How do I kill ants coming in through kitchen windows without using poison or ant bait traps ?

Question

With the warm weather finally here, there are small red ants coming in through my kitchen windows (I have yetto check the other windows)..without using a poison (I have kids and pets) how do I get rid of them ? We been here a few years now and this is the first time this has happened. The only change is I now have Aloe plants on the window sill, is that what is attracting them ?

Answer 1

You could try Diatomaceous earth. It kills the ants by drying them out, not by poison, so its relatively harmless to pets a children. Here is some info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

you can buy it at most garden centers and supply stores

Answer 2

We have had a similar problem this year, albeit with a different variety of ant. We, too, have small children and were worried about anything toxic. Thus far, this is what I've found.

1) vinegar -- recommended by others as a means to kill the ants. doesn't work.

2) bay leaves -- I've read numerous "advice" about using bay leaves to discourage ants and thought I'd give it a try. For us, it not only did nothing to diminish the ant population but seemed instead to attract them. A LOT.

3) soap and water -- what I'd read was that you should use a mix of roughly 1 part liquid soap (i.e. ivory that you'd use for handwashing your dishes) to 10 parts water. I did not measure, I simply eyeballed it, pouring the liquid soap into a spray bottle filled with warm water. Spraying the soapy water onto the ants kills them *on contact*. You may want to try essentially "drawing a line" by your window -- two, actually, one on the outside and another just on the inside -- consisting of soapy water, being heavy on the soap since it will be sitting for a while. It has seemed to me that this discourages the ants. Further, those that cross the line, as it were, if the mixture is still wet, should die from it. The only caveat is that I don't think it's a good idea to let soapy water sit on painted wood for too long, as I'm told it could mess with the finish. Either way, if you want to quickly kill those ants that do get in...spray 'em with soapy water. I was (and am!) amazed at how that works.

4) exterminators -- As I said, we too have young children and worry about anything toxic. However, more and more exterminators work with non-toxic and environmentally friendly substances, largely, I assume, because of the number of people with animals and/or children in the home. Many work with them by default, and many more have non-toxic options. We had someone put down a non-toxic bait for the ants, as it could not be determined where/how they're getting into the house in the first place. The bait was placed in an inaccessible spot where we saw the ants congregating. It increases ant activity initially, during which time you have to remind yourself not to kill the ants you see; the idea is that the bait, which will not kill the ants quickly, will attract the ants who will then carry the bait back to their hive...wherever the hive is...and kill the queen, thus killing that particular ant population. We were told we would probably have to do it a few times but we've only done it once -- we see an occasional ant now, yes, but nothing even remotely like what we had. (And since we're feeding toddlers in the room that's the problem, we have a continuous problem in terms of food supply; even with the constant dust-buster use in that room it's hard to ever be entirely rid of the crumbs, etc. from the meals of 16 month old twins.) Point is: it was not very expensive, it's non-toxic, and we saw and continue to see a huge difference.

Hope that helps a bit.

Answer 3

some plants do attract ants. i forgot what the term is, but some ants and plants work together, but i dont know if aloe is one of them. i use antibacterial dish liquid for my dishes and i also use it to get rid of ants. i wet a paper towel and squirt the liquid on it and squash or wipe up any ants i see. then (this part sounds gross) i leave the paper towel w/the dead ants on it on the counter so that when the new arrivals come and see the dead ants, they dont send more ants in (and they get squashed too). thats my line of thinking anyway, altho maybe they dont work that way. also, if you can kill the first arrivals, more may not come. i did get rid of my 20+ year old spider plant because i saw tons of them marching up and down the leaves, and they were also on another small plant a friend gave me so out that went too. good luck!

Answer 4

The aloe may be it...however, what I have learned about ants over 40 years is....They are hungry too!!...We are generally able to keep them outside by putting a jar with a few spoons of honey in it (sugar would probably work..;-) near their favorite places of entry..... Also...check those plants..they may have moved in to the pot!...Did you know that ants eat termite eggs?....One more thing..."Grant's Ants "posts can be pushed down into a real problem area or flowerpot so that it is not dangerous to anything but the ants...they eat it, take it to their nest, and that's that....But...the kinder way is usually the better way...like I said, they are hungry, too....and.....they Do clean up the landscape of other decaying material... .

Answer 5

One way to do it is to collect the unripened nuts from a black walnut tree. The nuts you need will be green. collect these and scatter the shells around the outside of your home and around the ant hills. these green shells are a natural insecticide and will kill the ants, also with the shells around your home will prevent any insect from coming into your home as well. I have never known a dog to eat these. However if you're concerned that they might then don't use them. Other than that, I don't know of another way other than using a man made insecticide

Answer 6

Well, I don't know of any ways to kill them without poisoning them? Unless you want to kill them one by one. So you can put out a small dish of icing sugar and borax mixed together, the soldier ants will gather it thinking it is just sugar and bring it to the queen and she will die from eating it. Just put it up hish enough or block the window area where it is, explain it to your kids?

Answer 7

I just finished reading an article on safe ways to get rid of ants - I wish I could remeber the article so I could refer you to it. But in a nut shell they reccomend you use lemon juice. Either fresh or concentrated lemon jucie drizzled on the areas where the ants are coming in will keep them away. I just did it myself along the outside of my sliding door - and it worked for me!!

Answer 8

Pour 20 Mule team Borax along the window and on the counter. You can get it in the laundry soap department.

Good luck. It worked for me.

Answer 9

They are looking for water and sweets. Rub some Haborino sauce around where they are getting in.

Answer 10

they make sticky traps that you can use for insects and it catches them. you can put the pellets on the outside of the house and that may help.