Author Topic: Insourcing pest control - ants  (Read 5416 times)

dorothyc

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Insourcing pest control - ants
« on: August 16, 2014, 09:12:25 AM »
I live in Los Angeles and we get problems every summer with ants in the house, especially in the kitchen. I don't want to use harsh chemicals as I have a cat, but I need to do something. They had gotten into the dishwasher the other night and were swarming over one plate in particular. I don't run the dishwasher every night as I am trying to conserve water, but I ended up having to take all the dishes out, run the dishwasher empty, then scrape the dead ant bodies off the dishwasher filter. Uggh, gross.

Does anyone have any tips on how to get rid of them?

swick

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2014, 10:09:47 AM »
You have to back track to figure out where the ants are getting in. I have used a mixture of borax and sugar and spread it out on the outside of the house where they are coming in and that has cut down on the number coming in. Also using Peppermint Essential oil really helps - but becareful you dont leave either of these wehre your cat can get into them - especially the Essential oil - cats can't process them and they are poisonous to them.

If you can find the aunt hill you can treat with either of the above. If they are carpenter ants and live inside yout house, that'll be much more difficult to fix

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2014, 12:38:32 PM »
I'm a big fan of Amdro.  That's all.

geekette

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2014, 12:46:44 PM »
There have been several threads about ants in the last few months.

We get the tiny ants every year - there's really no way to keep them out.  Exterminators didn't help much at all, but we've found we can keep the numbers down by putting out ant baits (the ones with both sweet and grease "flavors") as soon as we see even one. 

We have 3 cats, but they can't get into the baits (not that they've shown any interest either).

dorothyc

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #4 on: August 16, 2014, 01:40:05 PM »
Thanks guys. I made up some simple cleaning spray - water, alcohol and castile soap and put quite a few drops of essential sage oil in it and I have been spraying around the kitchen where I see them, and they seem to have been repelled for now. I will definitely check on the suggestion to try to find the source - I have partial crawl space in this house so they are probably nesting under there.

former player

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #5 on: August 16, 2014, 02:23:46 PM »
If they are the bog-standard sort of ant and you can find the source, a kettle of boiling water should do the trick: cheap, quick, easy and no chemicals or poison involved.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2014, 08:08:17 PM »
We've had good luck with cinnamon for casual ant issues. Supposedly it hides their trails.

Nords

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2014, 10:35:16 PM »
We've had good luck with cinnamon for casual ant issues. Supposedly it hides their trails.
I bet they taste a lot better, too!

Just kidding.

ritchie70

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2014, 09:46:47 AM »
We've had good luck with cinnamon for casual ant issues. Supposedly it hides their trails.
I bet they taste a lot better, too!

Just kidding.

My understanding was that there's something about cinnamon that they don't like, but in any case, we had a parade of them coming out of a crack and after a good dousing of powdered cinnamon they stopped.

dorothyc

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2014, 11:53:45 AM »
We've had good luck with cinnamon for casual ant issues. Supposedly it hides their trails.
I bet they taste a lot better, too!

Just kidding.

My understanding was that there's something about cinnamon that they don't like, but in any case, we had a parade of them coming out of a crack and after a good dousing of powdered cinnamon they stopped.

That's a great idea - I also happen to have a giant jar of cinnamon from Costco at home - I'll give it a try.

They are the regular small black house? ants, but I can't find a distinct trail. They just seem to emerge from the cracks round the dishwasher and bottom kitchen cabinets.

1967mama

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #10 on: August 20, 2014, 12:01:11 PM »
I use the small ant bait traps you can buy at Home Depot for just a couple of dollars. My "rule" is, the first time I see an ant at the beginning of the warm season, I place out the traps in strategic places and 2 years in a row, it has worked like a charm. The first year we were in this house, there were lines of ants marching up the wall in certain spots. I think we've successfully insourced a solution to our ant problem. Hope you can find something that works.  A trap at the base (or under) your dishwasher would probably do the trick.

Hotstreak

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #11 on: August 20, 2014, 09:23:49 PM »
If you can't see where they're coming from, put some fine flour mixed with sugar near where you see them.  They will track the flour and you can see their trail.  For killing them, I used to do the boiling water outside, and use vinegar mixed with water for inside.  Both kill them outright.  I switched though, and now once I see where they are coming in I put cheap little ant traps there.  They grab pieces from inside the trap and take them back to the nest, where it kills the whole colony.  Also considering a better seal where the ants come in.  Caulking can work wonders if they're coming in at the edge of the floor, a window, etc.  If they're coming up through larger holes drilled for plumbing or electric, seal those with foam insulation and see how that works.

Bourbon

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #12 on: August 20, 2014, 09:33:25 PM »
Mmmmm Borax

dorothyc

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Re: Insourcing pest control - ants
« Reply #13 on: August 21, 2014, 08:13:19 AM »
Thanks guys, for all the helpful advice.