I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

On Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:42:44 -0700 (PDT), ransley
wrote:

I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

We had that problem (they even got *inside* the molasses bottles) the first
couple of years we were in this house (new construction). I spread ant
killer, outside, twice a year for two years, then once a year. No problems.

On 4/17/2011 7:42 PM, ransley wrote:
I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

I have the little *******s infiltrating our dishwasher, even when it's
*closed*, and the dishwasher and sink are in an island in the middle of the
kitchen, smack in the middle of a very large concrete slab, surrounded on all
sides by ceramic tile. And they're not getting to the island *over* the tile;
they're following some subterranean path. Finding and eliminating (or baiting)
their path of entry is virtually impossible unless I remove the island (or the
flooring inside)... not fun.

ransley wrote:
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

Think cat.

As for the ants, horned toads eat them. And the horned toad generally stays
out of the way - you won't know it's there.

On Apr 17, 7:42*pm, ransley wrote:
I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

Gee - I never thought of you as an especially sweet type of person,
based on your posts.

On 4/17/2011 8:42 PM, ransley wrote:
I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

Put as much of the cereals, sweets, fatty foods in sealed containers.
Clean cupboards well. I used to get one or two mice indoors in very
late fall...their favorite foods were flour, cereal and dog chows. Ants
loved the dog food, too. Just a few crumbs around the dog's bowl would
attract a lot of ants. I used to keep most of my pasta in glass
cannisters - safe storage, and kind of pretty, too. Nuts and beans in
decorative tins. Flour and sugar in glass cannisters.

On 4/17/2011 8:59 PM, Malcolm Hoar wrote:
In , wrote:
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief.

Don't celebrate yet :-(

That doesn't sound like enough time to completely kill
the entire colony. At least, it usually takes me several
days or maybe a week once I've found a suitably
delicious bait. Torro generally works best for me but
that depends on species, climate, other food sources,
and more.

Torro always did a great job up north (FLorida not as easy). Don't need
to worry about entire colonies, just those that forage in the house. A
little dab of bait alongside their trail is very effective.

And, whatever you do, don't put away those bait traps
yet. Leave them out -- chances are you will see more
visitors before you can declare victory.

All this in my not insignificant experience with the
damn things.

In article ,
Steve Turner wrote:



I have the little *******s infiltrating our dishwasher, even when it's
*closed*, and the dishwasher and sink are in an island in the middle of the
kitchen, smack in the middle of a very large concrete slab, surrounded on all
sides by ceramic tile. And they're not getting to the island *over* the
tile;
they're following some subterranean path. Finding and eliminating (or
baiting)
their path of entry is virtually impossible unless I remove the island (or
the
flooring inside)... not fun.

They're probably rappelling down from the ceiling, using those bits of
dental floss you leave lying around.

On Apr 17, 9:43*pm, "
wrote:
On Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:42:44 -0700 (PDT), ransley
wrote:

I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

We had that problem (they even got *inside* the molasses bottles) the first
couple of years we were in this house (new construction). *I spread ant
killer, outside, twice a year for two years, then once a year. *No problems. *

Honey mixed with boric acid.

Had, past tense. Seen a few this year. I used liquid ant
bait from Gardens Alive (dot com).

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


"ransley" wrote in message
...
I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen
for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no
luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they
lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my
cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my
chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them
both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed
at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for
active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the
attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which
is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for
the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I
dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and
happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal
out of the
deep freeze!

Many dish washers, you can open the door, and there are two
mounting screws at the top corners. Might be able to shift
the DW out enough to snake a couple of ant baits in there.

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


"Steve Turner" wrote in
message ...

I have the little *******s infiltrating our dishwasher, even
when it's
*closed*, and the dishwasher and sink are in an island in
the middle of the
kitchen, smack in the middle of a very large concrete slab,
surrounded on all
sides by ceramic tile. And they're not getting to the
island *over* the tile;
they're following some subterranean path. Finding and
eliminating (or baiting)
their path of entry is virtually impossible unless I remove
the island (or the
flooring inside)... not fun.

Ransley, does, however, have ANTics.

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


"hr(bob) " wrote in
message
...

Gee - I never thought of you as an especially sweet type of
person,
based on your posts.

On Apr 17, 8:43*pm, "
wrote:
On Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:42:44 -0700 (PDT), ransley
wrote:

I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

We had that problem (they even got *inside* the molasses bottles) the first
couple of years we were in this house (new construction). *I spread ant
killer, outside, twice a year for two years, then once a year. *No problems. *

They were in my honey, maple syrup, cereal, on my computer, chair, now
1 day and a half later no ants.

