We spent quite a lot of the last two days battling ants.
Although we've tried most of the eco-friendly methods mentioned here, and we thought they'd worked, the irritating insects returned.
It turns out that the other tenants on our property are experiencing the same problem -- perhaps as the result of ant nests being disrupted during recent construction? -- and our landlady is going to order several AntPro Bait Station Kits.
AntPro Liquid Bait Stations are placed around the perimeter of the residence. There's a stake that keeps the station secure in the ground, and the station has a lock so that animals and children can't get to the bait. The liquid bait contains an attractant to lure ants, plus a low-toxicity, borax-based ingredient to kill the colony and the queen.
We're keeping our fingers crossed.
$44.95 (ouch) at Gardener's Supply Company.
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
I tried the whole Borax thing, and while it can work, it really depends on what kind of ants you have.
Turns out I have the type that have multiple queens per nest, thus making it much harder to take them all out. I finally had to get an exterminator, but happily I was able to find a family owned and eco friendly business. Their poisons are super effective, water based, and non toxic, so they won't harm my pets.
The only bad part about eco friendly extermination? You can't clean the area they spray for 30 days!
view Mat's profile
Please post if this works - we have a HUGE colony outside of our building. It must be several colonies and nothing I have tried works effectively.
view amy (rustyletter)'s profile
it is the best looking ant trap thing i've ever seen. will be interested to hear if it works.
view david l.'s profile
I'm interested, too - I think our entire town is built on top of a huge ant colony.
view oceandreamer56's profile
A night without sleep leaves this post a little on the meandering side but please bear with me because I originally learned this method, in essence setting up an ant feeding station, from a PBS gardening show some years ago (perhaps 5?) and it's worked for me ever since:
Indoors: I get rid of them by spraying them with a mixture of water, dishwashing soap, and peppermint oil. They retreat pretty quickly!
Outdoors: I track their trail to the nearest exterior corner of the house. I put, in an open jar, a mixture of borax and sugar water (or honey). I bury that in the garden with a pie tin weighted over the top - or - I put it in a box (something the cats and dogs can't get into easily). The ants go nuts for it but, because I use just a small amount of borax, it doesn't kill them... though they take that bait back to their nest and get used to a little borax in their food (it will kill off the weaker ants). Each day, for about a week, I move that jar closer to their nest and I replenish the mixture and increase the amount of Borax by about 50%. The concept is that if they have easily accessible moisture and food, they don't come looking inside your home, and whether you increase the amount of borax (to kill them off) is up to you. If you kill off a nest, it will regenerate because supposedly it takes a queen just one day with half a dozen males to create a new colony, or another colony will move into the territory (according to that show I saw) so their recommendation was to regularly feed your colony with borax and sugar water (or honey) in order to control the population and keep it far from your home because the ants learn where to feed rather than going in search of new sources (i.e., inside your home) and they follow their same trail over and over from nest to food source. In my case there's a 4-yard-corner that's the furthest spot from all our homes. As long as I've followed this method, I've had no problems, but if I go a prolonged period without replenishing the feeding station then the ants come inside looking for water and food! Since I'm already out gardening, replenishing the feeder once a week isn't a problem, I just keep an eye on it as I'm doing my regular gardening tasks.
view Rucy's profile