apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

A few years ago I opened a kitchen cupboard and found it swarming with ants. I freaked out and dumped a bunch of cayenne pepper in there, and it actually worked pretty well. Now I'm seeing random ants on my windowsills and in the bathroom (just a handful) and I've been ignoring them, but I guess maybe I should do something about it.

I had a tiny ants problem (the ants were tiny, the problem moderate) last summer around my cats' litter box & food areas. I bought some Raid traps at Duane Reade and scattered them about, not really expecting any results. The ants were gone in a week.

Most ants which show up in your apartments are foragers, looking for food: if you don't provide food to them, they'll move on. Knowing a little bit about ant behavior helps here: they are nomadic, but establish periodic nests. If you see wandering ants and kill them, it does nothing to address the source of the problem: the nest. You may be in luck, as most nests are outside, and those foragers who are travelling through your sink will not return IF there is nothing to write home about--no food, no open water source. Many times I've had a sudden appearance of a large quantity of ants in my bathroom and kitchen: after a few days, they dwindled to a couple; after a few more, all were gone.
I know everyone is grossed out by ants; there is another way to look at them: as truly fascinating social creatures: as a colony, they are models of efficiency and devotion. Sure, you don't want them to model efficiency in your pantry, but just cool it for a bit before getting out the Raid.

Leave no dirty dishes and take out the trash every night. Simple Green is non-toxic and biodegradable and is supposed to clean up the pheromones - it sorta works, I guess. Spraying water or Simple Green kills ants on contact, or you can kill each one with your finger like my mother. It's tedious, but it gets the job done.

I've seen some large ant masses in my day. If you don't keep taking care of the problem, the ants gradually spread through the house (in lower densities). They even went to the second story of our house.

I've successfully stopped ants with a mixture of boric acid in a sugar solution. I soak a cotton ball in it and set it out on little squares of parchment paper near their trails. It works by initially attracting a bunch, who ingest the solution. The proportion is key, though, as you want them to live long enough to take it back to their queen and kill the colony. Do an internet search and you'll find plenty of recipes. And don't freak out when it initially attracts a ton of ants--they'll all be gone in two days!

We're currently dealing with an ant infestation. They seem to live under our floor and appear in various areas of our apartment depending on how recently I've vacuumed or mopped.

The Raid traps did nothing. I have been trying variations on Borax and sugar, hoping that I can do this somewhat non-toxically. What worked (temporarily) was bread soaked in a mixture of water, sugar and Borax. But now they're back. (The nest must be enormous.)

Does anyone have advice about this? Our apartment is relatively clean, but we don't yet have toekicks in our kitchen (where they've most recently appeared) and I think they're getting the crumbs that are under the cabinets. argh.

I'd like to try the Borax solution again but wonder if I got the proportions wrong. I had tried 2T of Borax to 1/2 c of sugar and enough water to make a paste/solution. I have also tried dried Cream-of-Wheat, which they loved but I saw no decline in population afterwards. (Was I just feeding the ants?)

Cinnamon! sprinkle it in window sills, around doors, in cupboards.... it smells nice for awhile and keeps the ants away.

We had ants a couple of winters back and tried everything we and our landlords could think of to get rid of them; constant cleaning, sealing food, borax and diatomaceous earth and various spices, little traps, whatever. Nothing worked because they were being driven in by outdoor flooding. When we found them CRAWLING ON THE BABY we finally snapped and called the exterminator who sprayed around the foundation after finding the dirt under the house seething with them. (Our pediatrician said the disease risk from the ants exceeded the risks from possible pesticide exposure.) After three months of weekly visits it finally reached a level we could control. With a serious infestation there are evidently few other options.

RAID ant spray. Comes in a no odor formula. I had some exploring ants when the weather started to warm up. A quick shot of Raid and they disappeared and haven't seen 'em since. I kept my dogs out of the condo that day and everything's been fine since. I agree with the exterminator. Why screw around with herbs.

So, I've been dealing with ants for the past month in my groundfloor apartment of a 7 unit building. Part of my apartment is subteranean...maybe 6 inches. Directly beneath my hardwood floor is dirt and in front of my apartment are bushes.

About two months ago, I noticed 2 little piles of dirt that mysteriously appeared in the same location even after I would vaccum it up. The dirt seemed to come from a two very small gaps between the hardwood flooring. I didn't think much of it and the problem seemed to go away after a few weeks.

A few weeks after that, I had a swarm of ants (including those with wings come up from between the baseboard and hardwood floors. Needless to say, it was disgusting and very suprising since I keep my apartment spotless...with no food around.

This happened two more times and the landlord caulked up the areas where the ants came from. Just a few days ago, I had another episode of ants coming up from another gap between the baseboards and hardwood floor. I laid out some Grant Ant baits, but it seemed to take too long to kill the ants. Who knows how big the Argentine ant colony was.

So, again I vacuumed them up, but this time sprayed windex into the gaps and covered them with those antibacterial wipes. This seemed to work temporarily. The landlord wants to try to use the ant baits to kill the whole colony, so put baits out all over my apartment. 24 hours later, not one ant. I have no idea why they aren't coming out anymore.

In the meantime, I have had to find somewhere else to live until this is taken care of. Such a nuisance...

try loose peppermint tea or string dipped in peppermint extract under the baseboard or wherever they are coming in. They won't cross the barrier

I get ants in my kitchen and bathroom (which are next to each other and near my apartment building's back yard) every spring. I read somewhere that they hate vinegar so this year I have tried wiping the areas where I see them with it and so far they seem to avoid those areas for a day or so after I use the vinegar. As long as I remember to wipe my kitchen counter and sinks with vinegar once a day most of them seem to avoid those spots. At least it provides some relief while I'm waiting for the ant disks to work.

I leave a little bowl of honey by the back door. They go to that and come no further.

If you don't have a back door ---
Cinnamon to keep them out of the cabinets - just use your finger to wipe it around the cabinet edges - doesn't stain; and ant baits next to where they are coming in. They take it back to the nest.
In Sydney the baits are small and white - look like roach baits - small box is easy to miss in the supermarket.
Have also heard borax & sugar has same effect but dangerous around kids & pets.

Bioganic insect spray. It's made of plant oils (so it's non-toxic) and smells like mint. I bought it years ago online; just Googled and apparently it's temporarily off the market as they're "updating" it, whatever that means. The list lists a few other available products. I have had success using this with different crawling bugs. I've also heard plain mint oil works at keeping ants away, and I would imagine it would eradicate the nest, if you can find/reach it.

http://www.biconet.com/crawlers/BioCIK.html