On Apr 17, 8:53*pm, Steve Turner
wrote:
On 4/17/2011 7:42 PM, ransley wrote:

I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

I have the little *******s infiltrating our dishwasher, even when it's
*closed*, and the dishwasher and sink are in an island in the middle of the
kitchen, smack in the middle of a very large concrete slab, surrounded on all
sides by ceramic tile. *And they're not getting to the island *over* the tile;
they're following some subterranean path. *Finding and eliminating (or baiting)
their path of entry is virtually impossible unless I remove the island (or the
flooring inside)... not fun.

Put bait where you see them , and under the sink and inside the
island.

On Apr 17, 9:21*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
ransley wrote:
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

Think cat.

As for the ants, horned toads eat them. And the horned toad generally stays
out of the way - you won't know it's there.

Im so alergic to cats if I go in a house with cats I know in usualy 30
minutes, i would need adrenalin if I lived with a cat i get so sick.
So cats hate me and I hate cats. My dogs are to old to care about
mice. Maybe a Rat Terrier, or a 12 ga.

On Apr 18, 12:17*am, wrote:
On Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:42:44 -0700 (PDT), ransley





wrote:
I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

I think virtually all of these baits use the same poison (boric acid
by a number of different trade names). The trick is to get the ants to
eat it, as you have found. Florida ants are tough and I have found,
figure out what they are eating and bait them with that, 12 parts
attractant 1 part boric acid.
I haven't seen an ant that eats sweets for 10 years. I went through a
series of various protein baits. They finally got to the point that
all they would eat was dog food that the dog had chewed on. I baited
them with that and I haven't seen them since.

If its boric acid, then just dusting inside cabinets should help.

On Apr 18, 5:34*am, Michael B wrote:
On Apr 17, 9:43*pm, "





wrote:
On Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:42:44 -0700 (PDT), ransley
wrote:

I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

We had that problem (they even got *inside* the molasses bottles) the first
couple of years we were in this house (new construction). *I spread ant
killer, outside, twice a year for two years, then once a year. *No problems. *

Honey mixed with boric acid.

I thought boric acid had to stay as a powder and when it got wet it
was usless?

On Apr 18, 7:11*am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
Ransley, does, however, have ANTics.

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

"hr(bob) " wrote in
...

Gee - I never thought of you as an especially sweet type of
person,
based on your posts.

I sure do

On 4/18/2011 7:34 AM, ransley wrote:

Honey mixed with boric acid.

I thought boric acid had to stay as a powder and when it got wet it
was usless?

Nope. That's the active ingredient in Terro nowadays. Used to be
arsenic, which worked really well, but they switched to boric acid
years back and it apparently works just as well or nearly as well as
the arsenic did.

ransley wrote:

I thought boric acid had to stay as a powder and when it got wet it
was usless?

The idea is to get them to eat the boric acid, which they they regurgitate
to feed the queen, who subsequently dies.

Jon

On 4/18/2011 8:30 AM, ransley wrote:
On Apr 17, 9:21 pm, wrote:
ransley wrote:
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

Think cat.

As for the ants, horned toads eat them. And the horned toad generally stays
out of the way - you won't know it's there.

Im so alergic to cats if I go in a house with cats I know in usualy 30
minutes, i would need adrenalin if I lived with a cat i get so sick.
So cats hate me and I hate cats. My dogs are to old to care about
mice. Maybe a Rat Terrier, or a 12 ga.

Schnauzers are "ratters"...our first schnauzer killed a mouse when he
was only 6 mos old. He was sitting proudly in the kitchen doorway with
his prize when we came home that evening.

ransley wrote:
On Apr 17, 9:21 pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
ransley wrote:
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of
the deep freeze!

Think cat.

As for the ants, horned toads eat them. And the horned toad
generally stays out of the way - you won't know it's there.

Im so alergic to cats if I go in a house with cats I know in usualy 30
minutes, i would need adrenalin if I lived with a cat i get so sick.

You can get shots and undergo an extensive desensitization regimen.

So cats hate me and I hate cats.

All the more reason to live with two or three.

God Kill the Queen!

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


"Jon Danniken" wrote
in message ...

The idea is to get them to eat the boric acid,
which they they regurgitate
to feed the queen, who subsequently dies.

Jon

On 4/18/2011 2:44 PM, HeyBub wrote:
ransley wrote:
On Apr 17, 9:21 pm, wrote:
ransley wrote:
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of
the deep freeze!

Think cat.

As for the ants, horned toads eat them. And the horned toad
generally stays out of the way - you won't know it's there.

