In article , Dan_Musicant wrote:
Several times a year I undergo an ant invasion in my kitchen,
principally. They always seem the same - very small black ants, at the
most 1/10 inch long. This time, it's different. They are much larger,
probably 2-3 times the mass of the usual ants and around 1/8 inch long,
black. I'm in Berkeley, CA. Last week it was a little cooler and these
ants were very slow, and they wandered all over my kitchen, all solitary
(no trails) and I'd kill every one I saw with a sponge. I always keep
things pretty clean, but they still come. They kept coming all week.

Ant problems are pretty much a fact of life in the Bay Area.

I had little success with the smaller ants using this, but these larger
ants that began their invasion about a week ago just love the stuff and
I've been giving them a steady and considerable diet of it for the last
36 hours. However, they don't seem to be letting up, much less dieing
off. They're coming in large numbers now and forming trails.

Examine the trails, really, really carefully. Where are they coming
from and where are they going to?

Very often, they are seeking water. They will find tiny leaks
in pipes/faucets/drains long before they become visible to the
human occupants. In that case, plug the leak before you have to
deal with mold, rot and other issues. If they've found a food
source, move the stuff to an airtight container.

Personally, I spray the outside of my house every 2-3 months
using a professional-grade spray. That's essentially solved
the problem for me. And although I don't really like using
these chemicals, at least they're used outside. Without that,
the ants *will* come indoors and I'll have to start using
chemicals inside and that's worse.

You can find gallon sized ant sprays at Home Depot and some
of these are approved for indoor as well as outdoor use.
Ortho is one such brand. In my experience, these are very
effective, but not for very long. The ants are back within
a few weeks and that's why I use a more potent/persistent
product. Nevertheless, something like the Ortho should get
rid of the ants for the Thanksgiving holiday.

--
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| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
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