Ants, Lots of Ants
 

What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are more.
They are the really small ones.
I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just travel
thru the wall to the kitchen?

I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
laying around.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

Terro has worked well for me. When you put it down the ants will have a
field day feeding on it. There will be a zillion of them. After about 3
days their number will suddenly drop and they will be gone til next year.


"Steve" wrote in message
. 142...
What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are
more.
They are the really small ones.
I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just
travel
thru the wall to the kitchen?

I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
laying around.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

In article ,
says...
:) What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
:) kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are more.
:) They are the really small ones.
:) I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just travel
:) thru the wall to the kitchen?
:)
:) I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
:) laying around.
:)
A product called Terro seems to be a good all around bait to try first.
But sometimes the ants can be choosey on what they want to feed on
changing from sugars to proteins so trying several baits before they
accept it may be the course. Depending on the species they can be
living in the wall itself or they can be outside ants coming in, where
treating the source may be a quicker resolve than the bait in the
kitchen.
--
Lar

It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

Go to the supermarket or hardware store and buy some ant traps that
contain a few percent boric acid or borates listed on the label and
follow the directions. The work slowly and surely because the ants
bring the toxin home and it destroys the colony.
This way you don't take the kill everything that moves approach and
only target those ants entering your home.
Steve wrote:
What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are more.
They are the really small ones.
I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just travel
thru the wall to the kitchen?

I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
laying around.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

If you're cheap like me, half borax and half sugar will do the job.


Steve wrote:
What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are more.
They are the really small ones.
I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just travel
thru the wall to the kitchen?

I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
laying around.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

Steve wrote:
What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants?

Two things:

1. Get a residual ant killer, like Raid or Black Flag, and spray a
solid, wet band of it all around the seams under your sink and around
the window. Sort of like building a "fence" they must go through.

2. Get a granular pesticide (Diazinon was terrific, until the
bunny-huggers got it banned) and sprinkle it liberally around the
foundation of your house, making about a foot-wide band of it. Be sure
and go completely around the house, so ANY insect that enters must
crawl through it.

This will work. Repeat every couple of months.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

wrote:
Steve wrote:
What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants?

Two things:

1. Get a residual ant killer, like Raid or Black Flag, and spray a
solid, wet band of it all around the seams under your sink and around
the window. Sort of like building a "fence" they must go through.

2. Get a granular pesticide (Diazinon was terrific, until the
bunny-huggers got it banned) and sprinkle it liberally around the
foundation of your house, making about a foot-wide band of it. Be sure
and go completely around the house, so ANY insect that enters must
crawl through it.

This will work. Repeat every couple of months.

Chlordane was a lot better and would last 30 years or so. Perfectly
safe as long as it was used properly. In fact it was used as a flea
powder on pets back in the late '60s. I believe it was the exterminator
that got it banned so business would improve.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

In article ,
says...
:) Chlordane was a lot better and would last 30 years or so. Perfectly
:) safe as long as it was used properly. In fact it was used as a flea
:) powder on pets back in the late '60s. I believe it was the exterminator
:) that got it banned so business would improve.
:)
:)
Chlordane was in the same group of insecticides as DDT, so when it went,
so did chlordane..it's back on the bunny huggers.
--
Lar

It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 09:24:20 -0500, Steve
wrote:

What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are more.
They are the really small ones.
I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just travel
thru the wall to the kitchen?

I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
laying around.


I've had success with Raid's double control ant control baits.

Take a day or two depending on the amount of ants you have. If you
can get many to visit the station, you should see results in a day.

hth,

tom @ www.FreeCreditReportAdvice.com

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

wrote in message
...
On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 15:42:31 -0400, Tom The Great
wrote:

I've had success with Raid's double control ant control baits.

Take a day or two depending on the amount of ants you have. If you
can get many to visit the station, you should see results in a day.

If you have trouble getting them to eat your commercial bait, see what
they do eat and make bait out of that. Use about 1 part boric acid and
12 parts food.

I got an article the other day from someone that said Aspartame was
developed as an ant poison. Wonder if anyone has ever heard of using nutra
sweet to kill ants. Seems according to the article that it interferes with
their nervous systems.

If I find it I will post it.

LJ

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 09:24:20 -0500, Steve broke out their crayolas and
scribbled:

What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are more.
They are the really small ones.
I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just travel
thru the wall to the kitchen?

I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
laying around.

Pharaoh Ant, sugar ant, and **** ant, are some of the common names for
what seem to be really small ants (1/16") that can invade the walls of a
house in the southern United States and can be a PIA getting rid of
them. Wipe counter spaces off with vinegar and allow to air dry to keep
them off of food preparation areas. Clean and reapply vinegar after
preping food or daily as required. Then set bait stations out "in line"
with the trails that they use. Avon's (TM) Skin-So-Soft (TM) can be
sprayed on table legs but must be reapplied weekly to be effective.

