ANTS, ANTS EVERYWHERE
By Ike Eickstaedt
“Ike, come quick, come quick…their everywhere.”
These were my wife, Mary Alice’s words when we first had a
taste of hordes of ants overwhelming our kitchen. The little nasty critters
were into everything. They were in cereals, cookies, and just about any box
that was open even a crack.
Our first reaction was to just start smashing anything that
moved. Then we called our exterminator, the man who maintains our termite
control. He happens to be a family friend, son of one of Ike’s best friends. He
came over as quickly as he could and did a thorough job of eliminating the
mess. He then gave us a little education of what to do if we saw them again.
First item that he provided was three different ant baits.
One circular one with poison in the middle, one shaped like a triangular faced
small box with a hole in one end, and a plastic
tray-like bait that you cut the end off and drizzle some of the sticky fluid out
of then place on a surface where they are using as a pathway. The last one
works best for our particular ant group – sweet ants. The round one works on
these ants as well as the grease loving ants. The little triangular box just
looks cute.
There are several types of ants in this area, but usually
they are the sugar or sweet ant – it’s a small black ant attracted to sweet
things mainly, but not exclusively; another variety is
attracted mainly to greasy or oily foods – again it’s a small black ant; and,
of course there’s the fire ant – they’re the nastiest little critters. They
come in two varieties – black and red. I’ve not seen any of the red ones here,
but we sure had them in Texas.
The black variety is the common one in this area, although I’ve not seen any of
them in my yard for several years.
Several suggestions regarding ants – if you want to get them
at the source, follow their trail to the nest. They
march in columns and you’ll see them going both ways on their paths. I’ve used
a sprayer that I wear on my back and spray the nest with a Spectacide
solution, then also soak the path with the solution. This has worked well on
individual nests, however, I might add, they will return and you’ll be doing
this again.
If they’re coming into your house, there must be an entrance
they are using. Generally this is a chink in your brick work, plug it with
silicone and spray the infected area. They also inhabit your eaves, up in your
exterior soffits. You’ll see their trails up the side of your house leading
directly into your soffits. This entryway I suggest you soak well with your
spray.
The use of ant baits will work given time and patience –
usually in a couple of days the ants will have taken the bait back home and the
results will be
another dead colony. Don’t fool yourself into thinking their gone for
good….they’ll be back.
Here are some other treatments that I found on the internet:
Ant control tips
Predators
Groundbeetles, humpback flies, parasitic wasps,
praying mantids and the yellow-shafted flicker all
dine on ants. Woodpeckers are voracious ant eaters. You may see them also
pick up ants in their beaks and crush them on their feathers. What are they
doing this for? Crushing the ants bodies releases
tannic acid which in turn protects the bird from parasites!
Here is something interesting: it is said if you take a shovelful of ants
from one hill or nest and put it in another ant hill then take a shovelful
from that hill and put it where you took the first one the ants will then
wage war on one another and do themselves in!
Repellent plants
Catnip, pennyroyal, peppermint, sage, and spearmint. Tansy which is often
recommended as an ant repellant may only work on sugar type ants. These are
the ones that you see on peonies and marching into the kitchen.
Warning: You do not want to plant Tansy anywhere that livestock can feed on
it as it is toxic to many animals. Do not let it go to seed either as it may
germinate in livestock fields.
Barriers
Sprinkle leaves and flowers from sage, mints or tansy around the outside of
your house or plants that are bothered by ants. These plants can also be used
as a living barrier for ant control, bearing in mind that they are invasive
in their growth habit and using cuttings from these plants as a barrier is
more effective. We grow tansy in an out of the way place to harvest the cuttings.
* Vinegar sprays in and around the hose foundation will repel ants. Keep way
from the soil and concrete. Lemon juice concentrate can also be used: mix
50/50 with water and spray.
* Ants will not walk through a line of talcum powder or chalk dust.
Diatomaceous earth may also be used as a barrier in and out of the household.
* Using a silica areogel/pyrethrum spray applied to
the base of plants like eggplants and peppers can control fire ants from
girdling the stems and killing the plants. This is a good barrier as it stays
"put."
* Caulk all cracks and crevices in the building to deny them access. Be sure
to use high quality pure silicone caulking as these are less likely to shrink
or crack once applied.
* Distribute cucumber parings as a repellant. Cucumbers contain a compound
known as "trans-2-nonenal" that repels ants as well as cockroaches!
* Try sprinkling some of those instant grits around the nests. See what
happens!
* For fire ants: Pour half a cup of Epsom salts into the nest and all around
it.
