Dealing with ants in the house

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seveneleven
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Re: Dealing with ants in the house

Post by seveneleven »

Not sure if she will go for the exterminator spraying. She is a devout Buddhist and thinks all creatures deserve to live and they are more than welcome to the kitchen and the house. I get scolded for killing mosquitoes on frequent calendar holy days. I keep telling her there is nothing holy about mosquitoes,
I have to be sneaky and battle the ants with daytime methods while she's at work.
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Re: Dealing with ants in the house

Post by laser »

It's easy to deal with ants but termites need pro control and even then the results may be disappointing. Try to cut their food supply (keep sugar and sweet stuff in airtight jars, don't leave empty beer glasses and chip crumbs around) and feed them with deadly food periodically. Some species may return while the house is unoccupied but in smaller numbers and will be easier to eradicate them.

The Tesco stuff is adequate, but the best is to concoct your own potion. Dissolve a spoon of borax and 5 spoons of brown sugar in 2-2.5 dl (a cup) of warm water. For meat eaters use powdered dried fish or shrimp instead of sugar and just a little water to make a paste (used as is or as dry powder). Use both baits and don't stop the application too early, use fresh stuff every two-three days over two weeks.

For gardens find their routes/nests and decimate their numbers with hot water. Repeat this thrice (daily) until they mostly die or move, and then bait the hungry survivors.
seveneleven
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Re: Dealing with ants in the house

Post by seveneleven »

Turns out my problem is not actually ants, it is termites. I mistaken the worker termites for the ants.
I plugged their main entrance with silicone and they can't really eat through that quickly but having other issues with them.
Seems that they have a hold on the entire neighborhood.
This war cannot be won.
My focus is just keeping them out of the kitchen.
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hhfarang
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Re: Dealing with ants in the house

Post by hhfarang »

Do that if you can. A neighbor there had an entire kitchen cabinet come crashing down off the wall from the work of termites. We had the sprayers built in under our house in a crawl space that soaked the ground with poison (by the pest control people) every 3 or 6 months and we still had termites. They can be at work for months or years inside wood and you don't know it until they bore through or something falls down.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
seveneleven
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Re: Dealing with ants in the house

Post by seveneleven »

had about 50 of them huddled around the silicone tonight trying to eat through it.
They have created another route going up the wall into the ceiling.
Otherwise, my previous efforts from last month have eliminated their primary routes.
They have eaten away a significant amount of the tv stand, so I'm going to replace the wood one and for the kitchen I am planning on buying a load of containers to secondary contain sugar products and anything they might be eating.
We are replacing the stove and doing a small upgrade on the kitchen next month so I'll further my attacks on them as progress is made.
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JamesWest
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Re: Dealing with ants in the house

Post by JamesWest »

eliminate the thing they are attracted to.

lock up all food in plastic airtight containers.

take trash out pronto.

clean up every bit food on the counters no matter how small, don't let it fall between appliances or impossible to reach areas.

ants seem to like my big bunch of bananas, :) I try to isolate it my hanging it up. sometimes works.

they don't like Avocados. :)

pet food off the ground, in the house and outside.

i use a mixture of Anthrax and Agent Orange mixed with Tequila in a plastic spray bottle.
that buys me a month or so of peace.
I really like this forum because there are no personal attacks. All the members contribute in a positive way to my posts.
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migrant
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Re: Dealing with ants in the house

Post by migrant »

JamesWest wrote:


i use a mixture of Anthrax and Agent Orange mixed with Tequila in a plastic spray bottle.
that buys me a month or so of peace.
Is that for you, or the ants? :cheers:
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
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uncle tom
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Re: Dealing with ants in the house

Post by uncle tom »

Last year I noticed a few tiny ants scuttling around the shower unit in my bathroom. I had been putting a bit of Dettol on a small graze at the time and used the same Dettol soaked tissue to wipe them away.

Half an hour later I went back into the bathroom to find a great convoy of ants moving across the wall, carrying their queen with them in the middle - appearing to flee the smell of Dettol, but as I've not the chance to try it again, who knows..?

- Give it a try!
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly...
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JamesWest
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Re: Dealing with ants in the house

Post by JamesWest »

migrant wrote:
JamesWest wrote:


i use a mixture of Anthrax and Agent Orange mixed with Tequila in a plastic spray bottle.
that buys me a month or so of peace.
Is that for you, or the ants? :cheers:
:lach: :lach: :lach:

You caught me. Maybe this is why I started seeing the giant dragon in my kitchen. :cheers:
I really like this forum because there are no personal attacks. All the members contribute in a positive way to my posts.
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migrant
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Re: Dealing with ants in the house

Post by migrant »

JamesWest wrote:
migrant wrote:
JamesWest wrote:


i use a mixture of Anthrax and Agent Orange mixed with Tequila in a plastic spray bottle.
that buys me a month or so of peace.
Is that for you, or the ants? :cheers:
:lach: :lach: :lach:

You caught me. Maybe this is why I started seeing the giant dragon in my kitchen. :cheers:
Us LA guys know this!! :thumb:
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
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