I was told by an externinator that spraying this type of ant with bug
spray applications only causes them to split the colony and spreading the
colony further. I don't state this as fact, only repeating what I was told
by someone I felt was compedent. He recognised the critters as soon as he
saw them and recomended I look them up on the "net".


Here is a couple of links that may be of interest.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2136.html
http://insects.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/l-2061.html

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

We have had tiny, tiny ants here in FL this year. Terro does the job
better than anything else I tried but it won't keep from year to year.
Buy new Terro and when the summer is over, throw it away and buy fresh
next year. The ants will be back. I got a large bottle of spray at
Home Depot and sprayed outside the house....helps cut down on various
insects.

The tiny ants come in the kitchen and bath. I have been careful to
keep things clean and have no idea how they got in. I recaulked all
the windows and the tile in the bathroom.....and when it starts raining
outside they all come running in.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

Combat ant killing gel. 0.95 ounce syringe...get it at home depot. works
every time

Wally
"Steve" wrote in message
. 142...
What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are
more.
They are the really small ones.
I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just
travel
thru the wall to the kitchen?

I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
laying around.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

"Dottie" wrote in message
oups.com...
We have had tiny, tiny ants here in FL this year. Terro does the job
better than anything else I tried but it won't keep from year to year.
Buy new Terro and when the summer is over, throw it away and buy fresh
next year. The ants will be back. I got a large bottle of spray at
Home Depot and sprayed outside the house....helps cut down on various
insects.

The tiny ants come in the kitchen and bath. I have been careful to
keep things clean and have no idea how they got in. I recaulked all
the windows and the tile in the bathroom.....and when it starts raining
outside they all come running in.

I just spent the last 4 hours chasing carpenter ants. I found several
cavities in the wood that had pupas ( little white maggot looking things) in
them. I cleaned all them out, killed all the ant that I found. There were
tons of them, until I saw not more in the area. They have pretty much
decimated a section of wood about 12 feet long that used to be a 2 x 8. This
is in a converted porch that the previous owner built. I plan to tear it
off, but was not planning to do it until next year. I just don't want to
cause them to move somewhere else. This area was damp from the roof leaking,
the rest of the place is dry. Any one know how to tell if you found the
nest? I have read that the only way to rid the place of carpenter ants is to
physically remove the nest.

By the way I set out the nutra sweet for a week and they did not touch it,
so I guess that theory is all wet.

LJ

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

In article ,
says...
:) off, but was not planning to do it until next year. I just don't want to
:) cause them to move somewhere else. This area was damp from the roof leaking,
:) the rest of the place is dry. Any one know how to tell if you found the
:) nest? I have read that the only way to rid the place of carpenter ants is to
:) physically remove the nest.
:)
:)
If you found the larvae you found the nest, though if the maggoty things
were moving by themselves they were termites, if they were being carried
by other ants, they were CA in the heart of the nest. There are two
carpenter ant baits that the pros use that you can find over the web or
at a do it yourself type pest store. I have used the Advance Granular
Carpenter Ant Bait and have had success on nests I had no idea where
they were located at. I myself have not used MAXFORCE CARPENTER ANT BAIT
GEL, but all that I know who have used it say it works as well as the
other product.
--
Lar

It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

In article ,
says...
:) We seem to have a different carpenter ant in Florida. (but we have
:) lots of different ants than most of the US)
:) I have had carpenter ants that had satellite nests all over the house
:) with several dozen to 100 individuals and larvae in each. The mother
:) ship was in the mulch right outside.. There were not even in a wood
:) environment, just any convenient cool dark place. I had a nest in a
:) plastic diskette case
:)
:)
I'm in Texas and the vast majority of carp ant jobs I do have nothing to
with wood at all, much less wet wood. The most common area I find them
in are the hollow tubing in storm windows/door and screens. The oddest
place was in a kitchen, took forever to trail them down and in a cabinet
there was an old wide mouthed jar of home made prunes. It was capped
with a three inch across cork and the ants made the cork their home. At
least nowadays what we have to treat for them makes them, all ants in
general, a non issue any more.
--
Lar

It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

Steve wrote:

What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are more.
They are the really small ones.
I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just travel
thru the wall to the kitchen?

I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
laying around.
With all the hot weather here and there, it may just be too dry outdoors
and they are looking for food/water. If they nest outside, you should
be able to find their entry near where you find them inside. Put some
bait outside as well as on their path inside. clean real well first,
even if it is already clean. They can smell coffee cake and butter from
miles away, and a crumb is a meal :o) Terro has always worked well for
me. Down in Florida, it never fails that if I keep a box of cookies or
coffee cake on the counter, ants will be in after them. A drop of
sugary liquid spilled on the counter will attract ants, even when it is dry.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

Steve wrote:
What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are more.
They are the really small ones.
I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just travel
thru the wall to the kitchen?

