I’ve just discovered ants all around our kitchen sink though we can’t find the source. My husband has looked all around the whole water system with no luck and wants me to buy something like ajax to pour down the sink. Is this the best product? Anyone else ever had ant problems? Advice greatly appreciated.
Buy cinnamon at the $I store sprinkle along the foundation on the outside of your house – I lived in a log cabin for 8years and used this myself to keep out ants and it always worked -
January 27th, 2010 at 9:42 am
raid
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January 27th, 2010 at 10:06 am
Well before you run out and buy some spray , try with black pepper powder. This will make them move on. they will carry this into there tunnel and Achoo gone , it won´t kill them but it will get rid off them
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January 27th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Buy cinnamon at the $I store sprinkle along the foundation on the outside of your house – I lived in a log cabin for 8years and used this myself to keep out ants and it always worked -
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January 27th, 2010 at 10:59 am
There is a product called Antrid. Its a sticky & sweet smelling liquid that attracts the ants & they take they liquid back to the nest & kills the rest of them. Thats best for indoors but to try & stop them from coming inside at all, there is an Ant sand. Not too sure of the name but you spread it around the outdoor areas. It worked a treat for my grandmothers house where the ants would take over!!!
I have heard the black pepper thing too, never heard of it working but try it, might work, cant hurt to try!!
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January 27th, 2010 at 11:27 am
i’ve used terro for years. it works really well. for more information see this website:
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/xdpy/kb/ant-killer.html
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January 27th, 2010 at 11:45 am
I’m with jb. I recommend terro traps. I don’t think the ants are coming out of the sink drain. They get in the house somehow. I’ve noticed this year, that they want to move in during after a rain, so go figure. Some people use boric acid. I guess you could sprinkle a little of that under the sink. Whatever you do, be careful where you put anything so the toddlers and pets can’t get at it. I’ve tried Cinnamon, too, but it didn’t keep the ants away. The lawn services where I live are now offerring some type of application that is put around the foundation of the house to keep the ants and other insects out. I try not to use a whole lot of chemicals, though, for my sake as wel as the environments.
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January 27th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
What to do about the ants really depends on the species of ant.
Generally: Using Raid will only make it worse. If the ant is the Big Headed Ant or Thief Ant or Little Black Ant, you MIGHT get lucky and wipe them all out.
If it is the dreaded Odorous House Ant, bait isn’t going to be very effective, and raid will just cause the colony to split, making 2 instead of 1 colony living in your house… yes, I believe they are in your house, probably nesting in the wall behind the sink or at the false-bottom of your cabinets.
Boric acid works by destroying the microflora which live in the gut of ants, roaches, crickets, silverfish and earwigs. Destroy the microflora and starve the bug.
However, the trick is getting the bug to ingest the boric acid. This is usually done with baits… if the bug will eat the bait. (Roaches can recharge their microflora by eating the droppings of another roach… yuck!)
If you do decide to use boric acid, don’t use the kind you use in your laundry. Buy boric acid specificly labeled for pest control use. Pour just a little of it into a container you’ll never use for food or water and has never had chemicals stored in it. A paper plate which you’ll throw away later works great for this. Then dab a dry, soft paintbrush in the boric acid and very gently "paint" the surface you want to treat. If the boric acid is easy to see, you’ve applied too much. Brush it to spread it out.
The best areas to treat are anywhere there will be moisture (under sinks, behind toilets and almost anywhere in the laundry room).
I haven’t tried it, but if the ants are Pharoah Ants, mixing just a little boric acid with mint jelly is supposed to be a great attractant. Again, make sure nobody eats the jelly… label it as poison.
Boric acid is a very low toxicity product to mammals. It’ll retard the growth of any plants you put it on and it’ll make fish sick, or kill them. Just be safe and treat it like what it is… bug poison.
So, what do you do when you see a trail? Get a bucket of hot water and a sponge. Wipe them suckers up and dunk them in the bucket as quick as you can. Sometimes this will cause a colony to "bud" but usually not. Raid will cause them to bud every time.
If they are coming in from outside:
Cut all your trees and plants away so they don’t touch the house. Reduce your water usage outside. Treat your plants if they have aphids, scale or other pests. Cut your grass (or weeds) if they’re out of control.
If all else fails, call a professional. But – you get what you pay for. If you go for the cheap guy, chances are he can’t afford the good products such as Phantom and Termidor. If he won’t inspect the property before he gives you a bid, he’s going to fail miserably. Oh – and don’t ever pay for a bid… there should be NO inspection fee.
P.S. Urban legends:
Pepper = Spicy ants.
Cinnamon = Wonderful smelling ants.
Grits = Well-fed ants.
Rice = Well-fed ants.
Vinegar = Ants which will just go around the vinegar.
Ajax = Clean ants.
Electric bug deterrent buzzers = Annoyed ants who will just put up with it, or maybe bud.
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I’m a pest control professional.