Hey, little black ants that wander aimlessly around my house, we need to talk.

[Lorax7844]

First let me say that this is not all going to be bad, there are things that I appreciate about you. I appreciate that you are not mean, bitey, red ants like the ones that used to live in the yard of our old house. They were real bastards. I appreciate that you are not a more disgusting kind of bug like roaches, eww. I appreciate that you aren't poisonous or cruel like hornets or wasps that can and will sting multiple times. i appreciate that you don't seem to hang out in large groups, 5 or 6 at a time. I might even go so far as to say that I like your low key approach to partying, just a select few. That's cool. I appreciate you resilience. All of the other bugs that have cohabited with us in the past must have been real pussies, cause they never could take it when the exterminator came and sprayed his magic bug-killing/possible-cancer-causing spray. You have survived not one, but two visits from the man in the white truck, so kudos there. I even appreciate that you where here before me and mine, so you know, I respect that I might be invading your turf and not the other way around. BUT...

Your insistence on being the stupidest ants on the planet is really annoying and frankly I secretly wish that you would just wise up.

Why oh why do you insist on hanging out in places where I know there is nothing for you to eat? For example, the bathroom, I know that some of the shampoo smells like papaya and watermelon, it's not. Trust, you don't want to eat it. Or the dishwashing powder under the sink, I know you're not going to eat it so why crawl there? As eating and drinking in the bedrooms is forbidden in this house, I know for a fact there is nothing for you in either of these rooms. And while I'm sure my kitties are appreciative that you completely ignore their food bowl, we all would at least understand it if you decided to congregate there. Even in the kitchen you seem clueless to all of the goodies in the cabinet or the things on top of the fridge; like the sugar container or the cereal. I never see you and your party of five inspecting there. While I'm glad you're saving me money in tupperware containers, and all, it just leads me to ask where is your self respect? Is your queen a Raid huffing moron? Is her poor leadership driving you to pointless suicide missions? You know if I see you, I will crush you like the ants that you are.

What I'm saying is unless your mission is to drive me mad with confusion, you are complete failures at ant life. In short, I feel I deserve a more worthy adversary. That is all.

[Lorax7844]

1. If anyone can advise me on how to put these buggers out of their misery

I would be very thankful.

[trof]

5. We had these tiny sugar ants here in the (home) office. Solution:

No food in here, either.
Anyway, I put out a couple of Terro liquid ant baits and next day...no more ants.

[Lorax7844]

13. hubby says that they removed the agent

in terro that makes it work. We tried that first before bugging my landlord.

[NJmaverick]

2. They have ant hotels that are sort of like roach motels

it's got stuff in them that the ants take back to the nest to destroy them all. Are these carpanter ants or the little tiny ones. There are also crystals you can sprinkle around the house that work similar to the ant traps.

[fizzgig]

3. find where they're coming in and sprinkle some cayanne pepper around the area

it's always worked for me.

i'd rather have your problem than my earwig infestation x(

[greendog]

16. I tried cayanne pepper on my ants.

Didn't faze 'em. It was their favorite meeting place.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

4. I'd like to spend a day with them

[tigereye]

6. it's seems that no sooner do I rid myself of one set of ants, then another

(smaller and faster) group of them appears the next summer, particularly in the kitchen ( part of which is a converted porch) Bizarre.


I really think they just come in wherever they can (making sure there are no tree limbs touching the bathroom windows seems to help as far as bathrooms are concerned. I just get ant traps and try to keep everything so clean that there is nothing for them to eat.

[Xipe Totec]

7. Carpenter ants

they're dining on your house.

Not as innocuous as they seem...

[Kali]

9. might just be looking for water

also I call them "big" but we aren't exactly being very scientific are we? big ants, little ants, red ants, black ants

[Xipe Totec]

10. They are always looking for water

Especially where water comes in contact with wood.

They love wet wood; that's where they live, and what they live on.

[Kali]

11. oh I know I get them in the fall

odd ones, they are

[Lorax7844]

12. Well, that kind of explains their erratic behavior

i've tried all of the above, except the pepper remedy, I wrote this last night cause I had insomnia and all of my cleaning was done. I wanted to make people laugh so I posted it here.

[Xipe Totec]

15. Just giving you some friendly info

based on personal experience.

Kill those MOFOs, the sooner, the better.

[Kali]

8. sugar and borax with a few drops of water in a small flat container like a bottle cap

that is all ant baits are, do it yourself for cheap. Diatomaceous Earth deters them - put it where they are coming in.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

17. What's the difference between borax and boric acid in ant remedies?

I've heard of using both like this to get rid of ants. I realize they both contain boron, which I think is what kills the ants, but do you know if one is better than the other?

[Kali]

18. I don't know, I have only tried borax.

interesting question, though.

[marzipanni]

20. If they are very small ants (not 1/2" or larger carpenter ants)

mix equal parts (about a 3/4 teaspoon of each) powdered sugar and boric acid powder( which comes in a small jar from the drug store) with a few drops of water. Drizzle some in a circle on a flat lid like the kind that comes on a pint of sour cream or yogurt, and put the lid across their path. You want to make a thin line or circle so that a whole group of ants can feed on it together. Then they go back to their nest, share the food with their nest mates and they all die within a few days. You have to keep the bait damp because they need water, and replenish it while you still see ants.

[Duer 157099]

21. I've done this before

You have to really get the ratios correct though, but when you do, boy it works well. You know you've got it right when they all line up around the perimeter of the liquid and there's no space to squeeze even one more into the trough.

[TheManInTheMac]

14. I heard somewhere that cornmeal was a natural alternative

to insecticides. They eat it, can't digest it, and starve to death. We tried it on an ant hill, but it didn't seem to work too well for us.

Right now, though, I'm more concerned about what these Japanese beetles are doing to my cherry tree.

[Kali]

19. you need chickens!

[Flaxbee]

22. ode to the blank ant. made me smile

... if they're not infesting your food, and travel mostly solo, I'd just leave 'em alone. :D