ants in the kitchen?

[grasswire]

So the farm apartment came with ants. Stubborn ants. I hopped on the google and found a great remedy.

Baby powder. Sprinkle it near them and they run like hell. Sprinkle it near their entrance spot and they don't come back.

Easy and cheap. Of course the place looks like an anthrax factory for a while, but.....

[hippywife]

1. Good tip!

I hadn't tried that. We do get them periodically, and I think they're under control for the moment, but I'll try that next time.

Thanx! :hi:

[Vinca]

2. My homemade ant killer is a mixture of confectioner's sugar and

Borax laundry powder. I use it indoors and out (being careful indoors to sprinkle it where the cats won't walk and then lick their paws). It works really well because the ants think it's food and carry it back to their buddies.

[csziggy]

3. That may not work if they are grease ants

I read that there are sugar ants and grease ants. If they are grease ants, mix the borax with some butter, or some other kind of oil or grease. You can tell which kind by what they go for.

We had grease ants - they ignored the container of sugar, but invaded the toaster are where some butter had dripped. I never actually treated them - I bought some stuff to put down, and set it on the counter where we needed to apply it. Haven't seen an ant inside since! Now I am afraid to open the package, if it is so powerful it works without opening it.

[Vinca]

4. Thanks for the tip. I've never even heard of grease ants.

[ejpoeta]

5. we had ants so awful for some reason this year. i have never had trouble with ants before

in this house... mice? yes, but ants no. i tried putting borax down and it worked a little, but made a big mess and they came back. My sister told me that if you drop some dish detergent on them they are paralyzed and die, but that doesn't get rid of them from coming back. so bob ended up spraying inside and out with bug spray. they haven't been back since. i wish it would have worked with the borax.... maybe if i would have mixed it with sugar or something... i wanted it to work since i had the borax from making laundry detergent. oh well. if they come back i will try the sugar/borax thing.

[kentauros]

6. The reason soap works is because it suffocates them.

All insects (that I know of) breathe through their exoskeleton. They do this through little pockets filled with fat. Soap disperses the fat and they then can't breathe, killing them. That's why you might see on a gardening site something called "insecticidal soap spray". Spray it on your plants and the insects on them, and it will kill many of them but wash off the plants and veggies with ease and not poison you or your family/pets.

You can do a search on natural/organic insecticides and see what shows up...

[beac]

7. I just learned about the sugar/borax method this year too.

The recipe I read recommended putting the mix in a used butter dish, or other shallow container, and then poking holes in the top (I find a hot nail works best for this) to allow the ants in. That way, you can place them wherever you need to w/o making a big mess and the pets can't get into it (though I would still put the dishes behind/under something to make access even harder.)