Community Forums

RonLC · 04-04-2019, 02:21 PM

What is the best way to get rid of these little bitty buggers?...and keep them away?

Jake21 · 04-04-2019, 02:36 PM

Terro Liquid. A few drops on a business card in their path. Many ants will come. Few days later, all gone.

waroland · 04-04-2019, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake21

Terro Liquid. A few drops on a business card in their path. Many ants will come. Few days later, all gone.

Ditto!

Ray,IN · 04-04-2019, 08:41 PM

Remove access to any food source. DW keeps everything not refrigerated in seal-able plastic containers; flour, sugar, cookies, EVERYTHING. Countertops, floors, frig, sinks, etc are washed again immediately prior to storage.

Now that you have ants and nests inside, use the previous recommendation until ants are gone. I also used ant bait blocks to drop down into openings from living quarters into the sub-floor area, like around plumbing and wiring holes.

RonLC · 04-05-2019, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN

Remove access to any food source. DW keeps everything not refrigerated in seal-able plastic containers; flour, sugar, cookies, EVERYTHING. Countertops, floors, frig, sinks, etc are washed again immediately prior to storage.

It was a few drops of red wine that got us.

Ray,IN · 04-05-2019, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonLC

It was a few drops of red wine that got us.

Yup, party time!

astrnmrtom · 04-05-2019, 09:26 PM

I've never dealt with that particular species but the best treatment for ants is bait because they carry it back to the nest which will kill the whole colony. Sprays can cause ants to go into defense mode where the nest splints into several satellite nests as a survival tactic and you've multiplied your problem.

Terro as mentioned in previous posts is a good brand and is available in hardware stores as is Amdro. There are a couple gels too. Combat is one that I've had very good luck with. The gel comes in two "flavors" one is peanut butter based the other is a sweet clear gel. I've had the best luck with the clear gel.

One thing to be aware of with baits is they attract more ants so it's best to sit and watch them for a while and follow the scouts back to the entry point and bait that area. It can take some patience but if you watch long enough, you'll see where they are going especially if you find one carrying some food. That's the one to follow. If you use the gel, make multiple dots or small lines of gel because if they like it they'll line up like pigs to a trough. More troughs means more ants get the bait.

Ants leave a pheromone trail so be sure to wipe things down after you've controlled them.

Depending on their feeding cycle ants can prefer protein or sugars so if one type bait doesn't work, try another. Keep replenishing the bait until activity stops.