Ants vs Borax

Stormy
Stormy Posts: 387 Forumite
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in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving
Hi,

Reading in a few other threads Borax was recommended for killing Ant's and giving their nest a Very Bad Day[tm].

I got some today and mixed it in warm water and sugar with a 1:10 mix, 1 teaspoon of Borax to 10 teaspoons of sugar, it was nice and gluey in consistancy, and I put loads of blobs down on the Ant runs where they come upto my house. They loved the sugar solution, litrally 100's of them all over the place sucking it up.

My question is, was my mix strong enough to do the nest some damage? What is the best mix to do maximum mayhem to the nest (which I can't find else I would boiling water it).

Cheers,

Mike
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Comments

  • Mr_Meanie
    Mr_Meanie Posts: 297 Forumite
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    Mixture sounds about right, the idea is that the worker ants take it back to the nest to use for food for other ants, if its too strong they will be dead before they make it back home.
    I love my spell checker, it stops me making all sorts of stupid smelling mistakes. :doh:
  • Stormy
    Stormy Posts: 387 Forumite
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    Cheers, I will re-treat tomorrow and see how it goes. I did notice some of the worker Ants running around at warp speed about 5 hours after the first dose. I kinda hope that means the nest is in trouble and they are working overtime as in the morning they were more sluggish. Its probably they are more active later in the afternoon, so maybe wishfull thinking. :)
  • C_Ronaldo
    C_Ronaldo Posts: 4,732 Forumite
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    where can you buy borax from
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  • Stormy
    Stormy Posts: 387 Forumite
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    I got mine from Ebay, was £3.25 (inc p&p) buy it now, for 300gs. Just do a search on there for household borax.

    Hope this helps,

    Mike
  • C_Ronaldo
    C_Ronaldo Posts: 4,732 Forumite
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    thanks, im always looking at ways of getting rid of the ants
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  • Mr_Meanie
    Mr_Meanie Posts: 297 Forumite
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    where can you buy borax from
    Our local £1 shop sells it, about £1 a box as I remember!
    But I must admit its only a small box, about 100 grams.
    I love my spell checker, it stops me making all sorts of stupid smelling mistakes. :doh:
  • oibaldy
    oibaldy Posts: 84 Forumite
    I'm must've made my solutions too strong in the past! I always found that mixing Vimto with borax would kill them where I put the solution down, so they never took it back to their nests. Must try a weaker solution as I've tried just about every powder and potion on the market.

    Has anyone tried the sonic insect repellants on ants? Wondered if they were any good as they are quite expensive, but worth paying if it gets rid of them for good.
  • Steve_xx
    Steve_xx Posts: 6,976 Forumite
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    Leave them alone. What harm are they doing to you? Why is it that people are obsessed with killing creatures that go about their business without causing any real or lasting harm to humans? Why not put a pot of jam outside and then they'll go in there instead of the house, maybe.

    These tiny creatures are part of an ecosystem that is not meant to be interfered with en-masse in the ways that have been described here.
  • perc
    perc Posts: 1,036 Forumite
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    Steve_xx wrote:
    Leave them alone. What harm are they doing to you? Why is it that people are obsessed with killing creatures that go about their business without causing any real or lasting harm to humans? Why not put a pot of jam outside and then they'll go in there instead of the house, maybe.

    These tiny creatures are part of an ecosystem that is not meant to be interfered with en-masse in the ways that have been described here.

    Because they take over a garden if left unchecked and ruin my daughters enjoyment of it.
    "Those who try to make sense of the world are divided into four categories: scientists, theologians, philosophers, and fools. Correction ... make that one category with three sub-divisions" -- Carlo Kensada
  • Stormy
    Stormy Posts: 387 Forumite
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    oibaldy wrote:
    I'm must've made my solutions too strong in the past! .

    Yeh, I have the same problem. It is really hard to see how effective the Borax is being. It seems to be reducing numbers but I can't be certain. Wish I could find the bloody nests. I have tried a 1:10 mixture Borax:Sugar and a 1:1 Solution (then mixed with warm water to a syrup). The 1:10 solution seemed much tastier to the Ants as they swarmed all over it but I have no idea how effective at killing it was. The 1:1 solution seemed hardly to be touched but this was laid 3 days after the 1:10 mixture. Maybe its working, Maybe its not :confused:

    To Answer Steve, I don't actually mind a few Ants in the garden, but to be quite honest my back garden is just bloody infested at the moment. I have just bought this house and never in my life seen so many Garden Ants in one garden. Its a paved garden with boarders but seems to attract every insect (on mass) under the sun, I have hundreds of Ants, thousands of Predetory Running Mites and too many little Flies buzzing around. The garden is only 30~ feet by 12 feet!!!

    I want to be able to sit out on my patio and not have insects crawling all over my sandwiches :P
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