ANTS! Home invasion help

[cavskillz]

What are some things I can try to do to kill all these ants? The past two weeks at my house consisted of smashing ants and it seems that every ant I smash two more are born. I have raid ant baits and they don't seem to be touching the stuff. I've never had an any problem before so I'm out of ideas already. Any ideas?

 

[chezuki]

I've had a lot of success with this stuff.

 

[smokingman]

We had major ant problems a few years ago.Tried quite a few options from baits to a professional.Nothing worked.I was at Lowes one day and picked up this Shop ORTHO 1.33-Gallon Home Defense Max Pest Control Wand at Lowes.com sprayed the entire outside of the house at the base.I use it every spring and mid summer,and have had no ants and very few bugs of any kind.

Hope that helps,and it can be a battle for sure.

 

[Hop]

Terro!

 

[cavskillz]

Great! Ill be trying both of these out. Ill probably try the Terro for a week and see how it works and then move onto the outdoor spray that way if I use both at the same time I won't really know which worked if at all. Thanks late night ingoers.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Terro is awesome. It'll attract them, then wipe 'em out

 

[cavskillz]

Alright, I've looked into this Terro online and after watching videos on YouTube it's like crack for these ants. Swarms of them in minutes just can't get enough of this stuff. Does it really work this well? The ant bait I have now they litterally walk around or the other direction.

 

[hoosierdoc]

Yes, they love it. I think it's just borax with some attractant in it. I would put down several of the traps or squares because the ants would have a tight circle around it and I wanted more to drink to their death (evil laugh)

 

[JokerGirl]

Another vote for the Terro traps. I get the ones that you just cut the bottom off, and set it on whatever surface. Been using them for years as it's inevitable we have the small black ants every spring. A few weeks of having them out, and we are ant free for the rest of the season.

 

[Interpon]

The traps will work but taketime. Also get the pyrithrine sp?,ant and spider stuff..but safe for kids ans kitchen, spray where ants are direct and around areas suspected areas outside and inside for quick relief. Warning..the lemon grass smell is strong for while.

I used to do perimeter but found for me it just let subterreanan bugs in like termites!!!
Not sure why, happpened twice to me in michigan. Just sayin

 

[Fargo]

Another vote for the Terro, it is the only stuff the ants in my area have any interest. I had the same experience with them ignoring every other brand.

Also, make sure your rain gutters are clear. If you let a bunch of wet leaves/vegetation pile up, the ants colonize in them and no amount of ant traps etc will keep them out of your house.

Our ant problem went away within 24 hrs of cleaning the gutters. I couldn't believe how many colonies were inside the vegetation.

Best,


Joe

 

[Bunnykid68]

Terro also makes a granular ant bait you can sprinkle outside too.

I have seen ants on about every property I mow so far this year.

 

[Brandon]

I too use both products listed in this thread, the terro and the outside spray. Use both, keep them from getting in, and kill the ones that are already in.

 

[Indy317]

We started getting ants really bad due to the drought last year. Wife was watering the mulch beds around the house and thus providing the only source of water for the entire period of the drought. I ended up finding at least four huge ant colonies around my house. Also, the ants were coming in from the crawl space in the middle of the house. Again, a leaky pipe allowed water to sit in the crawl and I'm sure they found it as a water source. The crawl up the bricks and wood and made their way into our bathroom.

Terro works well, but when you are possibly dealing with thousands of ants, it might deal a blow to the colony at first, but if the egg laying queen isn't killed, eventually they will be back. Terro should be used all over the place, as much as possible.

If you have a crawl or basement, set off a Raid Fumigator. Unlike the gernade type devices, this product just lightly reacts with water works more like a slow moving light smoke than a high pressure spray. I did this and within minutes I had about ten ants crawling up the walls. They definately didn't like this stuff. I don't know how well it works at killing them, but it seems to help keep ants out of an area.

This year I acted early. I pulled back as much mulch as I could from the foundation of the house. I purchased a bug barrier product and sprayed around the foundation. I then sprayed the mulch and pushed it back up agaisnt the foundation. Hopefully this will help. Once I get back down in the crawl space, I plan on spraying that and setting off another Raid Fumigator.

Two other products you can look at trying are diatomaceous earth and eugenol oil (clove oil). I found DE at Home Depot. It is a power that is said to work well on ants because it cuts their bodies and causes dehydration/infection and eventually death. Like Terro, they get it on their bodies and then take it back to the colony where it is spread around to others. The eugenol works great, ants definately don't like it at all. However, I wouldn't use it in the home. I did that with a no longer manufactured Raid product and the smell is just too much. Raid no longer makes the product, but EcoSmart sells various sprays and such with the oil. Safer makes the DE powder.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

+1 for terro. Depending on how bad it is, you will see a lot of traffic to the traps for up to a week (maybe even two). As time passes you'll notice a decline in traffic, until eventually the nest is killed off.
We put about 5 traps out each spring, and it seems to handle the pests for the entire year.

 

[brummy]

We had an ant problem last year as well. The father-in-law suggested putting out sugar and borax. Our ratio was about 1:1, and it worked great. Same problem again this year. A little reading, and saw a suggestion to wipe the ant area with vinegar to get rid of their trail. This is more for in the home problems. 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon borax, 1/2 cup water; boil to make a syrup, then cool and place out. We're gonna give it a shot and see how it works. Sounds like poormans Terro.

 

[MattyLite]

We too had ants with last years drought. Placed a Terro station where we noticed the most activity and just let them have at it. It was like watching a super highway from the bait to the nest. Took care of my ant problem and will use Terro again.

 

[cavskillz]

Picked up some Terro this morning and bam, ant highway. They love this stuff haha. As soon as I walked in the wife saw my evil grin and knew I was up to something. Thanks

 

[vitamink]

Now i need some Terro

 

[92ThoStro]

The traps will work but taketime. Also get the pyrithrine sp?,ant and spider stuff..but safe for kids ans kitchen, spray where ants are direct and around areas suspected areas outside and inside for quick relief. Warning..the lemon grass smell is strong for while.

I used to do perimeter but found for me it just let subterreanan bugs in like termites!!!
Not sure why, happpened twice to me in michigan. Just sayin

Safe for humans but not for cats, don't get if you have cats.