Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

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http://members.cox.net/njnagel

wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:13:59 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

My advice, teach them to stop eating bread. Make a bait with about 1
part boric acid and 12 parts bread crumbs. You might not kill the
whole colony as the legend implies but you can make them stop eating
bread.
I have taught my ants to stop eating just about everything in my
house. Sugar was a slam dunk, Terro does that. Then I worked my way
through the proteins, dog food, bacon grease chicken fat etc You
will think you killed them all when they take the bait, but they will
be back, just a lot more selective in what they eat.
They still walk around here occasionally but I never see them swarming
on anything I have baited them with.

True story: I saw some little ants. Bought Terro. Put the UNOPENED
package on the counter. Ants disappeared and have not come back!!

Lou

In article , Nate Nagel wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

The other response suggesting to poison them with poisoned bait makes
sense to me.

In addition, I would not have any unsealed food or crumbs in that
breadbox.

Beyond that, I suspect a plastic item made of polyethylene (one variety
of which has recycling symbol of 2 in that triangle of 3 curved arrows),
smeared with mineral oil, will probably be unclimbable by insects. Maybe
put that on some sort of lid or tray to hold any oil running down.

Maybe better still, put the breadbox on something in a tray that has
mineral oil maybe 1/8 or 1/4 inch deep. I doubt insects can walk over or
swim though that.

But back to earlier - I would avoid having anything yummy-smelling
in any way where ants can smell the odor if they come around to explore
for food.

===========================================

Possible trap for insects and other similarly small critters, known to
work for slugs:

A small tray or deepish lid filled with beer or wine. Critters come in
for a drink, and drink themselves to death. Sometimes they decide to
take a swim in it, and alcohol is absorbed through their skins to an
extent that kills them in a few minutes.
Beware - the alcohol may evaporate enough to make the brew non-lethal
in a day or so or less, though a few critters (especially slugs) will swim
into beer a couple to a few days old and not come out alive.

- Don Klipstein )

On Apr 14, 9:13*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. *Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. *Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? *Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. *Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. *Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. *I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) *No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

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We've been keeping ants away with Hot Shot Liquid Ant Bait. You want
to get them to take poison back to nest to kill colony otherwise if
you keep them away from one food item they'll be foraging around for
others.
Also a good idea to treat house foundation outside.

Nate Nagel wrote:
Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate


I would check the nearest door and windows, and foundation cracks.
Seems this is nest-building time, and food on a countertop definitely
draws ants. An air-tight container for bread would help. Easiest fix
is to use a few drops of boric acid ant bait near the bread container.
In Florida, most people I know keep bread and cakes in the fridge
because ants are persistent year-around. Just treated a column of ants
in our atrium, as they were marching in the direction of my kitchen )
Most hardware stores have liquid ant bait, like Terro, which has
always worked well for me.

I've had the best luck for getting rid of *all* insects with sticky insect
traps, fly strips, sticky mouse traps, etc.

I'll put the sticky fly strips down low in corners and they catch all sorts
of crawling insectsm spiders, etc. Up high and flying insects, especially
near outside lights.

The best time is right now - Spring. Place them all around the house inside
and out, up and down. Then the insects you catch will not be able to
reproduce, thus exponentially fewer insects around in the summer/fall.

The only problem with these is the wind can blow them against your outside
walls, then the sticky stuff will get all over the wall and it is hard to
get off. They dry out soon if in the direct sun. And don't put any low if
you have curious dogs or you will be pulling sticky stuff of their mouth!


"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could set
it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the breadbox?
Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing some work in
there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would involve pulling
the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where they're coming from,
although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside a corner cabinet with a
lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be fun to take apart.) No food
is stored in that cabinet though so that makes no sense.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

On Apr 14, 9:13*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox?

You could hang it from the ceiling on greased monofilament.

Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there.

"Clean" is a relative term.

I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. *I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) *No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

Insects are like water leaks; where you see them is not necessarily
where they're coming from (or going).

Ants are not the dominant species on this planet for nothing.

