how do i get rid of ants with boric acid and sugar..it appears that it is 'attracting' the ants?

Question

i mixed a bit of boric acid and sugar..i put it on news paper..i laid it on my hard wood floors...in 3 places and it seems to me that it is 'attracting' the ants..not killing them. Are they suppose to die right there on the paper..or do they go back to their 'home' and die there? Can i also spray around the floor where the paper is and on the paper..or is this defeating the whole purpose of the boric acid

Answer 1

The sugar attracts the ants. The boric acid is a very fine, extremely hard and sharp abrasive. The ants eat a lot of the mixture, and when full return to the hive where they *share their meal with the others and most importantly, the queen*. The boric acid begins to wear out their joints, causing them to crack and evaporate water and eventually they dry up/dehydrate and die. This process takes about a week after which you suddenly see a drastic decline in the number of ants. Continue feeding until you see no more.

I too lived through it - the toughest thing was not squashing all the ants showing up for meal time (I sometimes counted dozens at once). But I knew if I did that, the queen would not die. So don't spray or any other way harm them - you want them to return to home base. One thing you may want to do it spend an hour or two and see if you can locate their hive. It may be a tiny crack under a baseboard or a hole in the floor. If you can find it and put the sugar/acid mix next to it, it may cut down on see ants around the house.

Good luck

Answer 2

You are not supposed to mix the boric acid with sugar. That is a natural attractant for them. You are supposed to dust the boric acid powder along the areas they walk. THey go through the poisonous stuff and bring it home to poison the rest of the nest.

Skip the sugar.

Answer 3

http://www.freewebs.com/aztecgardens/commonquestions.htm
this is an easy way of getting rid of ants using things around your house