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Battle of the ants.


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I have lived in my house for 23 years. Every spring I battle ants in my kitchen. I have tried everything in this war.
The only thing that works for me is borax spread around the kitchen. Yesterday as I looked around my kitchen dusted with borax again I realized I'm winning the battles but losing the war.

:sigh:

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Bear with me ...

I was told that 1 gal. vinegar, 1 cup epsom salts and 1/4 cup of blue Dawn

would kill weeds ,sprouts etc. So I am out doing that and came back to the

house to work on the west side and there are those ants again.

 

I have sprayed them with everything organic I could.....I do not know where the beginning

is but they are traveling along the edge of the siding to the corner up to the eaves then

up toward the peak before entering the house.

So I sprayed their trail with my mixture . I have not seen any since!! This has been going for weeks.

I need to go in the attic and see what they are doing../have done.

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Last year was bad around here for ants. I have been using Amdro, they have a new one that works on smaller ants and such. It's a poison, but ants and I do not get along. I'm ok if they leave me alone, but last year they attacked me any time I walked in my yard.

We have started using, around the edge of the house, diatomaceous earth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

Pest control

Diatomite is used as an insecticide, due to its abrasive and physico-sorptive properties. The fine powder absorbs lipids from the waxy outer layer of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate. Arthropods die as a result of the water pressure deficiency, based on Fick's law of diffusion. This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to defeat slugs. However, since slugs inhabit humid environments, efficacy is very low. It is sometimes mixed with an attractant or other additives to increase its effectiveness. Medical-grade diatomite has been studied for its efficacy as a de-worming agent in cattle; in both studies cited the groups being treated with diatomaceous earth did not fare any better than control groups. It is commonly used in lieu of boric acid, and can be used to help control and possibly eliminate bed bug, house dust mite, cockroach, ant and flea infestations. This material has wide application for insect control in grain storage.


I ran out of 'roach prufe' which was an amazing product. Heard about it on Paul Harvey years ago and got some. It is a boric acid powder. When the bugs/ants walk through it, the powder gets on their body, then, when the bugs get water, it basically fries them.

When we first moved in this house, it had more bugs than I would want to admit. We put it in the walls and any crack, edge, corner or crevice we could find. Over 30 years and we still have very few, if any, bugs or ants in the house.

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I've always had good luck with drops of liquid Terro ant killer. Not organic. Keep away from pets/kids. Ants slurp it up and go away to die.

 

MtRider ..good luck. Pests in the house are so annoying. <_<

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Terro works fine on the sweet or grease ants, as does borax. But in my other house the only

thing that would work on the kind I am fighting now ,was Miracle 2. So I am wondering if it is the

Dawn that wiped out these ants. It certainly did not nothing for the hours work of spraying the weeds,etc.

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Not sure what kind of ants you all are fighting, but the little black ones are the ones that always appear each spring (especially when it rains) and are always around the kitchen faucet etc. I mix a tablespoon of borax and a tablespoon of sugar, set it in a lid of some sort, at the back of my sink area and they dine for a day...swarmed around it...carrying it back to their beloved nest and queen...then I don't see them again. I leave the lid of dessert for them, just in case they want to come back for a treat. Works for me.

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WE2, those are the ants we have. they showed up in our area about 10 years ago and are a major nuisance. Right now I'm dealing with them around the kitchen sink. They are looking for water. They're also becoming a major pain in my garden beds and pots.

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Yes they are the small black ants. The borax is working but I'm still finding a few.

 

Just keep their "treat" of borax and sugar sitting for them. They will eventually leave (die?). We found a real mess of them on the front porch of the Homestead so we just sprinkled a trail across the bannister and column where they were trailing, and yep...they've just about disappeared :-)

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