Flipping Ants!

trolleyrun

Sugar in any form won't work, as ants love sweet stuff.

Mrs_Imp

trolleyrun wrote: »

Sugar in any form won't work, as ants love sweet stuff.

That's the point of using sugar that's poisoned in some way. They love sugar, so are attracted to it. They take the sugar and the poison and it kills them off. Some ants are fooled by bicarb and icing sugar, some by a sugary product with ant killer added.

We had some success with the icing sugar and bicarb. It seemed to kill off the scouts, but other ants wouldn't touch it. Our ants are now gone, and we didn't use anything else. Either their food source has gone, or the lack of scouts returning sent them elsewhere. Either way we're happy not to have them in the house. My parents couldn't get anything to work except borax and neat squash.

dianetheartist

ant traps have always worked for me..used to clean for a blind lady who had boxes of fresh veg delivered every week,,turned up one day to find the kitchen worktops and cupboards alive with ants--she must have had them in her food bless her..killed all the ones I could see and put ant traps down and there was none to be seen the following week..Aldi have the traps in sometimes..

Arthien

Would any of these suggestions work in the garden? We have lots of paving and sandy soil and keep getting nests appearing everywhere. I've tried the granules they're supposed to take back to the nest but they just run away from them, and the ant powder doesn't seem to get them all as they keep reappearing. I wouldn't mind a few, but this is far too many for one garden, and we keep finding odd ones who've found a way indoors. Plus, not only is it affecting our enjoyment of the garden but they keep eating all my veggies too :mad:

We don't have any children or pets, if that makes a difference.

Primrose

We have used an excellent product in the past called Raid which is a small plastic enclosed circular bait station placed in the path of the ants. It is far less messy than putting down powder. The ants cotton onto to it pretty quickly and are soon killed off. It is advertised on Amazon but is also available in hardware shops if you are lucky enough to have one nearby.

geoffky

barba wrote: »

Having ants is a sign of a dirty house.

Clean up and your problem will be solved

I bet your house is not spotless..In fact i am sure it is dirty...;)

janb5

I have found that putting an egg cup of cider vinegar down at strategic places= dining room and the hall deters them. I don't think they like the smell or end up in there!

Octobergirl

Talc. We had hundreds of them a couple of years ago. I spent ages watching them and found the general area they came from then put talc down. It stopped them coming in.

societys_child

pukkamum wrote: »

I once got infested with flying ants, it was like some kind of horror film.
I walked in to the kitchen and noticed a lone flying ant on the side, looked around and every surface was covered in them.
I had to hoover them up, really grim.
P.s I have tried the icing sugar and baking powder trick on the regular ants i get and it hasn't worked for me.

Flying ants are the young leaving the nest and heading off to set up new colonies. Usually happens on warm summer evenings, the wings fall off after a short time.

notanewuser

trolleyrun wrote: »

Sugar in any form won't work, as ants love sweet stuff.

It does work. I put a little pile of caster sugar outside the house and the ants have no need to come in. I just replenish it every couple of days and have no concerns about nasty chemicals in the house where DD is playing.