Ants! Help

[DisneyCrazyET]

My dear trusted friends, I need some help here to get rid of ants. The small, as soon as something sweet hits the counter they come running, kind.
I have wiped down everything with vinegar and that isn't working,
Never had this problem before.
Thanks
Enjoy your weekend!

[kakn7294]

To kill them, I recommend Terra - it's a thick liquid that you place on a small piece of cardboard and the ants carry it back to the nest and wipe out the population. If you have children or pets, though, you must keep this out of their reach. To keep them from coming inside in the first place, try baby powder around your windows, doors, and baseboards - they don't like to cross the powder. I'm sure others will have some good suggestions too!

[vicster]

Ditto on the Terra - works great! I have no pets or small children so it's not like there are crumbs anywhere and the ants still come in. Sometimes it seems they walk right in the front door.

[MsMin]

I have never heard of Terra?? We had small tiny black ants here in the kitchen. ditto on the coming in w/ anything on the counter, even water. I bought the little "ant" boxes and put one behind my biscotti canister and it was slow but they disappeared and never came back. Those little boxes come in different bugs and work like you describe the Terra. Great thing about the boxes is they can be stuck in a cabinet or behind something and the pups can't reach them! Good luck with it.

[Wells]

I agree with the other posters, but the product is called Terro. You have to resist the temptation to smack those little buggers when they are eating this in droves! And it takes a few days to work, but it does work well! I bought mine at a local Meijers store. Good luck!

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I sprayed the foundation of the house with Triazicide or at least I thing that's what it's called. It didn't kill the ones in the lawn, but they aren't in the house.
And I've also hear the one about talcum/baby powder but haven't tried it.

[vizsla]

We have had a problem with ants this year in the house for the first time. They were everywhere. We just placed some ant traps around and that has solved the problem. We have not seen any ants in the house now for almost 2 weeks.

[RedSoxFan]

When we moved into our new house in May, we had ant problems to. They were the big black ones. Ew. We called the exterminator to take care of the problem and he will come monthly to spray to keep all the bugs out. We had lots of spiders too. Part of the problem was where the air conditioner pipes were coming into the house -- the hole around the pipes were not sealed. They are now.

[DisneyCrazyET]

Thanks for your suggestions. I picked up some Terro. I already sprinkled around the house in May, I'll do that again today.

[gueli]

they say the best way to keep the little buggers out is prevention.
I too have gone the exterminator route (2 years ago). I got tired of the constant heavy spraying.

Last year, went on my own- used some spray, but what I found that worked fairly well was the little 'spikes' that go in the ground around the house. (they could be made by raid).
This year I have not seen much activity, but i read an interesting article in national geographic about hive mentality, and in it they had something on ants. how they scout, leave scent trails, etc.

please do an update post on how well you do...
thanks to all for the info...
:mickey:

[MNNHFLTX]

For the small "sweet ants", I agree that Terro works very well. I would suggest, however, using the pre-packaged baiting stations. You just cut off a small pre-marked sliver of the station and the ants will crawl right up in it to get the bait. This way I can even set the station on top of my counter in the kitchen without worrying about contaminating any food or food surface.

The ants are gone within two days of setting out the baiting station.

[Tinkerfreak]

I have used the little igloo looking white ant traps and they have worked great. The minute I see any I put them out asap and withing a few days they are all gone. Plus I don't have to worry about contaminating anything and I ca put them under registers and anyplace else I see them coming in.

[Wells]

......i read an interesting article in national geographic about hive mentality, and in it they had something on ants. how they scout, leave scent trails, etc.


This just reminded me of the old "SIM ant" game I used to play on my SNES .....