Ants!!!!

Seemore_2

Sorry to post off-topic, but although I do have ants now and again (they usually invade the house around May/June but if I deal with this immediately, they get the message and keep away) my current bugbear is Thrips/Storm flies.

These tiny little black crawling things have invaded every summer for the past 3 years or so and they get literaly everywhere, not least on me about every ten seconds it seems. They have reached under the lids of containers in the bathroom, down picture frames, I have even had one stuck on the inside of my pc screen (thankfully gone now)

I dont know if there is an effective way of dealing with them, but fly-spray is a bit expensive and the only way seems to be as they build up around the window sill/walls/ceiling take the hoover to them every couple of hours.

Not sure if the problem is just confined to my area, but the current invasion has lasted about 3 weeks and by god I loathe these things with a passion!!

Butterfly_Brain

Borax is a good way to keep them out failing that try an t powder with a little sugar mixed in they can't resist it and take it back to the nest

cheesy*wotsit

cheesy*wotsit wrote: »

Yess!!!! I have found something that is reasonably cheap, friendly to pets (once dry), and will work both inside and out to get rid of the little blighters. Its called 'Dethlac' and once you have sprayed it about and let it dry they like the smell (they can smell it, we cant), walk about in it and then trog it back to their nest and then kaput! no more ants. :j
For further info try dethlac.com on their FAQ page. Also Wilkinsons sell it for £2.99 for a 250ml can (dont know if I was allowed to put that bit - sorry). :j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

Just an update on my ant thing above. I kept the cat out of the way whilst I sprayed the stuff and until it dried - the can says that its a no no to pets whilst its wet, but ok when dried - and then did the same outside. It dries to a clear hard lacquer. I've done one coat and they've not been back. After 4 years of having black walls full of ants I now have none!! after one application of this stuff. I just wish I'd heard of it earlier. Its cheap, cheerful and does what it says on the can! :j

cheesy*wotsit

And just you watch. No ants for 4 days and now i've posted on here I'll have a houseful!

Loulou2010

finding them in my living room :mad: last year we had a swarm of them :eek: how good ideas how to get rid of them... no obvious point of where they are coming from... last year we used those ants house things where they take it back to the nest. any os ways also child friendly way? it wont be long before they appear in the bathroom and kitchen.....

jackieglasgow

Put ant powder down asap, other than that I have no idea, but get it down, you will probably be able to get it in your local corner shop, I bought mine there last year.

Sublime_2

I'm feeling Grrrrr about all the flies, and wasps that have appeared already.

esmf73

I think I read that ants don't like talc - but other than finding out what they're coming in for - sweet stuff, water, food? and being spotlessly clean its difficult. We lived in Cyprus where the ants would come in and swarm if a crumb of food had been dropped. YUK YUK YUK. Used to hoover them up - and the ants too! Found that keeping everything as clean as possible helped a lot.

Ellie83

esmf73 wrote: »

I think I read that ants don't like talc - but other than finding out what they're coming in for - sweet stuff, water, food? and being spotlessly clean its difficult. We lived in Cyprus where the ants would come in and swarm if a crumb of food had been dropped. YUK YUK YUK. Used to hoover them up - and the ants too! Found that keeping everything as clean as possible helped a lot.

That actually happened to my parents. Ants were everywhere in their kitchen. Mum could not understand why. It turned out that some sugar had spilled in the back of a cupboard and they were feasting on that. Now all loose ingredient are in sealed containers and the ants are gone.

Did you look outside your house as well? Do you have plants/grass next to your walls?

How horrible it must be to live with ants like that We have problems with flies here, but at least we can put screens on the windows!

Pink.

Hi Loulou,

This thread has more suggestions that may help:

Ants!!!!

I'll add your thread to it later to keep the ideas together.

Pink