Generally, by the time a homeowner sees ants, they've been around for
some time, and perhaps a colony has grown so large relative to the
available food supply (or is experiencing other "stress") that the
colony "splits".

As a former PCO treating for ants I would use (1) Talstar, or (2)
Tempo (WP or SC), and maybe Delta Dust, all available to homeowners
without license.

(In the late '90s) I would shoot your kitchen for about $60, w/o
warranty, or your entire structure (or whatever part of the structure
is yours) for about $240 with a 6 month re-treat warranty that you
won't see ants anywhere inside 30 days after treatment.

Often if not usually there is access to squirt under cabinets above
the kick plate.

Just because you don't see ants is no evidence they are not where you
can't see them, which is why I am not a disciple of "baiting".
-----

- gpsman

On Apr 15, 10:21*am, gpsman wrote:
On Apr 14, 9:13*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:

Have heard sugar plus borax! Ants take it back to nest and it poisons
them..

I'd suggest a big tray of Clorox bleach, they are unlikely
to be able to traverse that.

If you would like some advice on killing ants and ant
colonies, I'd be happy to share what worked for me. But, you
didn't ask.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they
seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the
counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something
that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into
the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up
after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned
areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see
where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out
from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure
that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet
though so that
makes no sense.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

stan wrote:
On Apr 15, 10:21 am, gpsman wrote:
On Apr 14, 9:13 pm, Nate Nagel wrote:

Have heard sugar plus borax! Ants take it back to nest and it poisons
them..
They won't take granular borax - Terro and similar products are liquid,
with sugar, water and borax.

LouB wrote:
wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:13:59 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter.
Don't see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I
could set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into
the breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after
doing some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas
would involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see
where they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out
from inside a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm
sure that'll be fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that
cabinet though so that makes no sense.

nate

My advice, teach them to stop eating bread. Make a bait with about 1
part boric acid and 12 parts bread crumbs. You might not kill the
whole colony as the legend implies but you can make them stop eating
bread. I have taught my ants to stop eating just about everything in my
house. Sugar was a slam dunk, Terro does that. Then I worked my way
through the proteins, dog food, bacon grease chicken fat etc You
will think you killed them all when they take the bait, but they will
be back, just a lot more selective in what they eat.
They still walk around here occasionally but I never see them swarming
on anything I have baited them with.

True story: I saw some little ants. Bought Terro. Put the UNOPENED
package on the counter. Ants disappeared and have not come back!!

Lou
They musta' heard about it on the internet - crawling on yer' network
cable, perhaps? )

wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:13:59 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

My advice, teach them to stop eating bread. Make a bait with about 1
part boric acid and 12 parts bread crumbs. You might not kill the
whole colony as the legend implies but you can make them stop eating
bread.
I have taught my ants to stop eating just about everything in my
house. Sugar was a slam dunk, Terro does that. Then I worked my way
through the proteins, dog food, bacon grease chicken fat etc You
will think you killed them all when they take the bait, but they will
be back, just a lot more selective in what they eat.
They still walk around here occasionally but I never see them swarming
on anything I have baited them with.

I'm glad (or hopeful) you aren't teaching school. Terro killed the
sugar-eating ants. The quit eating your bread with boric acid because
they don't eat boric acid dry...a little Terro mixed with fatty food
will kill them because they take it back to the nest....they aren't
running to the neighbor's for an order of salami without Terro )

If you leave chocolate cake on the counter, make sure none of the
"crumbs" are moving )

wrote:
LouB wrote:
wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:13:59 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to
be specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter.
Don't see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that
I could set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into
the breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after
doing some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas
would involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see
where they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out
from inside a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm
sure that'll be fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that
cabinet though so that makes no sense.

nate

My advice, teach them to stop eating bread. Make a bait with about 1
part boric acid and 12 parts bread crumbs. You might not kill the
whole colony as the legend implies but you can make them stop eating
bread. I have taught my ants to stop eating just about everything in my
house. Sugar was a slam dunk, Terro does that. Then I worked my way
through the proteins, dog food, bacon grease chicken fat etc You
will think you killed them all when they take the bait, but they will
be back, just a lot more selective in what they eat.
They still walk around here occasionally but I never see them swarming
on anything I have baited them with.