Im so alergic to cats if I go in a house with cats I know in usualy 30
minutes, i would need adrenalin if I lived with a cat i get so sick.

You can get shots and undergo an extensive desensitization regimen.


Spend hundreds of dollars and screw up my body chemistry just so I can
have an expensive and smelly ****-producing predator sharing my roof?
Yeah, that makes a whole bunch of sense. Any competent allergist will
tell you- the best cure for allergies, when possible, is to simply avoid
the trigger substance.

Standard disclaimer- I like cats. Next to 18-25 year old human
females, they are my favorite living thing to watch.

--
aem sends...

On Apr 18, 1:44*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
ransley wrote:
On Apr 17, 9:21 pm, "HeyBub" wrote:
ransley wrote:
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of
the deep freeze!

Think cat.

As for the ants, horned toads eat them. And the horned toad
generally stays out of the way - you won't know it's there.

Im so alergic to cats if I go in a house with cats I know in usualy 30
minutes, i would need adrenalin if I lived with a cat i get so sick.

You can get shots and undergo an extensive desensitization regimen.

So cats hate me and I hate cats.

All the more reason to live with two or three.

Na , its more fun hating cats

Got to admit, first time in days I've laughed out
loud. So, so true. I had a cat for a while. I wanted
it on the ground, it wanted to be on the counters,
table, computer, etc. Finally it went back to the
Humane Society.

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


"aemeijers" wrote in message
...

Spend hundreds of dollars and screw up my
body chemistry just so I can have an expensive
and smelly ****-producing predator sharing my
roof? Yeah, that makes a whole bunch of sense.

--
aem sends...

aemeijers wrote:

You can get shots and undergo an extensive desensitization regimen.


Spend hundreds of dollars and screw up my body chemistry just so I can
have an expensive and smelly ****-producing predator sharing my roof?
Yeah, that makes a whole bunch of sense.

Well, I wouldn't put it exactly that way, but, uh ... yeah.

Stormin Mormon wrote:
Got to admit, first time in days I've laughed out
loud. So, so true. I had a cat for a while. I wanted
it on the ground, it wanted to be on the counters,
table, computer, etc. Finally it went back to the
Humane Society.


Uh, that's what cats do.

They can dust in place you can't easily reach.

On 4/17/2011 9:37 PM, wrote:
On 4/17/2011 8:42 PM, ransley wrote:
I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

Put as much of the cereals, sweets, fatty foods in sealed containers.
Clean cupboards well. I used to get one or two mice indoors in very late
fall...their favorite foods were flour, cereal and dog chows. Ants loved
the dog food, too. Just a few crumbs around the dog's bowl would attract
a lot of ants. I used to keep most of my pasta in glass cannisters -
safe storage, and kind of pretty, too. Nuts and beans in decorative
tins. Flour and sugar in glass cannisters.

Sorry for the email normin. Oops. :-)

That's been my experience with ants in the house. There is something
they like. Might be a lot of things but the OP should try an eliminate
the source of food for the ants or they will eventually always come
back. I don't know if sweet ants eat wood but even if there is wet
rotting wood ants will eat that too. We had a bad ant problem in our
last house and it turned out they were eating the framing of the house
where water got in and rotted the framing. We'd kill them all and they
would come back a few months later.

Jim

On Apr 18, 8:30*am, ransley wrote:
On Apr 17, 9:21*pm, "HeyBub" wrote:

ransley wrote:
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

Think cat.

As for the ants, horned toads eat them. And the horned toad generally stays
out of the way - you won't know it's there.

Im so alergic to cats if I go in a house with cats I know in usualy 30
minutes, i would need adrenalin if I lived with a cat i get so sick.
So cats hate me and I hate cats. My dogs are to old to care about
mice. Maybe a Rat Terrier, or a 12 ga.

You need defenestration of the causative agent.

On Apr 18, 8:55*pm, JimT wrote:
We had a bad ant problem in our
last house and it turned out they were eating the framing of the house
where water got in and rotted the framing. We'd kill them all and they
would come back a few months later.

Jim

That would be carpenter ants. Likely with a tree riddled with them
nearby.

On 4/18/2011 8:26 PM, Michael B wrote:
On Apr 18, 8:55 pm, wrote:
We had a bad ant problem in our
last house and it turned out they were eating the framing of the house
where water got in and rotted the framing. We'd kill them all and they
would come back a few months later.

Jim

That would be carpenter ants. Likely with a tree riddled with them
nearby.

Probably a species of carpenter ants. After some research I discovered
ants don't actually eat wood. They burrow in to look for termites. I'm
glad I sold that house. Supposedly the termites had been exterminated.

