Ants, ANTS, ANTS EVERWHERE!!

Jeff Horton

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The Heart of Dixie
I know it is the dry weather but we are having an aweful time with ants in our kitchen. One morning we woke up to a sink FULL of ants. They were coming in around the window, from inside the wall obviously, into the sink where some dishes have been left. Never had I have seen so many ants in one place in my life!

Got them taken care of, we thought. Made it point to rinse dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Then a few days latter I found them in another part of kitchen. Not near as many but they were coming out the stove back splash where the pot and kettle filler comes out. Took care of those.

This morning they are on top of the cabinets out of an outlet. They found the honey in the cabinets. Tonight I pull all outlet covers off and spray in and around them. This is maddening!

Jeff
 
We have ant hills all over the yard. We have used Amdro bait to kill them, but it must be fresh, less than 3 months old. Recently we have tried, with good success, Ortho Fire Ant Killer. It is a powder that you sprinkle around the mound. You might try feeding them some bait in the wall around the outlet boxes. You will never get rid of them until you kill the queen.

After checking the Ortho bait, you don't want to use it in the house. The stuff smells like a muskox that died 3 months ago.:rolleyes:

If possible you should caulk every nook and cranny in the kitchen. If they can't get any food or water, they will move on. That strategy has worked for us a couple times. But, I must say that we have never had the problem as badly as you.

YMMV

BTW, you can minimize ant bite itching by throughly clean the bite with an alcohol wipe. It will not stop the blister, but it does reduce the itching.
 
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These are not fire ants. We have those in the yard but at least they don't come in the house. These are sugar ants or sweet ants, thats what I hear them called. Always after sweet stuff.

And yes Steve, I am scared they are in the wall too. It is directly above my basement. I pulled down insulation today and not a single ant there. I crawled under the rest of the house just in case. Saw one ant and he was outside and he asked for directions to the party! :rolleyes:

Yup, your right Ken, got to find something to kill that Queen. Would still like know where they are, but I am afraid they must be in the wall. Even though I can find nothing to indicate that. Of course no sign is probably the biggest sign of all. :rolleyes:
 
We get ants in the kitchen occasionally - but very very small ones and no where near the number you describe. Wow - can't imagine how I'd flip out finding a sink full!:eek: We get hundreds of them on the patio and around the stairs coming up from the pool. There must be a huge nest under the concrete.

Were I in your shoes I'd probably be on the phone with Terminix or Orkin and asking them about their guaranties. Once I pay the bucks I don't want to be revisited!
 
I USED to have an ant problem but then I tried Home Defence by Ortho. Spray knocks them down and they don't walk on that surface again, works for 6 months. I circle the house every spring with it.

My mom has them as well but won't allow me to wet spray because of her cat (I keep telling her it won't hurt the cat,but...) So I sprinkled Boric acid inon the carpet in her kitchen (the ants get all over the cats food and drink...recon that might be attracting the? DUH!) Boric Acid is a natural ant eradicator. Boric acid was used to make an eye wash (before Visene) Hard to find, try Drugstores)
 
Best product ever for sweet ants is Terro. Comes as a liquid in a tiny bottle. A few drops here and there does the job. They take it back to the nest to die and other cannabalize then die also. Every effective.
 
Frank, where do you find Terro? We have the little buggers in the kitchen also. Come in at the window sill somewhere, then get on the counter. 409 spray kills them immediately!!! Just doesn't do anything to keep them from coming back. Jim.
 
well if you don't want to play with the nasty chemicals, get some
Diatomaceous earth. non toxic to humans, pets, won't even hurt your earthworms. any place they are getting use one of those garden dusters or for really small crevice.s one of those bulbs used for flushing out your ears.

I use it in the garden to control bugs, It works by cutting up the bugs and they dry out. imagine walking across a room full of razor blades. thats what it does to the bugs! Pull the wall covers where they are getting in and blow it in the wall. If you can find the nest even better.


Wife even uses it for flea control on the dogs.
 
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well if you don't want to play with the nasty chemicals, get some
Diatomaceous earth. non toxic to humans, pets, won't even hurt your earthworms. any place they are getting use one of those garden dusters or for really small crevice.s one of those bulbs used for flushing out your ears.

I use it in the garden to control bugs, It works by cutting up the bugs and they dry out. imagine walking across a room full of razor blades. thats what it does to the bugs! Pull the wall covers where they are getting in and blow it in the wall. If you can find the nest even better.


Wife even uses it for flea control on the dogs.

Yep, we get these nasty middle sized ants here, black biters!

I sprinkle that stuff around the whole shop, where the rain can't wash it away, then I find the holes in the ground and sprinkle it around them, then dust the holes, like Robert says, with a turkey baster thing. Then if it rains, I wait until it drys out and do it again.

The ants stopped coming in the shop and the ant colony went dead, as each time they would dig a new hole, I'd be there with the dust, soon the just died out.

Nasty things
 
I find Terro at Lowes, and there is a "do it yourself professional pest control" store in out town that sells it as well. If you bring in a dead ant they will tell you what you're fighting and recommend the proper stuff.

I use the Ortho home spray as well outside the house

Good luck

Jay
 
I USED to have an ant problem but then I tried Home Defence by Ortho.

I have just got some of that and just hesitant about using it in the kitchen, but we have used it where they have shown up. I was going to do the outside of the house but I want to leave them an escape route! :D

But I am impressed with what little I have used it.

well if you don't want to play with the nasty chemicals, get some Diatomaceous earth. ........

Wife even uses it for flea control on the dogs.

I had read about that and I use it in my swimming pool filter. So I have always have it sitting around. I was going to look that up again to make sure I remembered correctly. Since this is in the kitchen I might just try that tonight, putting it around the outlets since I expect they will show up in couple days at another outlet.
 
These are sugar ants or sweet ants, thats what I hear them called.

Jeff,

We had those at our house in Tampa. I tried everything, I mean EVERYTHING that Lowe's sold and it didn't work. I think at one point the ground around the foundation was glowing. They would show back up in less than a week. We finally signed up for a monthly pest service, never had ants again.

When we moved up to Illinois earlier this year a pest service was the first thing my wife did. For $25 a month its the best piece of mind I can buy (it keeps the LOML off me).

Randy
 
Frank, where do you find Terro? We have the little buggers in the kitchen also. Come in at the window sill somewhere, then get on the counter. 409 spray kills them immediately!!! Just doesn't do anything to keep them from coming back. Jim.

I get at a local hardware store. The bottles are small and not noticable on the shelves, I have to ask for it.
 
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