True story: I saw some little ants. Bought Terro. Put the UNOPENED
package on the counter. Ants disappeared and have not come back!!

Lou
They musta' heard about it on the internet - crawling on yer' network
cable, perhaps? )

LOL

Lou

On Apr 14, 8:13*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. *Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. *Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? *Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. *Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. *Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. *I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) *No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

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Spray any nearby window/trim crevaces with Raid ant and roach spray,
it works great for me every spring. I see the ants in early spring,
after spraying I see numerous dead ants for a couple days, then no
more ants at all. The ants like to walk crevaces near trim so hit
crevace between cabinets and wall too or any passages within
cabinets. Also do outside house perimeter.

"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could set
it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the breadbox?
Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing some work in
there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would involve pulling
the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where they're coming from,
although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside a corner cabinet with a
lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be fun to take apart.) No food
is stored in that cabinet though so that makes no sense.

nate

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replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

I have used those little square flat poison things. The ants think it's
food, and take it back to the hive. They are cheap and for me they worked.
All enclosed, safe.

I've successfully stopped ants from coming into my kitchen by making
an unbroken line of liquid dish soap around the perimeter. Dish soap
is
cheap, alkaline/basic, and ants are acidic. Drop a bit on an ant
sometime, it'll kill 'em dead. Bonus is that it also cleans up
whatever
the scent trail is that they've left behind Apologies for my highly
scientific language there, heh.



On Apr 14, 9:13*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. *Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. *Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? *Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. *Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. *Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. *I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) *No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel

wrote in message
m...
wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:13:59 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

My advice, teach them to stop eating bread. Make a bait with about 1
part boric acid and 12 parts bread crumbs. You might not kill the
whole colony as the legend implies but you can make them stop eating
bread.
I have taught my ants to stop eating just about everything in my
house. Sugar was a slam dunk, Terro does that. Then I worked my way
through the proteins, dog food, bacon grease chicken fat etc You
will think you killed them all when they take the bait, but they will
be back, just a lot more selective in what they eat.
They still walk around here occasionally but I never see them swarming
on anything I have baited them with.

I'm glad (or hopeful) you aren't teaching school. Terro killed the
sugar-eating ants. The quit eating your bread with boric acid because
they don't eat boric acid dry...a little Terro mixed with fatty food
will kill them because they take it back to the nest....they aren't
running to the neighbor's for an order of salami without Terro )

If you leave chocolate cake on the counter, make sure none of the
"crumbs" are moving )

What is Terro?

"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

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http://members.cox.net/njnagel

An old RVer trick is to sprinkle Comet or Ajax cleanser (or whatever brand
you have) around the trailer jack and/or wheels. Supposedly the ants won't
cross it. I've had mixed results but a light dusting might at least reduce
the ant problem and it's likely you already have some cleanser on hand.
I've also had good results by spraying Black Flag or Raid along the
baseboards and counters etc but I always remove the dog food and water first
and never spray near where the dogs eat. The bug spray seems to be good for
about two weeks or so.

wrote in message
...

My advice, teach them to stop eating bread. Make a bait with about 1
part boric acid and 12 parts bread crumbs. You might not kill the
whole colony as the legend implies but you can make them stop eating
bread.
I have taught my ants to stop eating just about everything in my
house.

When you can teach them to play basketball, then you can start crowing.

In article , Nate Nagel wrote:
Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house.

You can create a moderately effective barrier with some Windex.

However, chances are the ants will only redeploy to other
sources of food and/or water.

Watch them, find a trail and put down some bait in order
to destroy their nest.


