Dealing with ants

[Deleted]

Okay, this past year I've had periodic problems with ants in my kitchen area.  They are tiny little black ones known as raspberry or crazy ants.  And they are a real nightmare.  Unlike other ants they won't take a bait and are seemingly immune to standard pest control measures.  My exterminator says they do not respond to the stuff he uses to kill termites.  I normally do no topical treatment in the house, relying on exterior perimeter treatment and interior baits to control pests.  

The pest control company says they must have a colony deep underground beneath the slab and want to tunnel and inject something akin to North Korea nuclear bombs.  I am less than thrilled at the idea of sitting on a toxic waste and having a very large bill for treatment of a relatively small problem.

Anyone had any experience with these little guys?  What did you do about them?  

Thanks, YM'ers!

[dee27]

Our condo is on a slab and we have a periodic problem with small ants that congregate in the bathroom or near the kitchen door. I don't know the name of the traps we use, but it is a small box with sweetened liquid poison inside and the ants are attracted to it.

[Opti]

Have you tried putting out artificial sweetner and seeing if they will take that?

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Huh. Our ants come in when the rain starts. They're "regular" ants--sugar ants? 
Terro gets rid of them within a few days. Do you consider that a topical treatment? I don't have young children anymore, so it's not an issue if I have these sitting out. We looked into pest control service, and the "natural" one that I would have preferred charged $300 for the initial set-up visit and then $45/month after that. I couldn't justify that cost when we simply don't have that big of a problem.  Good luck!

[CCL]

We've used Terro on little ants that look like those, although I'm not sure if that's what they are called. They've got some info on their website:

www.terro.com/crazy-ants

[weltschmerz]

Dec 26, 2017 0:24:36 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Huh. Our ants come in when the rain starts. They're "regular" ants--sugar ants? 
Terro gets rid of them within a few days. Do you consider that a topical treatment? I don't have young children anymore, so it's not an issue if I have these sitting out. We looked into pest control service, and the "natural" one that I would have preferred charged $300 for the initial set-up visit and then $45/month after that. I couldn't justify that cost when we simply don't have that big of a problem.  Good luck!

I also get ants when the rain starts. I use this. They will not cross a line of this, so I draw around  the cat food and where the walls meet the counters and floors. The ants vanish. It really works....I even used to bring it down to Jamaica, because my friends who lived there had problems with huge freaking bugs
You can't find it in North America, but order it from Ali Baba or AliExpress. About $3 a box.


I always order many boxes, because EVERYONE wants one.

[Value Buy]

Dec 26, 2017 0:53:39 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Dec 26, 2017 0:24:36 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Huh. Our ants come in when the rain starts. They're "regular" ants--sugar ants? 
Terro gets rid of them within a few days. Do you consider that a topical treatment? I don't have young children anymore, so it's not an issue if I have these sitting out. We looked into pest control service, and the "natural" one that I would have preferred charged $300 for the initial set-up visit and then $45/month after that. I couldn't justify that cost when we simply don't have that big of a problem.  Good luck!

I also get ants when the rain starts. I use this. They will not cross a line of this, so I draw around  the cat food and where the walls meet the counters and floors. The ants vanish. It really works....I even used to bring it down to Jamaica, because my friends who lived there had problems with huge freaking bugs
You can't find it in North America, but order it from Ali Baba or AliExpress. About $3 a box.


I always order many boxes, because EVERYONE wants one.

Just be careful with this stuff. I am not saying yours is bad, but there are some that our EPA claims is bad for you and the environment, and are knock offs.
Why Customs does not check everything coming in from China is beyond me.
They should even be checking every damn wood pallet the stuff ids loaded on for evasive insects larvae/eggs.

www.epa.gov/safepestcontrol/avoid-illegal-household-pesticide-products

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

We use Terro too.  A couple days of bait traps and ants disappear.  They used to come in at the window, near Sheldon's food dish.  We put a trap near the window, and ants went away.

[weltschmerz]

"Just be careful with this stuff. I am not saying yours is bad, but there are some that our EPA claims is bad for you and the environment, and are knock offs.

Why Customs does not check everything coming in from China is beyond me.

They should even be checking every damn wood pallet the stuff ids loaded on for evasive insects larvae/eggs. "
---------------

I've been using it for at least 30 years. It used to be sold on every corner, but evidently, children were playing with it as regular chalk, and now it's outlawed.
I find it extremely effective, with no odour. My cat's food would be swarming with ants, and all I had to do was draw a line around the placemat where he eats.
None of my animals ever got sick from it. One stick lasts me forever.

[Tiny]

Hmm, I have basic "pavement ants" to deal with - they are not the same but I found it was helpful to learn about the ants "life cycle" and habits. The little guys in my yard get all rambunctious/frisky in the early spring when they go looking for 'greener pastures' - aka the interior of my house! They also get a little single minded in the fall when they try to 'stock up' on food for the winter. I found they will happily line up to devour Terro liquid in the fall (I put the bait on the ground level window sills because that's where the ants are in the fall) - they totally ignore it in the spring.

So, now I give them lethal take out (Terro) in the fall and I put some sort of powder stuff (Can't remember what it is) around the outside of my foundation in the very early spring (to keep them from getting into my house during the summer/fall months). I keep the ants outdoors with a one - two punch. I like ants - nature's little garbage men! I just don't want them in my house.

I know your ants are different - but maybe there are ways to cope with them - you just need to match the treatment to the 'life cycle' of the ants??

[bobosensei]

have you tried using a natural remedy like cinnamon?  I know that is supposed to work for regular ants.  Also have you sealed the areas where they are coming in?

[Deleted]

Dec 26, 2017 15:58:50 GMT -5 bobosensei said:

have you tried using a natural remedy like cinnamon?  I know that is supposed to work for regular ants.  Also have you sealed the areas where they are coming in?

I usually go for the "seal 'em out" approach with pests but these guys are coming up through the slab around all the plumbing and possibly through old cracks (our house is 60+ years old).   

The buggers don't go near any food source (sugar, cat food, anything) which is super weird, and ignore traditional baits.  I'm going to see if I can get the Terro stuff.  

Thanks everyone for the ideas - I'm on a mission!

[CCL]

You should be able to find Terro at Lowe's or Home Depot-type places. I have better luck with the bottles rather than the premeasured traps.

[dannylion]

Have you tried perimeter treatment with Amdro? I've had good luck with that.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Dec 26, 2017 19:52:56 GMT -5 CCL said:

You should be able to find Terro at Lowe's or Home Depot-type places. I have better luck with the bottles rather than the premeasured traps.

This is what we do.  A few drops on a small piece of foil, and you see a feeding frenzy.  You might have to add a few more drops, but a couple days later, there will be fewer ants, until there are none.

[bean29]

I have had ants nearly every year in my 12 year old house.  I keep them out/under control with vigilant application of foundation insecticide (I have used both liquid and powder). Inside I often put the little Terro ant traps under the sinks and behind the toilet. I have to be super careful where I put them now b/c my dog will get into them.

Natural remedies:  Ants do not like vinegar and they apparently don't like mint. There is also some kind of natural remedy that has a combination of things in it to keep bugs and mice away that I began spraying my foundation with to keep mice away).  I have had a field mouse or two enter the house through the furnace exhaust pipe. I planted some mint underneath it, and spray the foundation once a month to keep the critters away.

Terro makes some larger outdoor ant traps maybe about 4x4 that I used to put in the plant beds around the house.  You just activate them and stake them to the ground.  They seemed to work well, but again, I caught my Dog playing with the trays he pulled out more than once, so stopped using them.