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Old 11-08-2008, 07:17 PM posted to rec.gardens
Bill[_13_] Bill[_13_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Dec 2007
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Default ants,ants, and more ants, AAAARRRRRRGGGG

In article ,
"David E. Ross" wrote:

On 8/10/2008 3:49 PM, Paul O. wrote:
These are the little devils that are coming into the house. Have been
trying
the Terro liquid ant baits for a couple weeks now. They love it, but
doesn't
seem to have much affect on them. Any suggestions, PLEASE. Hopefully some
of
you have a favorite cure, or a "Killer" idea. We live in a mobile home so I
figure if I spray around the outside, they will just go underneath, which
is
probably where they are coming from to begin with. I don't want to call an
exterminator have a bunch of poision sprayed all around.Thanks.


Most ant baits are not toxic to the adult ants that you see foraging.
Those adults carry the bait back to their nest and feed it to the ant
larvae, for which the bait is indeed toxic. The whole nest dies when an
entire generation of larvae fail to become adults and replace the
existing adults. That takes about a month or two.

I have a different approach, but it works only if I can find the actual
nest. I make a drench of a pint of water and a half-teaspoon of
Malathion and pour it onto the nest. (Larger nests might require a
quart of water and a teaspoon of Malathion.) Bye-bye nest.


The borax sugar bait lasts for years. Another option which does not
kill is a few drops of oil of pennyroyal. Ants canąt stand it and leave
works well here. Caution toxic if ingested it and Iąd avoid contact.
Also a very strong mint smell that fades in a few days. In my basement
we can but up with the scent but no way in living space.

Bill

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Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA