Ants, of course, win. But hardly anyone will agree with this statement if we are talking about ants in the beds, in flower beds or in the house. What if they encroach on your country house?
This question has been tormenting me for a long time: we have a wooden house, and every spring the ants that have woken up march amicably from the square to the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the room in search of a better life. And so that they do not stay in the rooms, the invaders have to be regularly kicked out of the kitchen. Already tested by various methods. The panacea has not yet been discovered, but there is already something to share.
Advances in science and technology against ants in the house
This is my main method of dealing with ants. The repeller, designed to intimidate rodents indoors, is also suitable, as it turned out, for fighting ants.
Simple, effective, requiring no additional effort: plug the device into the outlet and wait for the invaders to start collecting packages in a panic. It does not work immediately — it takes about a week before you get the effect. But the result is for a long time: the ants leave and do not return this season.
The disadvantage of this method is the price. And there is a suspicion (based on observations) that animals, despite the manufacturer’s assurances, get used to this miracle of technology… In any case, its effectiveness with prolonged use is significantly reduced against both rodents and ants.
A chemical attack against ants in the house
I try to use chemicals very carefully. But when they got completely fed up. A neighbor recommended gel from ants – now they are available under different names. It helps!
It is also easy to use it: the remedy is in a syringe, from which it must be carefully applied point-by-point along the perimeter of the room. The ants themselves eat the bait and carry “Goodies” to the anthill – for the uterus and larvae. The result, as in the case of the repeller, is not immediately noticeable: the manufacturer promises that completely uninvited guests will disappear in 1.5-2 weeks – in fact, this is about how it turns out.
The tool can be used both in the house and on the plot — I use this gel to drive ants out of greenhouses with pepper. The price is modest. The only drawback is a small syringe, even with very economical use, one package for the whole house is not enough (well, maybe my house is too big). But this is a minor drawback – the result justifies the costs.
But the colored pencils turned out to be completely useless. The ants, I think, giggled when I drew lines along their paths.
Last year, when I drew graffiti everywhere, I didn’t notice the effect. Probably, this is some kind of insidious drug that destroys insects gradually, slowly… very slowly…
There are also sprays, poisoned baits – the range of insecticides designed to kill ants in the house is quite wide. But I personally don’t want to spray poison at home, and I’m afraid to scatter baits because of cats. Although they say they don’t touch these drugs — I’m in no hurry to check.
By the way, in order to simply destroy the found anthill, almost any household chemicals that can be found in the house will do. But this is a short-term measure – suitable only for the liquidation of the settlement and only if there is nothing else at hand.
Although I read this recommendation: sprinkle the ants with soap and water or vinegar. The authors claim that in this way it is possible not only to destroy insects, but also to destroy their traces, by which new invaders enter the house. I don’t know…
When a couple of years ago we found an anthill behind the washing machine, it had to be filled with a glass cleaner — there were no special tools in the house. But soap and vinegar, of course, did not radically change the situation, but those who fell under the jet mostly died. But it didn’t stop the others — in the meantime, the repeller, the ants, the old tracks remained.
Folk remedies against ants in the house
They are all known, probably: boric acid, garlic, coffee, ground cinnamon and so on. These substances can be divided into three groups: the first (coffee, cinnamon, pepper, garlic, etc.) confuse ants, prevent them from finding their way to food, irritate the sense of smell; the second (heavy cream, soda, chalk, crushed charcoal, etc.) theoretically create a mechanical barrier that ants — according to the authors of the recommendations — cannot overcome; the third (boric acid) poison.
The effectiveness of most of these tools is a big question for me personally. Cinnamon coffee has been tested on outdoor anthills. Yes, there is an effect. Lasts about 5-7 days, and then you have to start all over again. Sprinkle cinnamon weekly or rub garlic all over the house? I don’t find this idea appealing. And any odorous substance does not last longer.
Boric acid mixed with some kind of food bait (egg yolk, jam, honey, and so on) really works. So, if you are not too lazy to prepare the poison yourself and spread it around the house, you can use this method. I’m lazy, and I worry about my curious cats. The gel is easier for me to apply.
I also advise you to use millet, semolina or corn flour. The point here is that these products are not digested in ant stomachs — the tricky delicacy swells and kills the ant. But it is possible that new ones will come in place of the dead.
Among the popular methods of dealing with ants in the house, there are frankly strange ideas. For example, it is advised to put a three-liter jar and pour a little sweetened water into it. It is assumed that unwanted visitors will get there and drown. From ants that have accidentally wandered into the house, such a “remedy” will most likely help. But no more than that.
From my point of view, getting rid of ants in the house with folk remedies is long and inefficient. But maybe I just haven’t come across really useful recipes. If you know good recipes — share.
If all else fails…
We can call the exterminators. They say their tools really work. You just need to be aware that these drugs are poisons, and they can be toxic not only to ants. At least if you have pets, you need to make sure that the drugs used by the invited specialists are safe for them.
Even in such publications, they certainly write about prevention. Like, if the ants in your house will have nothing to profit from, then they will not come and settle. I will depart from tradition and will not give such advice. Because I have no idea how it can actually be done. I personally will not be able to achieve sterile cleanliness in the house – I will not even try. And it would be hard for me to live in conditions close to the operating room. There is something to do besides fighting for every crumb on the table. At least, there will always be a bowl of dry food and a bowl of water for cats in the kitchen — and this “according to the rules of ant control” is unacceptable. Hermetically sealing all the cracks in a wooden house is also from the realm of fiction.
And I don’t believe that ants who won’t even try to get into a sterile house in the dark. Just out of curiosity. Therefore, I prefer to study the means of protection, choosing the most effective and least costly. What do you think about this? How do you protect yourself and get rid of ants in the house?
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