--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:13:59 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

My advice, teach them to stop eating bread. Make a bait with about 1
part boric acid and 12 parts bread crumbs. You might not kill the
whole colony as the legend implies but you can make them stop eating
bread.
I have taught my ants to stop eating just about everything in my
house. Sugar was a slam dunk, Terro does that. Then I worked my way
through the proteins, dog food, bacon grease chicken fat etc You
will think you killed them all when they take the bait, but they will
be back, just a lot more selective in what they eat.
They still walk around here occasionally but I never see them swarming
on anything I have baited them with.

I like your idea, but where does one find boric acid? The Orange
Colored Store has no idea it exists. the Real Hardware Stores close at
6. Is this something that can be mail-ordered?

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:13:59 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

My advice, teach them to stop eating bread. Make a bait with about 1
part boric acid and 12 parts bread crumbs. You might not kill the
whole colony as the legend implies but you can make them stop eating
bread. I have taught my ants to stop eating just about everything in my
house. Sugar was a slam dunk, Terro does that. Then I worked my way
through the proteins, dog food, bacon grease chicken fat etc You
will think you killed them all when they take the bait, but they will
be back, just a lot more selective in what they eat.
They still walk around here occasionally but I never see them swarming
on anything I have baited them with.

I like your idea, but where does one find boric acid? The Orange Colored
Store has no idea it exists. the Real Hardware Stores close at 6. Is
this something that can be mail-ordered?

nate

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you asked the wrong idiot. they have it. it's called roach powder. you have
to read the label.

In article , Nate Nagel wrote:

I like your idea, but where does one find boric acid? The Orange
Colored Store has no idea it exists. the Real Hardware Stores close at
6. Is this something that can be mail-ordered?

Drugstores like Walgreens.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In article ,
Nate Nagel wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate

They don't walk on water. When ants invade my kitchen, I put the cat
food bowls in a larger bowl with some water in it. A moat, if you will.

In article , Smitty Two wrote:

They don't walk on water. When ants invade my kitchen, I put the cat
food bowls in a larger bowl with some water in it. A moat, if you will.

Your cats do walk on water? ;-)

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nate Nagel wrote:
wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:13:59 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter.
Don't see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I
could set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into
the breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after
doing some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas
would involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see
where they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out
from inside a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm
sure that'll be fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that
cabinet though so that makes no sense.

nate

My advice, teach them to stop eating bread. Make a bait with about 1
part boric acid and 12 parts bread crumbs. You might not kill the
whole colony as the legend implies but you can make them stop eating
bread. I have taught my ants to stop eating just about everything in my
house. Sugar was a slam dunk, Terro does that. Then I worked my way
through the proteins, dog food, bacon grease chicken fat etc You
will think you killed them all when they take the bait, but they will
be back, just a lot more selective in what they eat.
They still walk around here occasionally but I never see them swarming
on anything I have baited them with.

I like your idea, but where does one find boric acid? The Orange
Colored Store has no idea it exists. the Real Hardware Stores close at
6. Is this something that can be mail-ordered?

nate


try the detergent aisle at the grocery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax

On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:13:59 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate


Clean your surface countertops with vinegar. Ants hate to walk on
chalk so you can draw a circle around the breadbox with a piece of
chalk. But, get some Tero so they take the poison bait back to the
nest.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:13:59 -0400, Nate Nagel
wrote:

Am starting to have problems with ants in my kitchen, they seem to be
specifically going after the breadbox which sits on the counter. Don't
see them anywhere else in the house. Is there something that I could
set it on that they wouldn't be able to crawl up to get into the
breadbox? Kitchen is pretty clean, having just cleaned up after doing
some work in there. Cleaning up any currently uncleaned areas would
involve pulling the bottoms out of cabinets etc. Can't see where
they're coming from, although I thought I saw one crawl out from inside
a corner cabinet with a lazy susan in it (great. I'm sure that'll be
fun to take apart.) No food is stored in that cabinet though so that
makes no sense.

nate


Clean your surface countertops with vinegar. Ants hate to walk on
chalk so you can draw a circle around the breadbox with a piece of
chalk. But, get some Tero so they take the poison bait back to the
nest.

