Will you help us get rid of the black ants?

Question

Black ants are strutting about our house like they're the Sultan of Brunei and we want to make a stand and evict them like the scum of the earth that they are and reclaim the territory that is rightfully ours - it's not like they pay us rent or anything!

How do we get rid of the ants without being environmentally unfriendly?

NB: I've heard something about using chalk, but I'm not sure how exactly and whether its practical in our situation.

PS. I've seen A Bug's LIfe and Antz and yet I have no sympathy for them at all.

Answer 1

1/3 cup boric acid, 1/3 cup corn meal (some ants are protein only not sugar) 1/3 cup powdered sugar. Mix well and put anywhere you see them (dixie cups work well or mcdonald hamburger containers). Your pets won't eat it and if they try it (it won't hurt them) it just burns the mouth for a minute and they won't touch it again. Just be sure to keep away from little ones.

Also instant grits, dry will kill the ones inside only. Cayene pepper, bone meal cream of tarter, salt, citric extracts, vinager and perfume are safe and will deter them inside.

I have them all yr and these work the best under the sinks, next to the tub, etc. My ants seem to like water (I've had them take showers with us & "help with the dishes")

Answer 2

You can get some caulk, and seal up every hole and corner in your house, which will help keep them out. They seem to especially like water lines, but they can also follow gas, and electric lines, which you could seal.

Chalk doesn't do anything. Diatomaceous earth, on the other hand does. You can dust this around holes and cracks that they're using before you seal, and also spread it around the foundation outside. It has microscopic spikes on it that can tear up the joints of insects. That'll get them pretty good.

Rumor has it that wood ashes, and cayenne pepper can do about the same. Cayenne would probably get expensive. Wood ash produces lye when it gets wet, but won't last through the rain. Only use the white ash stuff. the black part is charcoal, and doesn't have the lye. Not advised for extensive use around delicate plants.

Answer 3

We have had success with the ant traps that are similar to the roach hotels, and with the sugary type bait that you leave out on pieces of paper. Both have poison that either kills them outright or that they take back to the colony. Leave the traps out in every spot you can see that they may have gotten in. It may take a week before you see no more ants, but it will work eventually! :) Then make a barricade around your home with either sevin dust or just plain old baby powder, preferably the kind with corn starch. They are persistant, but if you are too, you should win! Good luck!

Answer 4

If you use ant traps, put them outside the house, not in, nooks and crannies where you see them next to your house. I've had some success with using baby powder around the foundation. You can call in alot of them to a certain area by baiting with anything sweet, sugar, syrup, molasses, etc... and any anthills that you have dowse them well with boiling water.

Answer 5

I tried alot of things, none worked until I called the professionals. Even then, I have them come out at 3 month intervals (thru summer) because carpenter ants don't discourage easily. They have tracking down-pat and will return if not treated.

Answer 6

Use an ant bait that they carry back to the mound. It takes longer, but has better lasting effect.

Answer 7

Have an exterminator come to this house every six months. That should do the trick!

Answer 8

i have asked at pet shops garden centres and even wilkinsons and they dont have anything that ''deters'' them so i got some spray from wilkos and after useing that they went after a day!

Answer 9

there is this glue like stuff you put it where you see alot of ants and they take it bake to there nest and they all eat it then they all die

Answer 10

USE A PRODUCT CALLED NIPPON..THEY TAKE IT TO THE QUEEN AND SHE DIES THEN THE NEST DIES..