# Ants?



## soupy1957 (Jun 28, 2011)

The wife is reporting the presence of ants in our newly renovated kitchen.........never had issues with ants before; ever.

Our new addition is an above-ground (concrete spires) addition, and there's a couple dozen splits in the wood ring in the living room.......but that's my only thoughts on the matter. We're runnin Central Air 24/7 now.

Ants huh?!  Weird.........we're not leaving any food laying around, and we keep the kitchen clean.........I dunno............

-Soupy1957


----------



## Fsappo (Jun 28, 2011)

Since your posting in the wood stove forum, I'm guessing that your guessing they are coming from the wood stove?


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Jun 28, 2011)

We have a constant battle with ants here and have for many, many moons. That is why we use Terro Ant Dust. We spread a line all the way around the house and most of the time they will not cross it.

Terro Ant Dust

The good part of this is that it is waterproof. We had a couple ants come in a few days ago and looking around we saw that one drain off an eave trough was touching the ground so the ants were climbing up that to get in. A quick fix there but I fear that won't be so waterproof as rushing water would tend to wash away the dust so we'll keep our eyes on that one.


----------



## firefighterjake (Jun 28, 2011)

May be The Year of the Ant . . . I haven't seen ants in my house for many years and a few weeks back I saw a bunch of the itty bitty ones (how's that for a scientific classification) . . . I squished a bunch and washed a few down the drain . . . haven't seen them since though . . . maybe the survivors passed on word that they should avoid my house or risk a painful death.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jun 28, 2011)

They've been terrible in my house as well, and they sort of re-emerged yesterday in full force.  I killed a couple dozen of them in the past 2 days- time to get tough!


----------



## smokinj (Jun 28, 2011)

General insecticide once a month is part of my routine. (cheap stuff labed for food)


----------



## soupy1957 (Jun 28, 2011)

Franks said:
			
		

> Since your posting in the wood stove forum, I'm guessing that your guessing they are coming from the wood stove?



Yep........I thought that perhaps the wood in the living room wood ring was attracting them (aroma) but that doesn't explain their presence in the kitchen.

Usually, when ants show up in a kitchen, its because of food left out, but I'm wondering about the above ground construction to the addition at the moment.

Wish I COULD have turned this into a wood stove topic, but ah well........

-Soupy1957

P.S.: I recommended Ant Traps to her.


----------



## Tatnic Corners (Jun 28, 2011)

We get carpenter ants on an infrequent basis. The easiest way to deal with them is Caro Syrup and Boric acid. Just mix up a 1 to 1 batch and leave it out for them. They love it, and bring it back to mama... 

Gotta warn you though if you have ants they are eating something. Do you have cats? Dogs? Ages ago, before being so green I had ants in the house, bombed the house. Killed the ants and less than two weeks later the flea eggs they were eating hatched.... Preferred the ants


----------



## bears12th (Jun 29, 2011)

soupy, what kind of ants are we talking about here?  small ones or the big black carpenter ants?


----------



## soupy1957 (Jun 29, 2011)

Bears12th:  Not sure........I didn't see them personally.  I'll ask the wife and get back to you. 

Ok, the wife says they are tiny little brown ants........

I guess that means that they are the run of the mill type of ants.

-Soupy1957


----------



## billb3 (Jun 29, 2011)

I've had the little ants  find a few greases splatters on the stove.
Also the same size small ants find sugar or whatever in the sink. I swear they know sugar was there before it was cleaned up and won't give up on the search.
Citrus cleaner killed them  on contact, and I poured it down any crevice in the wall they were  coming out of.

Citrus cleaner doesn't seem to phase carpenter ants.

I've sprayed the foundation and  used bug  powder around the house. Trying to avoid where the dog walks.


I've had the tiny ones in a old chimney once. Seemed they were in the brick mortar and ash in the bottom.
Sprayed with something from HD and they were gone.



