ANTS! Everywhere! In my bathroom, in my kitchen...

[Sue G in PA]

AARRGHHH! We always have ants, but not ever this bad. I've always used the Terro (sp?) gel baits and for a while they worked like a charm. Not anymore. I went with the little round Raid baits where the ants eat the food and then crawl away to die. The ants got worse on my kitchen counter which I simply cannot keep clean enough! They aren't working in my bathroom either. Ants are in my bathtub, on the floor and just now...I found a zillion of them under a pile of laundry that was accumulating in the corner of my bathroom (okay, bad habit that my dc/dh have of throwing clothes on the floor :glare:). It looked like my floor had turned black and was moving! Ugh! Any tried and true remedies for this problem? We have pest control coming out in a week, but they've been out before for ants and the problem persists! I just.can't.deal.with.this right now!

[nmoira]

This site (http://www.thebestcontrol.com/bugstop/control_ant.htm) was invaluable in our ant fight. There's so much there I never had to purchase their product.

[hose]

The cream colored baits didn't work for us, but as soon as we put down the Raid Double Control baits, I haven't seen another ant. Are they carpenters? Nasty little things. Good luck!

[Shanna]

I think it depends on the type of ants.

[Sue G in PA]

Black ants. Not the tiny, tiny ones. Medium sized, but not the huge ones, KWIM? Cm long perhaps?

[jail warden]

Are we living in the same house?!!! I just got done killing 20+ ants! They found their way to my honey jar and the outside was a bit sticky and they are everywhere in that cupboard! I read to put a pile of cornmeal near where they are found and they will take it back to their home and it will kill them all. I read a blurb about that on www.livingonadime.com (http://www.livingonadime.com). I will definitely be checking out all the replies you get! I decided to start with the cornmeal and then try to get them quicker by tomorrow.

[Mandamom]

had success with food grade diatomaceaous earth (DE) which I have bought from a local gardening store (churchville since I think you know where that is).

It is NOT a poison so the insects don't gain immunity to it. It works by destroying the exoskeleton. I sprinkled it around the areas worst affected and the ants started disappearing. I also got rid of fleas which was my goal at the time -- the ants were a bonus.

If you do a google search on food grade diatomaceous earth you'll get more info about it.

Good luck.

[Marie in Oh]

God knows that ants make babies come. ;)

Just teasing-- I know your battle though. I think we lived on an ant hill in CA. It was awful. I always vacuumed them up when I cleaned them. It seemd better than wiping them up.

Hope that the aunts go away and that baby makes it here soon.

:grouphug:

[Sue G in PA]

God knows that ants make babies come. ;)


:lol: I think God knows that STRESS makes babies come...thus the ANTS! :lol:

[Cindy in the NH Woods]

you may have a water problem in the house, eg. a pipe leaking in a wall or something. Ask me how I know.... :ack2:

[BMC]

I use Ortho ant powder all along the foundation and across all door sills. I usually only get ants the years I don't do this early enough in the spring. (which reminds me...)

If I see ants, I vacuum them up and I use moth balls in the vacuum bag (old-fashioned vac which uses bags) then dispose of the bag immediately. Stinks, but they're gone!


O the horror stories
One year, they came through the walls into my son's 2nd story bedroom to get to all the yucky left over school lunches he had all over his room - eew

another time I had 8 banana bread loaves set out to take to my son's youth orchestra for snack... needless to say I had to purchase something else at the last minute

and then there was the time that my daughter dropped a full size marshmallow behind the dining room hutch... when I finally found what they were eating the marshmallow was about 3/4 gone! eew

Unfortunately for my garden, I do eliminate nests if they are too close to the house. Out by the fence? no worries, at the bottom of the front steps? history!

[JFS in IL]

Are they marching two by two (hurrah, hurrah)???:D

Seal all food into cans/bags/wahtever, toss out old paperbags, etc. (I am told critters like to eat the glue on old paperbags, cardboard boxes)....

[J'Marie]

I just read Salt is suppose to be a good detractor & they dislike pepermint oils...HTH