I have a problem getting rid of ants that are in my home. I have tried traps and foggers. Any suggestions??
Question:These are small ants with a brownish red color.
Answers:
Mint is an ant deterrent. Ants do not like the smell of mint. Dried mint is not effective, because mint looses its aroma more quickly than any other herb. Essential oil of mint works too. Our home was infested with ants. I tried everything including ant traps. The most effective thing was, once I figured out where they were coming in, was lavender oil. They just hate it! I put a few drops in the cracks I suspected they were coming in, and they never returned. So every spring, before the weather starts to warm up, I will be dropping lots of lavender oil around my kitchen. Vinegar works and ants find it unpleasant but humans also find it unpleasant, so I would suggest aromas that are unappealing to ants but more appealing to humans, such as mint/lavendar oil. Also, apply caulk(can be found at hardware stores) around the tiny crevices that they might be crawling in from. I also draw a line along their route with dishwashing soap. Most of the ants are wise and avoid crossing the soap line. For the adventurers that get stuck in the soap and die, I leave their little ant carcasses stuck in the soap for a day or two. This acts as a deterrent for the ants to come in that route, and usually the ant trail has disappeared in a day or two. Another alternative is ant bait. Keep foods tightly sealed because ants have a keen sense of smell and once they smell food, they'll recruit their colony for a food invasion. For the outside, sprinkle ant deterrent powder all around your home.
They are nesting outside. Place granulated insect killer around the foundation.
Our exterminator said that ants in the home originated with an ant colony outside. Ours found a huge mound that was right up against the house. He poisoned the colony, then to get rid of the ants in the house he took off the light switch and outlet covers and put the ant poison between the walls. He also put it in straws (cut down to about 1 inch sizes) and laid them in various places in the kitchen and whereever else we saw ants. It's been 3 weeks and they are all gone!
i use bay leaves(the ones you cook with). just put them where you see the ants coming in from. they don't like the smell of them. good luck.
Try a different brand of ant traps. Make sure you open the traps (push in the covers around the holes). Ant traps have always worked for me. They crawl in the can, remove some of the poison, and take it back to the nest where it wipes out the whole colony.
Ants don't care for mint or citrus, cloves or bay leaves, so think orange peel, peppermint tea, lemon juice, ground cloves, etc. If you can plant mint around the foundations of your home, you may deter them from entering. Vinegar has the same acid as citrus, so use it to clean with and ants won't feel welcome. (It probably erases or overpowers the odor trail other ants have left for them to follow.)
Clean bench tops and cupboards down really well, and then wipe down with a clean damp cloth that has a few drops of essential peppermint oil on it, you may need to apply a few drops of oil a couple of times.
Ants hate the smell of it and it is also environmentally friendly, and safe for humans and children, and no residue powders etc to clean up. And the big bonus is that the room smells fresh and minty. I also want to add that you can put the oil on a cotton ball after cleaning and put in the areas you have ants and that should help too...replace once the smell is gone.
I hope this was helpful,Good Luck! :)
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