Terro is definitely the way to go. I bought those worthless squares years
ago, and while they do NOTHING to kill the ants, they are a great Terro
delivery system. Just a tiny drop of Terro on each opening and on the top
and your ants will be gone in 24 hours. Different types of ants (tiny red
ones, little black ones, big black ones, etc.) show up at different times of
the year and in different places in the house (kitchen, bathroom, porch) but
one little square with Terro on it does the trick. The kitchen square will
be set up by May 1st, in time for the small black ones, who are the first to
arrive.

Nate Nagel wrote:
Malcolm Hoar wrote:
In article , Nate Nagel
wrote:

I like your idea, but where does one find boric acid? The Orange
Colored Store has no idea it exists. the Real Hardware Stores close
at 6. Is this something that can be mail-ordered?

Drugstores like Walgreens.

Hmm, don't have one real convenient to me, will have to try CVS though.
(there IS one near the Orange Colored Store, but you'd have to pay me a
lot of money to go back there today. It's across the street from a post
office, and I forgot that today was tax day... Charlie Foxtrot doesn't
even begin to describe the madness that was Lee Highway.)

nate



Follow up:

I started off by buying some fresh "ant baits" from the Orange Colored
Store, in the absence of any boric acid. Set breadbox on three upended
rocks glasses to make it a little harder for ants to get in. Ant
population noticeably decreased (and they stayed out of the breadbox)
but every time I looked there were still 2-3 on the counter at any given
time, looking around for something to eat. Had to hit 3-4 drug stores
before I found one selling boric acid but finally got some. Mixed up
some cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and boric acid into a bottle cap and
set it on the counter. 2 days later ants were 100% gone and I haven't
seen them back since. thanks guys, this is why I post.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Nate Nagel wrote:
Nate Nagel wrote:
Malcolm Hoar wrote:
In article , Nate Nagel
wrote:

I like your idea, but where does one find boric acid? The Orange
Colored Store has no idea it exists. the Real Hardware Stores close
at 6. Is this something that can be mail-ordered?

Drugstores like Walgreens.

Hmm, don't have one real convenient to me, will have to try CVS
though. (there IS one near the Orange Colored Store, but you'd have
to pay me a lot of money to go back there today. It's across the
street from a post office, and I forgot that today was tax day...
Charlie Foxtrot doesn't even begin to describe the madness that was
Lee Highway.)

nate



Follow up:

I started off by buying some fresh "ant baits" from the Orange Colored
Store, in the absence of any boric acid. Set breadbox on three upended
rocks glasses to make it a little harder for ants to get in. Ant
population noticeably decreased (and they stayed out of the breadbox)
but every time I looked there were still 2-3 on the counter at any given
time, looking around for something to eat. Had to hit 3-4 drug stores
before I found one selling boric acid but finally got some. Mixed up
some cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and boric acid into a bottle cap and
set it on the counter. 2 days later ants were 100% gone and I haven't
seen them back since. thanks guys, this is why I post.

nate

If the ants dropped a few crumbs of boric acid, it might help keep
roaches out. Or perhaps they shared ) Our $500 roach treatment was
peanut butter and probably boric acid.

wrote:

If the ants dropped a few crumbs of boric acid, it might help keep
roaches out. Or perhaps they shared ) Our $500 roach treatment was
peanut butter and probably boric acid.

Cats kill roaches (they can see them in the dark).

But getting a cat to deal with the roaches sometimes substitutes a roach
problem for a flea problem.

But cats can do things other than catch roaches. For instance, they can,
er... sleep. But they do that VERY well. You'll be proud.

Of course there was Towser, who, in her career as mouser-in-chief of the
Glenturret distillery (makers of "Famous Grouse" - yum), caught 28,899 mice
during her 23-year employment.

HeyBub wrote:
wrote:
If the ants dropped a few crumbs of boric acid, it might help keep
roaches out. Or perhaps they shared ) Our $500 roach treatment was
peanut butter and probably boric acid.

Cats kill roaches (they can see them in the dark).

But getting a cat to deal with the roaches sometimes substitutes a roach
problem for a flea problem.