Jim

On Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:42:44 -0700 (PDT), ransley
wrote:

I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

I used to get ants in my California house every fall. The
small, black Argentinian variety.

After taking some classes in natural resources, and learning
about "R-rated" species of critters, and then reading about
these specific ants, I developed a new strategy that has
kept my house ant-free for six years running, now.

These ants are not like most other ants--they don't fly to
breed, and the colonies can have any number of queens. When
the colony or its territory gets to be too crowded, some
queens will peel off and go some distance away to establish
a new colony. But the new colonies are not really
distinct--the stay in touch, and collectively act as a
"super colony".

R-rated species tend to eat themselves out of house and
home. Deer, for example, tend to increase in population, to
the point of exeeding the carrying capacity of their
environment, and then, the population crashes. After forage
bounces back, they start the process all over again.

With these ants, small amounts of food left in a tin-can in
the garbage can be a huge amount of bounty for them, causing
their population to grow exponentially, and then they go
looking for more nesting grounds (like the walls of your
house).

My strategy with the ants was simple: they get *nothing*
from me! I thoroughly cleaned the house, and most
importantly, the garbage and other waste cans. Before
anthing goes in a waste can, it gets thoroughly washed,
dried, and inspected, just like the dishes. Absolutely
nothing that could balloon the population of these ants is
made available to them.

With every year that ticks by since I started this program,
I become more convinced that these ants probably couldn't
live in this California environment if there were no people
here.

My two next-door neighbors have started doing the same, and
they have gotten the same results.

In short, for sixteen years of using poison, I had ants
every fall. After six years of keeping food away from them,
no more ants. I do see them occasionally in the yards, but
they are no longer *everywhere* in the yards. And even in
the yards, they are getting rarer ever year.

Of course, if you have young children, you'll probably not
be able to run a tight-enough ship to make this work, unless
you only let them eat in the bathtub.

--
croy

In article ,
wrote:

We always hear about Touser the wonder cat before these conversations
are over but the thing to remember is he never ran out of rats to
kill.
If you want "wild kingdom" in your home with mutilated rodent bodies
all over, by all means get a cat. If you really want to get rid of
rodents, fix your perimeter problems and trap out all that are inside.
Then work on the outside to make it less habitable for rodents. First
thing ... stop feeding them.

Agreed, sort of. It's kind of hard to make the outside inhospitable to
gophers.

On 4/18/2011 7:40 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:35:53 -0700, wrote:

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 07:30:15 -0700, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:

ransley wrote:

I thought boric acid had to stay as a powder and when it got wet it
was usless?

The idea is to get them to eat the boric acid, which they they regurgitate
to feed the queen, who subsequently dies.

My experience is that ants don't eat boric acid. It can be mixed in a
wet mixture, made into 'cupcakes' ( strawberry preserves, flour, boric
acid -- set in a bottle cap behind dark secret places.

Just for giggles, dust some dry boric acid on top and around the trap.

Walking on the acid burns the exoskeleton, causing damage (cuts)
enough, the critters dehydrate. Taking the acid home they kill others.
Best I can tell.

I think you are confusing boric acid with diotamaceus earth

Both have similar effect on insects. Roaches avoid the dry powder boric
acid, which makes it a good perimeter treatment, but will eat stuff
(like peanut butter) mixed with b.a.

On 4/18/2011 8:55 PM, JimT wrote:
On 4/17/2011 9:37 PM, wrote:
On 4/17/2011 8:42 PM, ransley wrote:
I been fighting sweet ants, those little ones, in my kitchen for
years, trying spraying and Tat and Ortho and baits with no luck, this
year they are real, real bad getting everywhere as when they lay their
scent they all seem to come back forever. I mean my cubbords, re
sealed cereal boxes, my table, chair counters, me in my chair ect.
Yesterday I got Grants baits and Combat baits and put them both out at
maybe 5pm, I had both brands next to each other and noticed at 6pm a
feeding frenzy on the Combat bait, I checked both boxes for active
ingrediant and both are the same so I guess they like the attractant
in Combat better, and they were still feeding at 11pm which is rare as
I always remembered at night they hibernated. Well today for the first
time in years NO ANTS. A relief. You guys know me, and I dont work or
sell for Combat, this stuff worked and im real suprised and happpy.
Now I have to do the Mice somehow. Now I can take my cereal out of the
deep freeze!