This year I've got the big brown/red/black ones and they are nasty.
Inside once ( found a rinsed out  peach can on the  counter). Citrus cleaner killed 'em but took a good sized drowning squirt for each one. Not back but I found where they are outside under the sidewalk.
Damned things build little  half tunnels in the lawn.
I've only seen carpenter ants do that.

Borax doesn't work on them like it does the tiny ones.


----------



## Adios Pantalones (Jun 29, 2011)

I live in a log home, and they can find crevices to get in the house.  I dust with diatomaceous earth, which seems to help, and it's not a poison.  In the house, however, I use baits.


----------



## Delta-T (Jun 29, 2011)

if you have the time...magnifying glass. its effective, and fun, possibly on the slow side though.


----------



## begreen (Jun 29, 2011)

Sprinkle simple, pure Borax in their normal path. It's available in the grocery store with the laundry products.


----------



## maverick06 (Jul 1, 2011)

I have the little brown ants everywhere this year. I have used bait stations: 
http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/outdoor-ant-control-kit-p-1582.html

and dust:
http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/delta-dust-insecticide-p-44.html (have to buy a duster too). 

The bait stations are great, very expensive but they really killed a lot of ants outside. I didnt want to use poision as I have a little kid around the house. The bait is great, if its the right bait for the ants you have, ants are usually looking for sweets or greese. This is a sweet bait. 

The dust is spectacular! easy to use and kills great! Supposidly safe for mamals too, but I am always concerned about using it inside. I have used it outside with great success by pussing the dust behind the siding and in the walls, i drilled 1/8" holes between the studs for a few feet in a wall where there were bugs (not sure what, but you could hear the crunching of them) and puffed the dust in there. It killed them dead and nothing has returned.


----------



## mainstation (Jul 1, 2011)

It is a bad year for Ants everywhere.  They are in the process of killing off one of my planted White Spruce windbreak trees as I type.  I keep killing them and they keep coming back.


----------



## Woody Stover (Jul 10, 2011)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> Sprinkle simple, pure Borax in their normal path. It's available in the grocery store with the laundry products.


I don't want to deal with the full-life review that we all have after we die (also known as "my life flashed before my eyes.") We have to experience all our actions from the other point of view. I don't want to experience being an ant dying from poison.  :bug:

That said, these ants are pissing me off. I almost want to wring their tiny little necks. :lol: 

I just inadvertently washed a few down the drain while doing the dishes. I hope they made it out alive. :lol:


----------



## jeromehdmc (Jul 10, 2011)

We've been using Jiffy cornbread mix to take care of the little brown ants. I always thought it was just an old wives tale but it does work, best of all sprinkle some for the ants and make cornbread with the rest.


----------



## Woody Stover (Jul 10, 2011)

jeromehdmc said:
			
		

> We've been using Jiffy cornbread mix to take care of the little brown ants. I always thought it was just an old wives tale but it does work, best of all sprinkle some for the ants and make cornbread with the rest.


What?? How does that work? I _do_ love cornbread...


----------



## MishMouse (Jul 12, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

> jeromehdmc said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I would think that when consumed it would expand in the ants tummy causing it death.

We have little ants in our house also, we also have been getting big black spiders.
Wife sprayed the house before she left yesterday so hopefully they will start to diminish.

Another thing this year is we have allot of deer flies and gnats, so much so that when you walk outside they are all over you like flies on poop.
On Saturday when I left for church about 20 of them kept attcking my car for the 2 mile drive to the main road.


----------



## backpack09 (Jul 12, 2011)

MishMouse said:
			
		

> Another thing this year is we have allot of deer flies and gnats, so much so that when you walk outside they are all over you like flies on poop.



Sounds like you need to shower more often...


----------



## jeromehdmc (Jul 12, 2011)

I think MishMouse is right about why the ants meet their demise. Jiffy mix works good because of the sugar in it but any cornmeal will work. My mother also swears by Borax. She says when they walk through it sticks to their legs and when they clean themselves they ingest the Borax and it kills them.


----------



## fossil (Jul 12, 2011)

Backpack09 said:
			
		

> MishMouse said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



And get a different car.


----------

