Ant bait

[Beartracks]

I've got this perennial ant problem in my house, and during this mild (for us) winter we've had to put up with them in my kitchen even in January. I spray occasionally, which helps keep them at bay, but they usually just re-emerge from another place along the baseboard or from under a window sill and keep coming in.

So I tried Terro liquid baits which they seemed really excited about. This is the stuff they're supposed to take back to the nest and share with everyone, and it eventually gets to the queen and kills her. But it seems the liquid stuff skins over making it so the ants get stuck and die, or it takes so long to get a mouthful that it kills the ants before they get out of the bait... after 2 weeks I just had a bunch of gelled-up bait full of ant carcasses, and a LOT of ants still sniffing around, but clearly I hadn't made a dent in the strength of the colony.

And so now they're thumbing their collective noses at me in January.

Does anyone know any other proven solutions for a bait that ants will eagerly, easily and effectively transport back to the colony and eliminate the queen?

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[SWBTATTReg]

1. I get the little break apart ant traps

by PIC. You can get a variety of products (usually 3 or 4 traps per product), break them apart into individual traps and place them around where the ants gather (mine were showing up at the Kitchen sink). You have to leave the traps out all of the time though is the key here...I used to put out, and then after a while, no ants so I would gather up the traps...later, more ants would show up. Thus, I always leave them (several traps) out near the Kitchen sink, no ants ever.

Good luck.

[Lindsay]

4. I've used the same type of break-apart traps,

the ones by Raid (or another, cheaper brand whose name I can't recall) that are in the home and garden section of the grocery store.

As you say, leave them out - I try to put them in areas where my cat won't notice them.

Fortunately for me, I generally only get ants in the spring, so one set of traps does me for the season. Otherwise, the package will tell you how often to replace them.

[Beartracks]

8. Are these traps, or something they transport back home to kill the queen?

[SWBTATTReg]

11. There's a chemical that they transport back to the hive/nest...

[Cartoonist]

2. There's a product that only uses a drop or two

By the makers of Raid or Off

[Lochloosa]

3. Try this. Also they have experts you can call to make sure you are getting the right stuff.

https://www.domyown.com/taurus-sc-termiticide-p-1816.html

[yellerpup]

5. Diatomaceous Earth, also known as DE

is easily available at feed stores and cheap, like 50# for 6 bucks or so, although you can also order it online at very marked up prices, but it is available. We had a rental house where two different colonies overflowed the kitchen. We spread it around the countertops and the ants walked through it and scurried, limping, back to their nest. It's a fine powder that punctures their legs and it clings to them. On the second day, a few were still trying to get in so my husband followed their trail back to the next and poured some down the hole. Third day, no ants. We lived there through June and no ants came back. It's non-toxic and safe for pets, don't feed it, but don't worry if they track through it. The grains are so small they don't affect larger animals. Horses and cattle are fed it with their rations at times, for parasite control. It's made of finely ground freshwater coral. It was a diet fad a few years ago,and people were taking it for a collagen boost to make strong hair and nails, but DO NOT ingest the saltwater DE as those grains are large enough to damage your internal organs.

It worked for us. I hope it works for you!

[Beartracks]

13. I do have some of that.

I used it behind my living room baseboards which I replaced a few years ago.

But ultimately I'd rather kill off the colony, as I think it's living in my walls, not just coming in from outside.



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[yellerpup]

19. They do track it back to the colony.

Hubby just spotted a shortcut.

[intrepidity]

6. Boric acid mixed with sweetener

(I believe that's what Terro essentially is).

If the texture is at issue, mix your own to suit.

Boric acid (powder, found in drug store easily, cheap) mixed with sugar-water or honey. I had to experiment with the formula, but once you get it right, make a big batch. Find a trail of ants to test on, to see which mixture works best.

It took some time, but eventually a really entrenched ant problem was resolved.

Good luck.

[LunaSea]

18. This is the best solution

I've found to work on several species, including carpenter ants.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. One of these:

[Beartracks]

9. Lol Just leave him on my kitchen sink.

[SWBTATTReg]

12. Ha ha heh...this is good, really good! It works too!

[jpak]

20. Beat me to it

[yonder]

10. You're on the right track of not using spot kill sprays.

Those just make the queen produce more eggs.