Put as much of the cereals, sweets, fatty foods in sealed containers.
Clean cupboards well. I used to get one or two mice indoors in very late
fall...their favorite foods were flour, cereal and dog chows. Ants loved
the dog food, too. Just a few crumbs around the dog's bowl would attract
a lot of ants. I used to keep most of my pasta in glass cannisters -
safe storage, and kind of pretty, too. Nuts and beans in decorative
tins. Flour and sugar in glass cannisters.

Sorry for the email normin. Oops. :-)

That's been my experience with ants in the house. There is something
they like. Might be a lot of things but the OP should try an eliminate
the source of food for the ants or they will eventually always come
back. I don't know if sweet ants eat wood but even if there is wet
rotting wood ants will eat that too. We had a bad ant problem in our
last house and it turned out they were eating the framing of the house
where water got in and rotted the framing. We'd kill them all and they
would come back a few months later.

Jim

Those were carpenter ants eating your wood. Most pests will invade when
their normal food source or shelter is threatened...during times of
drought or excessive rain. I remember the drought in .. the
'80's?..when bees and yellow jackets tried to get in my eyes when I was
outdoors. Couldn't hold an open drink container or they'd be in it.

Just little bits of food, like crumbs on a shelf or the floor, a little
sticky stuff on a jar, is an attractant to ants. In Florida, leaving a
coffee cake or pie on the countertop is an invitation to every ant in
the county...gotta keep it in the fridge.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 21:10:42 -0500, JimT wrote:

On 4/18/2011 8:26 PM, Michael B wrote:
On Apr 18, 8:55 pm, wrote:
We had a bad ant problem in our
last house and it turned out they were eating the framing of the house
where water got in and rotted the framing. We'd kill them all and they
would come back a few months later.

Jim

That would be carpenter ants. Likely with a tree riddled with them
nearby.

Probably a species of carpenter ants. After some research I discovered
ants don't actually eat wood. They burrow in to look for termites. I'm
glad I sold that house. Supposedly the termites had been exterminated.

Carpenter ants live in wood and eat elsewhere. (Most) termites eat wood and
live elsewhere. Carpenter ant infestations are rare in dry wood. Any water
and they'll move in quickly. They need water.

On 4/19/2011 7:34 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 21:10:42 -0500, wrote:

On 4/18/2011 8:26 PM, Michael B wrote:
On Apr 18, 8:55 pm, wrote:
We had a bad ant problem in our
last house and it turned out they were eating the framing of the house
where water got in and rotted the framing. We'd kill them all and they
would come back a few months later.

Jim

That would be carpenter ants. Likely with a tree riddled with them
nearby.

Probably a species of carpenter ants. After some research I discovered
ants don't actually eat wood. They burrow in to look for termites. I'm
glad I sold that house. Supposedly the termites had been exterminated.

Carpenter ants live in wood and eat elsewhere. (Most) termites eat wood and
live elsewhere. Carpenter ant infestations are rare in dry wood. Any water
and they'll move in quickly. They need water.

That's what started it. There was a leak where the facade met the window
sill. Leaked into the framing big time. The guy that bought the house
had to do some major tear out. Fortunately, on the disclosure, I just
told the truth AFAIK.

Jim

On Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:42:31 -0500, JimT wrote:

On 4/19/2011 7:34 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Mon, 18 Apr 2011 21:10:42 -0500, wrote:

On 4/18/2011 8:26 PM, Michael B wrote:
On Apr 18, 8:55 pm, wrote:
We had a bad ant problem in our
last house and it turned out they were eating the framing of the house
where water got in and rotted the framing. We'd kill them all and they
would come back a few months later.

Jim

That would be carpenter ants. Likely with a tree riddled with them
nearby.

Probably a species of carpenter ants. After some research I discovered
ants don't actually eat wood. They burrow in to look for termites. I'm
glad I sold that house. Supposedly the termites had been exterminated.

Carpenter ants live in wood and eat elsewhere. (Most) termites eat wood and
live elsewhere. Carpenter ant infestations are rare in dry wood. Any water
and they'll move in quickly. They need water.

That's what started it. There was a leak where the facade met the window
sill. Leaked into the framing big time.

That'll do it. That's why I'm a fanatic about any leaks, plumbing or
exterior. When we sold our first house I discovered the tile under the
'fridge was loose. I thought it was a simple matter of glue and some grout.
It's under the 'fridge, after all. Easy, right? Nope, carpenter ants had
gotten into the joists under it. What a mess.

The guy that bought the house
had to do some major tear out. Fortunately, on the disclosure, I just
told the truth AFAIK.

Disclosures are a funny thing. Both times I've sold, I saw them as a good
thing. As long as I described the issues and the work done to resolve them, I
was pretty well off the hook. Nothing hidden; this is what it is.