of monsoon season. On a dry day they all come up and look for new nests, new queen and all.

I've tried the mints, cayenne, cinnamon, soap and water, chalk, cucumber peel, diatomaceous earth, etc., and the only thing i've found that works is that they won't cross a line of Vaseline. I've heard they also won't cross a line of Avon's Skin sSo Soft, but I haven't tried that myself.

When we get them, we can't kill them since we're Buddhist, so I found the least harmful way to get rid of them is to track them back to the point of origin by dustbusting them (it doesn't kill but a very few) and then sealing the point of entry. Best to use caulking, but I have used white glue in a pinch. We dump the ants out away from the house, but near a new place to nest, like under a tree.

But if they are coming in via a door or window or something bigger than a hole, I Vaseline around the entire door. They won't cross it.