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Little Black Ants, Again & Again
Hi Folks,
They're back, and they keep coming. Into our kitchen. We've been waging war on them for eleven years and counting. This year the ants are winning big. We've eliminated every food source but our dishwasher, which they get into regardless how closed it is. So we either need to wash every dish the moment we're done using it, or watch a small parade of critters going by every day. Even if there's nothing in the dishwasher, they're always scouting around for overlooked crumbs or drips. The last thing that worked was a liquid Ant Bait called Terro. It seemed great because you just put a drop of it where they can find it, and they hungrily slurp it up. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop them from coming anymore. So either it's killing them and there's an endless supply of ants, or it's only making them stronger these days. The plastic ant bait traps aren't having any effect. We've bought all of the latest ones by Raid, Black Flag, Combat, etc. - they just walk right past, don't even hesitate. I even tried putting little drops of honey inside to lure them in - no sale. Jelly didn't work either. Spreading boric acid powder around makes it look like you've taken up an expensive hobby in the kitchen, but doesn't deter the ants. I don't see them walking through it, but they always find a way around. Sealing up the holes they come through no longer works. They come in from the gap underneath our cabinets. I've wandered all through our crawl space with a flashlight, but did not see any ant trails nor anthills. I've looked all around the outside of the foundation and didn't see them. Maybe they're inside the walls, I've got no clue. I also spread some pesticide around the foundation of our house inside and out using a hand spreader. It was a granular mix for ants and termites. Used twice the recommended amount. This didn't faze them. I can't think of anything else to try, other than calling some dude that has a big plastic bug on his car roof to come out here and spray a lot. Anyone know something that works, that I've overlooked? Gracias, -dreq |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
"Derek Mark Edding" wrote in message nk.net... Hi Folks, They're back, and they keep coming. Into our kitchen. We've been waging war on them for eleven years and counting. This year the ants are winning big. We've eliminated every food source but our dishwasher, which they get into regardless how closed it is. So we either need to wash every dish the moment we're done using it, or watch a small parade of critters going by every day. Even if there's nothing in the dishwasher, they're always scouting around for overlooked crumbs or drips. The last thing that worked was a liquid Ant Bait called Terro. It seemed great because you just put a drop of it where they can find it, and they hungrily slurp it up. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop them from coming anymore. So either it's killing them and there's an endless supply of ants, or it's only making them stronger these days. The plastic ant bait traps aren't having any effect. We've bought all of the latest ones by Raid, Black Flag, Combat, etc. - they just walk right past, don't even hesitate. I even tried putting little drops of honey inside to lure them in - no sale. Jelly didn't work either. Spreading boric acid powder around makes it look like you've taken up an expensive hobby in the kitchen, but doesn't deter the ants. I don't see them walking through it, but they always find a way around. Sealing up the holes they come through no longer works. They come in from the gap underneath our cabinets. I've wandered all through our crawl space with a flashlight, but did not see any ant trails nor anthills. I've looked all around the outside of the foundation and didn't see them. Maybe they're inside the walls, I've got no clue. I also spread some pesticide around the foundation of our house inside and out using a hand spreader. It was a granular mix for ants and termites. Used twice the recommended amount. This didn't faze them. I can't think of anything else to try, other than calling some dude that has a big plastic bug on his car roof to come out here and spray a lot. Anyone know something that works, that I've overlooked? Gracias, -dreq Had exactly the same problem. Twice a year (spring & early fall/late summer) tiny ants would invade and attack. Terro ant traps were the only thing that really worked. http://www.biconet.com/crawlers/terroant.html We bated just at the entry way and the ants never went past the traps. After two years of using the terro traps the attacks stopped and the colony was presumably destroyed. Mind you, these were sugar ants an not protein feeding ants. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/insect/05518.html |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
me wrote:
They're back, and they keep coming. Into our kitchen. We've been waging war on them for eleven years and counting. .. Spreading boric acid powder around makes it look like you've taken up an expensive hobby in the kitchen, I didn't expect to get a grin from a thread about ants in the house, but this did it for me. :-) summer) tiny ants would invade and attack. Terro ant traps .. entry way and the ants never went past the traps. I'll second dreq's comments; we have had this problem off and on over the years--especially after heavy rains. This year was an "ant year" but the same thing worked that has worked for us befo Terro ant traps. There are big "outdoor" ones and smaller ones made of clear plastic; we use a mix of both. I put them all outside, and dog-proof them by putting them inside cinderblocks, or inside a tiny "shelter" made of three bricks. I put one or two of these where I see a busy ant trail. Usually the ants are swarming over the baits within a few hours. We had miserable trouble with ants in the house this summer; putting out the Terro ant traps, a few times over a month or so, has fixed it completely. I tried other brands of ant baits at first, and didn't have any success. Bought an armful of Terro products at Burke Brothers (5227 Hillsborough St, 851-1211), which sent our pests to the Great Ant Farm in the Sky, and has given us some peace at last. HTH. _______________________________________________ Ken Kuzenski AC4RD ken . kuzenski at duke .edu _______________________________________________ All disclaimers apply, see? www.duke.edu/~kuzen001 |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