But cats can do things other than catch roaches. For instance, they can,
er... sleep. But they do that VERY well. You'll be proud.

Of course there was Towser, who, in her career as mouser-in-chief of the
Glenturret distillery (makers of "Famous Grouse" - yum), caught 28,899 mice
during her 23-year employment.


What a cat! Could catch mice and count to a very high number.

In article , LouB wrote:

What a cat! Could catch mice and count to a very high number.

Come to think of it... the correct answer to the original question
is probably ant-eaters. Anyone know what they're like as pets?

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Malcolm Hoar wrote:
In article , LouB wrote:

What a cat! Could catch mice and count to a very high number.

Come to think of it... the correct answer to the original question
is probably ant-eaters. Anyone know what they're like as pets?


They lick a lot.

TDD

Malcolm Hoar wrote:
In article , LouB
wrote:

What a cat! Could catch mice and count to a very high number.

Come to think of it... the correct answer to the original question
is probably ant-eaters. Anyone know what they're like as pets?


Horned toads also eat ants and generally stay out of the way. Note, this is
not "horny" toads.

LouB wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
wrote:
If the ants dropped a few crumbs of boric acid, it might help keep
roaches out. Or perhaps they shared ) Our $500 roach treatment
was peanut butter and probably boric acid.

Cats kill roaches (they can see them in the dark).

But getting a cat to deal with the roaches sometimes substitutes a
roach problem for a flea problem.

But cats can do things other than catch roaches. For instance, they
can, er... sleep. But they do that VERY well. You'll be proud.

Of course there was Towser, who, in her career as mouser-in-chief of
the Glenturret distillery (makers of "Famous Grouse" - yum), caught
28,899 mice during her 23-year employment.


What a cat! Could catch mice and count to a very high number.

Cats can count. If you ever see a momma cat count her babies, you'll know.

But you raise an interesting question:: can a cat count up to 30,000?

In article ,
"HeyBub" wrote:

LouB wrote:
HeyBub wrote:
wrote:
If the ants dropped a few crumbs of boric acid, it might help keep
roaches out. Or perhaps they shared ) Our $500 roach treatment
was peanut butter and probably boric acid.

Cats kill roaches (they can see them in the dark).

But getting a cat to deal with the roaches sometimes substitutes a
roach problem for a flea problem.

But cats can do things other than catch roaches. For instance, they
can, er... sleep. But they do that VERY well. You'll be proud.

Of course there was Towser, who, in her career as mouser-in-chief of
the Glenturret distillery (makers of "Famous Grouse" - yum), caught
28,899 mice during her 23-year employment.


What a cat! Could catch mice and count to a very high number.

Cats can count. If you ever see a momma cat count her babies, you'll know.

But you raise an interesting question:: can a cat count up to 30,000?

Sure. But they don't have that many fingers, so you have to provide an
abacus for them.

On Apr 15, 3:04*pm, "
wrote:
Matt Dunphy wrote:
I've successfully stopped ants from coming into my kitchen by making
an unbroken line of liquid dish soap around the perimeter. Dish soap
is
cheap, alkaline/basic, and ants are acidic. Drop a bit on an ant
sometime, it'll kill 'em dead. Bonus is that it also cleans up
whatever
the scent trail is that they've left behind Apologies for my highly
scientific language there, heh.

You might be drowning beneficial critters, like earthworms. *Not that it
matters ) *U of Florida has a test for mole crickets (ugly!) by
pouring a couple of gallons of soapy solution on a small area of sod.
The mole crickets are supposed to surface because they are drowning and
struggling for air. *Well, lots of other things surface, too. *The
things you discover doing lawn care for a condo! )

A few drops of Terro take care of my ants for the year and don't kill
anything else....there are lots of critters that are pests only when
they come indoors. *I don't like killing more than I must. *Ants help
pollinate stuff.

I don't use much soap. It's literally a line of dishsoap along the
perimeter
of my tiled kitchen floor. Nothing's going to drown.