* Sticky barriers like Tanglefoot makes an excellent barrier and can be applied to tree
trunks to disrupt the ants from farming of aphids. This
will naturally biodegrade itself towards the end of the season. NOTE:
On young trees with smaller trunks or those with thin bark (aspens, birches
etc.) do not apply directly to the bark surface. Instead use some thin fabric
tied around the trunk with the sticky stuff applied over this. Remove at the
end of the season.
* On smaller plants a bit of petroleum jelly smeared around the base will
stop ants immediately.
Direct Controls
* Pour apple cider vinegar down entrance holes to the nest.
* Using a sugar soaked sponge works well for light invasions of ants. Use a
large sponge with big holes in it. Soak it in a strong solution of sugar
water and place it where you want to catch the ants. Rinse the sponge out
every day in a container of soapy water. Fix it up with the sugar water again
and repeat as often as necessary.
* Dust such as Silica Aerogel can last a long time.
Their mode of action is to dehydrate the ants. They work slowly and are easy
to use in tight areas such as cracks or crevices.
* Make a strong hot water and hot pepper tea. Use the hottest peppers you can
find, finely chop them in a food processor, mix with
hot water. Pour directly on the nest.
* Douse the nests with boiling water several times. Cruel and can be
effective.
* Repeated flooding of the nest every few days using your garden hose can
often be enough to get them to relocate. You must be persistent with this
method.
* Make teas from tansy, catmint, peppermint or sage to use as repellant
sprays for ants.
* Use equal parts of sugar and baking powder. Place around ant infested area
and nests.
To make teas: Take enough cuttings from these plants to tightly pack one 8
ounce cup. Bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Stir in the plants. Take off the
heat and allow to cool. Strain this mixture, add 1
teaspoon of castile soap and use as a direct spray. You can also substitute 1
teaspoon of coconut oil soap in place of the castile.
Last Resorts
* Pyrethrum mixed with isopropyl alcohol kills ants on contact. Take 16
ounces of ready to use pyrethrum, mix in 1 tbsp. alcohol. Use this as a
drench directly on the active nest.
* Boric acid: Mix 1 cup of sugar, 4 teaspoons of boric acid and 24 ounces of
water in a glass screw top jar. Shake thoroughly until you can see that all
the crystals are dissolved. Now put 1 cup of this mixture into a smaller jar
which you have filled halfway with loose cotton. Firmly screw the lid back
on, seal around the band with weatherproof tape and using an awl punch a few
small holes in the center of the lid. Put this near the entrance of the nest
or wherever they have made a path to your house. The key is the ants will get
into the jar to eat the sugar and return to the nest and pass it on to the
rest of the colony. If you find many dead ants by the jar dilute the solution
and try again. With a proper mixture the colony may be destroyed in a few
weeks. It does take the destruction of the queen to completely eradicate a
colony. Keep this away from kids and pets!
One of our visitors wrote to us about an ant remedy his grandmother used to
use for ants. It does contain boric acid and must be kept from children and
pets. The beauty of it is the peanut butter gets the grease feeding ants and
the sugar gets the sugar feeders. This may need to be repeated for complete
control. So far this has worked for a serious infestation of ants they had in
their house.
* Cora's Ant Control Recipe:
Mix together in a container that will not be used for anything else:
4 ounces of peanut butter
4 ounces of sugar
4 ounces of boric acid
Set in place where the ants are congregating. Leave in place for several days
allowing the ants to feed. May need to be repeated.
CAUTION: You want to place the bait where the ants will eat it but not where
children or pets can get it.
A Word on Boric Acid
Boric acid is a white, inorganic powder chemically derived from water and
boron, which is mined from vast mineral deposits in the ground and used in
consumer products such as laundry additives, toothpaste and mouthwash. Deadly
to cockroaches, boric acid is low in toxicity to people and pets, and is even
used as an eyewash albeit in a 1% water solution. It
is also odorless and contains no volatile solvents. Boric acid has been a
favorite weapon against ants and roaches for more than a century, and is one
of the most effective cockroach control agents ever developed, provided that
it is used correctly. CAUTION: It should be kept away from children and pets.
Try Orange Guard for ant control. It is extremely safe and effective. It will
kill ants on contact and repel them for 2 weeks. Orange Guard can be used in
food preparation areas, outdoors and anywhere ants are a problem. Orange
Guard is non-toxic to people, pets and birds.
Here is another ant bait recipe:
* Mix three parts peanut butter with two parts jelly and add one tablespoon
of boric acid per six ounces of mix. Place the bait on pieces of paper so
stuff it into large straws and place where you see the ants foraging. Again
keep out of the reach of pets and children.
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Sources: http://www.ghorganics.com/page11.html
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