On 2006-09-18, Derek Mark Edding wrote:
Hi Folks, They're back, and they keep coming. Into our kitchen. We've been waging war on them for eleven years and counting. This year the ants are winning big. We've eliminated every food source but our dishwasher, which they get into regardless how closed it is. So we either need to wash every dish the moment we're done using it, or watch a small parade of critters going by every day. Even if there's nothing in the dishwasher, they're always scouting around for overlooked crumbs or drips. The last thing that worked was a liquid Ant Bait called Terro. It seemed great because you just put a drop of it where they can find it, and they hungrily slurp it up. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop them from coming anymore. So either it's killing them and there's an endless supply of ants, or it's only making them stronger these days. The plastic ant bait traps aren't having any effect. We've bought all of the latest ones by Raid, Black Flag, Combat, etc. - they just walk right past, don't even hesitate. I even tried putting little drops of honey inside to lure them in - no sale. Jelly didn't work either. Spreading boric acid powder around makes it look like you've taken up an expensive hobby in the kitchen, but doesn't deter the ants. I don't see them walking through it, but they always find a way around. Sealing up the holes they come through no longer works. They come in from the gap underneath our cabinets. I've wandered all through our crawl space with a flashlight, but did not see any ant trails nor anthills. I've looked all around the outside of the foundation and didn't see them. Maybe they're inside the walls, I've got no clue. I also spread some pesticide around the foundation of our house inside and out using a hand spreader. It was a granular mix for ants and termites. Used twice the recommended amount. This didn't faze them. I can't think of anything else to try, other than calling some dude that has a big plastic bug on his car roof to come out here and spray a lot. Anyone know something that works, that I've overlooked? Gracias, -dreq I think they are using the internal piers of the foundation and not the perimeter. They may have the colony around or near some of them. We had this problem a few summers back and spraying the piers did it for me. I could not find an entry point either. I think they got access from a seam in the driveway that comes up to the corner of the house. I never saw them there but once. I think they had setup colonies and did not need access after that. I originally thought they were coming from the ceiling, but I drowned the attic in spray before doing the piers. I suggest totoal global attack with a liquid home pesticide. I use Ortho. You may need two of the gallon jugs. Definitely one whole gallon. They come with a built in sprayer now that gives you a nice stream of the stuff. Make it a stream not a spray. Spray the foundation outside where the siding meets the bricks. Spray the foundation where it meets the ground. Make sure you get under any leaves or plastic used for mulch. Spray under the crawl space also at ground/brick level and where floor joists hit the brick. Spray all the inner piers supporting the house at the ground and at joist as well. Spray all the pipes and the ductwork. Spray all the baseboards in house especially every room where you have them. Spray all the attic perimeter from the inside, spray all pipes you see in the attic. Perhaps a couple of those insect bombs in the crawlspace and the attic as well. All this will cost you say 50 bucks at most. If it does not work then maybe you will have to go the route of encasing the house. Good luck. -- Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please. is a garbage address. |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
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Little Black Ants, Again & Again
Hi, Derek,
Same problem at my house. A friend recently sent me this article and I'm going to try it....................... Good Luck! Got an Ant Problem? Use Aspartame http://www.mercola.com/blog/2006/aug..._use_aspartame Derek Mark Edding wrote: Hi Folks, They're back, and they keep coming. Into our kitchen. We've been waging war on them for eleven years and counting. This year the ants are winning big. We've eliminated every food source but our dishwasher, which they get into regardless how closed it is. So we either need to wash every dish the moment we're done using it, or watch a small parade of critters going by every day. Even if there's nothing in the dishwasher, they're always scouting around for overlooked crumbs or drips. The last thing that worked was a liquid Ant Bait called Terro. It seemed great because you just put a drop of it where they can find it, and they hungrily slurp it up. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop them from coming anymore. So either it's killing them and there's an endless supply of ants, or it's only making them stronger these days. The plastic ant bait traps aren't having any effect. We've bought all of the latest ones by Raid, Black Flag, Combat, etc. - they just walk right past, don't even hesitate. I even tried putting little drops of honey inside to lure them in - no sale. Jelly didn't work either. Spreading boric acid powder around makes it look like you've taken up an expensive hobby in the kitchen, but doesn't deter the ants. I don't see them walking through it, but they always find a way around. Sealing up the holes they come through no longer works. They come in from the gap underneath our cabinets. I've wandered all through our crawl space with a flashlight, but did not see any ant trails nor anthills. I've looked all around the outside of the foundation and didn't see them. Maybe they're inside the walls, I've got no clue. I also spread some pesticide around the foundation of our house inside and out using a hand spreader. It was a granular mix for ants and termites. Used twice the recommended amount. This didn't faze them. I can't think of anything else to try, other than calling some dude that has a big plastic bug on his car roof to come out here and spray a lot. Anyone know something that works, that I've overlooked? Gracias, -dreq |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
marymind wrote:
Hi, Derek, Same problem at my house. A friend recently sent me this article and I'm going to try it....................... Good Luck! Got an Ant Problem? Use Aspartame http://www.mercola.com/blog/2006/aug..._use_aspartame Hi Marymind, The blogger Dr. Joseph Mercola, along with his readers, has been spoofed: http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.c...dline=s5i11213 Humorous stuff though! ;) -dreq |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
Derek Mark Edding wrote: marymind wrote: Hi, Derek, Same problem at my house. A friend recently sent me this article and I'm going to try it....................... Good Luck! Got an Ant Problem? Use Aspartame http://www.mercola.com/blog/2006/aug..._use_aspartame Hi Marymind, The blogger Dr. Joseph Mercola, along with his readers, has been spoofed: http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.c...dline=s5i11213 Humorous stuff though! ;) -dreq Hi, Derek, This article is even MORE encouraging............lol Thanks for the updated info. Marymind |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
I missed the original post, so this may not be peritinent to it, but
seems pertinent to the thread in general. Combining sugar and yeast and putting out for the ants to eat is supposed to blow them up when the yeast starts to grow! Have not tried this but I like the idea. Eileen marymind wrote: Derek Mark Edding wrote: marymind wrote: Hi, Derek, Same problem at my house. A friend recently sent me this article and I'm going to try it....................... Good Luck! Got an Ant Problem? Use Aspartame http://www.mercola.com/blog/2006/aug..._use_aspartame Hi Marymind, The blogger Dr. Joseph Mercola, along with his readers, has been spoofed: http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.c...dline=s5i11213 Humorous stuff though! ;) -dreq Hi, Derek, This article is even MORE encouraging............lol Thanks for the updated info. Marymind |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
On 2006-09-19, Derek Mark Edding wrote:
wrote: All this will cost you say 50 bucks at most. If it does not work then maybe you will have to go the route of encasing the house. Good luck. What is involved in encasing the house? I just told you all I know about that. :-) I do know that would be the last resort that I would try. I think Professionals have better methods. One of my relatives in a different state also has an ant problem at her house. She paid a pest control company close to three grand to have them dig a trench completely around their house, and install some sort of pesticide barricade. I wish they had talked to me first because it seems just as likely the ants are living somewhere within the perimeter of the house. They still have them inside after this treatment. Now the same company wants to go through the crawl spaces and attic, doing the same kind of spraying you're describing for additional $$$. It sounds like robbery to me, but my relative has been using this company for a couple of decades and trusts them far too much. :( -dreq -- Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please. is a garbage address. |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
On 2006-09-20, Derek Mark Edding wrote:
marymind wrote: Hi, Derek, Same problem at my house. A friend recently sent me this article and I'm going to try it....................... Good Luck! Got an Ant Problem? Use Aspartame http://www.mercola.com/blog/2006/aug..._use_aspartame Hi Marymind, The blogger Dr. Joseph Mercola, along with his readers, has been spoofed: http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.c...dline=s5i11213 Humorous stuff though! ;) -dreq interesting I could not find ants on Snopes, but plenty of other myths about it. My BS detector was going off as soon as I read it. -- Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please. is a garbage address. |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
On 2006-09-20, E Gregory wrote:
I missed the original post, so this may not be peritinent to it, but seems pertinent to the thread in general. Combining sugar and yeast and putting out for the ants to eat is supposed to blow them up when the yeast starts to grow! Have not tried this but I like the idea. Eileen Bread has yeast in it and sugar. Never saw an ant die from eating bread. Aspartame is harmful to folks with PKU, but I cannot see how anything a human would consume would be harmful to ants unless it was beer and they drowned. marymind wrote: Derek Mark Edding wrote: marymind wrote: Hi, Derek, Same problem at my house. A friend recently sent me this article and I'm going to try it....................... Good Luck! Got an Ant Problem? Use Aspartame http://www.mercola.com/blog/2006/aug..._use_aspartame Hi Marymind, The blogger Dr. Joseph Mercola, along with his readers, has been spoofed: http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.c...dline=s5i11213 Humorous stuff though! ;) -dreq Hi, Derek, This article is even MORE encouraging............lol Thanks for the updated info. Marymind -- Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please. is a garbage address. |
Little Black Ants, Again & Again
On Mon, 18 Sep 2006 21:56:29 GMT, Derek Mark Edding
wrote: The last thing that worked was a liquid Ant Bait called Terro. It seemed great because you just put a drop of it where they can find it, and they hungrily slurp it up. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop them from coming anymore. So either it's killing them and there's an endless supply of ants, or it's only making them stronger these days. Sadly that's been my experience too. Terro only works on the little black "sweet ants" for one thing. And yes, they crowd around the drops of Terro like thirsty critters at a desert watering hole. I kept putting out more Terro as the crowds increased, and they'd suck it up for days, then stand around looking dazed. Then they started to dwindle... and dwindle. Supposedly they feed the regurgitated poison to the other ants, and it is supposed to eventually kill the colony. I kept putting out the terro. Then, just when I thought I had the problem solved, they started came back. My theory is that there were a few out of those tens of thousands of ants in the colony that had resistance to the poison. They survived--maybe one made it to Queenhood in case the dead queen needed replacing. Then they started all over again. But there's not nearly as many now. Let's see what happens next summer... Sue |
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