We have had luck using the Terro drops you're using for the type of ants in our area. Sometimes you have to refresh the traps (a few drops on cardboard) or make your own with borax in a sweet carrier solution.

Try sprinkling food grade diatomaceous earth on their trails. You can buy or make (water bottle w/holes in cap) an inexpensive puffer to make application easier. It breaks down their exoskeleton I think. I believe they inadvertantly carry it back to the colony also where it spreads around and causes problems. That may be a kill method so possibly less desirable.

A water/alcohol mix with 10-15 drops of tea tree oil/orange oil/peppermint oil (recipe online) in a spray bottle can make an effective natural repellent. It's also a kill spray but it fouls up their track sniffers too. A few drops of one of those oils on a rag and wiped on their trails can work also. I think the tea tree oil can be slightly toxic, so careful on food surfaces.

Good luck.

[Beartracks]

15. Thanks. My goal *is* to kill them off, since...

... I think the colony may be in my wall, rather than just coming in from outside.

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[yonder]

17. Yes that is the goal.

But killing them out of the colony only kills them outside of the colony while the queen senses the loss and makes more eggs.

Getting them to carry a toxic bait back to the colony is the idea—that way everybody at home gets it too, including the queen.

[csziggy]

26. Lowe's sells diatomaceous earth and boric acid in convenient bottles

That you can use to shake or puff the powders out of.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Safer-Brand-7-oz-Natural-Insect-Killer/50414200

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hot-Shot-MaxAttrax-Roach-Powder-with-Boric-Acid-1-lb-Insect-Killer/1000609657

AS we're packing our books to go into storage, I'm sprinkling a little of each in the bottom of the boxes. Hopefully that will kill of the roaches and silverfish we have problems with.

[yonder]

29. Thanks for this. Once, maybe twice a year we have a problem with those buggers.

The boric acid PLUS the DE may be the answer.

[Brother Buzz]

14. Ant chalk, Baby!

Ant chalk, also known as Chinese chalk or 'Miraculous Insecticide Chalk', is an insecticide in the form of normal looking chalk. It contains the pesticides deltamethrin and cypermethrin.

While the active ingredients are legal in the United States, the chalk is not legal here. Labeling often falsely claims the chalk is "harmless to human beings and animals" and "safe to use." Chalks have been found to cause serious health problems and deaths. Packaging, often containing lead-based inks, generally does not list ingredients. Despite its illegal status, "Chinese Chalk" is illegally imported from China and sold in corner stores in the United States.

It works, and it is available in most every Asian market in the nation; you just have to ASK for it. However, use it judiciously.

[Beartracks]

16. Interesting.

[in2herbs]

21. If they're sugar ants you'll have to find their "home" outside and treat that to get rid of them. nt

[murpheeslaw]

22. Nutrisweet

I kill fire ant mounds sprinkling two to three packets of the blue sweetener packs on the mound. Don’t disturb it just sprinkle. I think the workers perceive the sweet and carry it to the queen as sugar; as there are no calories she effectively starves to death. I would think you could do the same on the ant trails.

Also for some reason the original GoJo hand cleaner is a great treatment for fire ant bites. Rub a little dab into the bite as soon as you can after being bitten. It takes the burn/itch away immediately and that nasty hard blister that never heals never forms. It does contain lanolin for those that are sensitive.

[Beartracks]

25. I can't find mound or trails outside.

The enter my kitchen from under the windowsill or other little seams and cracks. For all I know, they actually live in the wall.

But I might give the blue packets a try...

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[hack89]

23. A flamethrower is the only thing that will really work. Nt

[Beartracks]

24. It's the only way to be sure...

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[Ferrets are Cool]

27. Fossil Shell Flour

Diatomaceous Earth

[lordsummerisle]

28. This is what worked for me

I had infestations in back to back years of the small ants.

https://uspestsupply.com/advion-ant-bait-killer/?sku=SKU-46FA8AB7&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz5_imb-05wIVyZ-zCh0ptQ_9EAQYBCABEgLMZvD_BwE

You apply a 2-3" bead of this like caulking where you see the ants entering. When I did it every ant was gone in little more than 24 hours.