I have already tried the disks that you set in there path, and killed thousands of them with windex. Also my house is clean, and I took the syrup out of the pantry that they were targeting. Please help me figure out how to keep them from coming in. Hiring an exterminator is not currently an option for me. Thanks
2006-07-25 05:38:55 · 30 answers · asked by friend4u726 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Other - Home & Garden
Cinnamon will keep them out if you sprinkle it at your door stoop, around window ledges - anywhere they come in. Something in it keeps them at bay. Also, you can try Borax, which kills any thoraxed insect or arachnid. You can get it at your local hardware store like Lowes or Aces, Home Depot, etc for about 2 bucks and sprinkle that along their paths and in front of doorways. It also eliminates cockroaches and keeps them outside as well. Borax will take about 2 weeks to fully show itself to be working (it's like bait, they eat it or crawl over it and to them its poisonous, so they take it back and the cycle keeps going). Cinnamon should stop them in the meantime while the Borax does it's job though.
2006-07-25 05:43:26 · answer #1 · answered by sanatori2050 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The World's Best Ant Poison
We live in the woods, and carpenter ants are a huge problem. We have spent thousands of dollars with Orkin and on ant poisons trying to keep them under control but nothing has helped.
So when I read somewhere that aspartame (Nutrasweet sweetener) was actually developed as an ant poison, and only changed to being considered non-poisonous after it was realized that a lot more money could be made on it as a sweetener than as an ant poison, I decided to give it a try.
I opened two packets of aspartame sweetner, and dumped one in a corner of each of our bathrooms. That was about 2 years ago and I have not seen any carpenter ants for about 9 to 12 months. It works better than the most deadly poisons I have tried. Any time they show up again, I simply dump another package of Nutrasweet in a corner, and they will be gone for a year or so again.
Since posting this information I have had many people tell me of their success solving ant problems with this substance, when nothing else worked.
We found later that small black ants would not eat the aspartame. It was determined that if you mixed it with apple juice, they would quickly take it back to the nest, and all would be dead within 24 hours, usually. I have found that sometimes it will kill them, and sometimes it does not. Not sure why, may be slightly different species of ants or something.
Fire Ants We got our first fire ant hill about 2 weeks ago. My son had tried Terro Outdoor ant poison on some hills near his hour some time ago without success, so I figured I would give aspertame a try.
I opened 4 packets and scattered the aspertame over the mound. The ants seemed to be ignoring it, but a storm came in in about an hour, and washed it all away. So the following week I tried again. Once again they ignored it for 24 hours although some very small black ants found it and begun carrying it off. Then we got a light rain. It was just a sprinkle, enough to moiston the neutrasweet and ground, but not enough to wash it away. They went crazy, hundreds of them grappbing it and taking it back into the mound. When I checked the mound 2 days later, there was no sign of the fire ants. I even dug the mound up some, and still saw none of them.
AI called to the Agriculture department and they said they may have moved. They are sending someone over to see if they are dead or just moved. I will keep you posted when I find out for sure.
How does it Work
Aspertame is neuropoison. It most likely kills the ants by interferring with their nervous system. It could be direct, like stopping their heart, or something more subtile like killing their sense of taste so they can't figure out what is eatable, or smell, so they can't follow their trails, or misidentify their colonies members, so they start fighting each other. Not sure what causes them to end up dieing, just know that for many species of ants it will kill the quickly and effectively.
As with any poison I recommend wearing gloves and washing any skin areas that come in contact with this poison, and avoid getting in your mouth, despite anything the labeling may indicate.
I suspect it will work for other insects such as yellow jackets as well, but have not tested that yet.
More information on this fantastic poison can be found at the Dorway website.
2006-07-25 05:41:52 · answer #2 · answered by Velociraptor 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Grant Stakes have worked great for me.
Also, make sure everyone in the house is fastidious as far as food is concerned. Keep all garbage outside. Everyone eats in the kitchen/dining room only. Everyone is to immediately clean up after fixing food and eating. All food on plates, utensils, etc. is cleaned off right away, even if you use a dishwasher.
This website has some interesting suggestions:
http://www.ghorganics.com/page11.html#Barriers
You may want to try a web search for:
natural ant repellant and see what you can come up with
2006-07-25 05:40:00 · answer #3 · answered by Calina 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What were the "disks" you used? I've had good results from Combat, which is a bait that they take back to the rest of the colony and it kills the whole batch.
There is also a good product called Diazanon which is an effective ant killer. It's a granular product that you can put down around your house (wear gloves) at the doors, windows, cracks, etc. Good luck.
2006-07-25 05:42:10 · answer #4 · answered by LisaT 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a stuff called Diazzanon (I'm not sure of the spelling) It's basically poison that is soaked in sawdust with sugar or something. The ants love the stuff. If you put around their hills, and around the outside of your house they will take it back to their home like food and it kills them all. (that sounds evil huh) anyway it works great and you can buy it at any store like target,walmart, home depot probably in the garden center.
Good Luck!
2006-07-25 05:46:15 · answer #5 · answered by miss_nursie_nurse 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What kind of ants?
Make sure there are no holes and no moisture in your walls to avoid carpenter ants. They eat your house. Figure out how they are entering. Also where you live probably makes a big difference. Do you have cold winters?
Diatomaceous earth around perimeter of house may help but washes away.
Where I live pesticides are not allowed which is a good thing.
2006-07-25 05:44:21 · answer #6 · answered by grapeshenry 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a cheap fix and it works, I have used it for years. Buy some 20 Mule Team Borax laundry soap and put the dry soap in one of the cheap ketchup squeeze bottles that you can buy at any dollar store. Apply around baseboards, kitchen cabinets anywhere you see traces of the ants. Leave it lay for a few days until you no longer see any ants, they will carry it back to their nest and it WILL kill them. Vacuum up the excess laundry soap and use the rest of the box to do your laundry with....this is about a five dollar fix....and it works
2006-07-25 06:42:45 · answer #7 · answered by judy_derr38565 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seems many responses suggest to use some form of poison. This is a waste of money and time.
The most effective way to rid the lil buggers is to plant mint around the house. Even a potted planter next to doors works well.
As a bonus, you can pinch off a few leaves for homemade tea.
2006-07-25 06:36:37 · answer #8 · answered by Mani V 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have tried boiling water with plenty of salt throw it where they come in from. Ants usually come in to the house throgh nooks and crannies throw some there, they will continue to come for the next 2 or 3 days but I guarantee that they will be gone
2006-07-25 05:43:09 · answer #9 · answered by sweetlikehoney_73 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ants leave a trail for other ants. So clean the entire kitchen very well too, and around the doors, inside and out.
2006-07-25 05:40:38 · answer #10 · answered by Rjmail 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