I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
laying around.

It sounds like you are describing /monomorium minimum/, or the Little
Black Ant. You cannot hope to beat them, you can only hope to hold the
line. I know from experience. (I'm convinced that the entirety of North
America is just one large ant colony...guess I saw the 50s movie "Them"
too much!) These ants are looking for food and water, and when they
find it, they will come, oh yes they will. They're no fire ants, but
they are persistent as hell.

Seriously, your best bet is as follows:
(1) keep food areas clean - do not leave dirty dishes in the sink, use
a trash can with a secure lid, put food like cereals and sugars into
sealable containers, wipe your counters as you go when you cook
(2) keep wet areas such as laundry, bathroom, etc. dry as much as
possible; use exhaust fans, wipe up wet footprints from the shower and
the like, and don't leave water laying in the wash tubs or wherever
your clothes washer empties
(3) if you have pets, do not leave food in the bowls; wash bowls after
the pet(s) is/are done; keep any small quantities of dry food in
sealable containers and large quantities stored away from the rest of
the food in the house
(4) use indoor-safe barrier sprays such as those recommended in other
posts to spray door and window sills in high risk areas, spray along
kickboards of counters in kitchen and pull out your stove and 'fridge
to spray behind them as well; depending upon the potency of the
product, you may have to do this as often as once every couple months
(5) keep the area against the house clear of plants and plant debris;
cut away any branches that touch the house, and rake away dead matter
such as leaves, pine needles and the like (mulch might be OK)
(6) use outdoor high-potency barrier sprays around doors and windows
and hit any foundation cracks or other gaps in the house's integrity;
put down a 1-2 foot wide barrier of granules that the ants won't want
to cross

As others have mentioned, do not attempt to attack the ants at their
nest(s) - the holes in the ground or if you accidentally unearth part
of the colony. These bad boys panic so quickly when attacked that the
colony will split at the point of attack and you'll now have two
colonies with two queens to deal with instead of just one.

Good luck!

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

In article ,
says...
:) Do you have the white foot ants there? They will turn everything you
:) think you know about ants on it's head. They use multiple food
:) streams, eating different foods and shutting one down if baits start
:) killing the residents. They also seem to have an unlimited number of
:)
:)
I figure it just a matter of time before we start getting calls on
them.... did have a new species show up earlier this year and have now
seen it around Dallas several times this Summer...the Rover Ant...makes
the Little Black Ant look large. If ants are a yearly problem you might
look into having the foundation and entry points treated with Termidor.
Stops all ants from invading from 6 months to a year....hmm can't say
for sure it will stop Pharaoh ants since they are an inside ant, but
then again we rarely see Pharaohs anymore since Max force came on the
market a number of years back.
--
Lar

It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 11:29:53 -0400, Stubby
wrote:

:If you're cheap like me, half borax and half sugar will do the job.

I have some commercial stuff, a liquid which contains boric acid, but
I've found that the ants don't care for it. I mix a drop of it with a
drop of pancake syrup and they are much more interested.

I have the same problem every year, usually a bout in the winter and
another in the summer. I'm fighting off the summer invasion right now.
Every ant I see is a dead ant. When I see several, I wipe the area with
a sponge, because I'm convinced that the ants leave a trail that tells
other ants "hey, I like this place, I found a crumb of this, a few
molecules of that." This keeps them in check. I haven't found external
colonies, but maybe they are there. I suspect they are living within the
walls, however.

:Steve wrote:
: What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
: kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are more.
: They are the really small ones.
: I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just travel
: thru the wall to the kitchen?
:
: I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
: laying around.

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

Ants, Lots of Ants
 

While you're waiting for the bait to work, some odors repel ants, for a
while. They really seem to hate eucylptus, citrus and lavendar. I
sprinkled some essential oil on cotton balls and left them around the
windowsills they were crawling on, although an aroma diffuser might work
as well. I also sprayed a bit of lemon juice. This kept them at bay,
and it was fun to see them run for cover. But I did kill as many as I
could, though considering the numbers, that's a useless endeavor.

Kelly


wrote:
On Tue, 25 Jul 2006 13:40:35 -0500, Lar
wrote:


.hmm can't say
for sure it will stop Pharaoh ants since they are an inside ant, but
then again we rarely see Pharaohs anymore since Max force came on the
market a number of years back.

My experience with Pharaohs was when I moved into this house. They
were unstoppable it seemed. I threw everything in the book at them for
2 years.The problem was solved by actually treating the walls. I
punched holes and shot a now illegal persistant into every stud bay on
all the wet walls. That whacked them and knock wood, they have been
gone for 20 years.