Springtime means ants season! But there is no need to panic. We share some home remedies that you can try, that might just help you fend them off and keep them out!
Around this time of year every spring, our six-legged insect friends spawn to life, begin to forage, and attempt to invade our homes.
As much as we love watching A Bugs Life and Antz, we don’t particularly want them in our lives, in our kitchens or on our patio.
While there are many home remedies for ant control, here are some additional tips to help you in your battle against ants this year.
Effective ant control starts with knowing who you are up against. BC is home to many species including the Carpenter ant, Pavement Ant, Pharaoh Ant, Fire ant, and more
Ant Removal Methods for the Spring
Ok. So we have ants. First, we want to know who we are up against. Once you know what type ants do you have, you can take the appropriate measures to get rid of them effectively.
Now let’s look at some ant removal tactics.
- Boiling water
The old ‘boiling water’ trick is by far the easiest to implement. It’s really more of a slow–them-down type of tactic, rather than complete removal.
Boil one gallon of water and then pour it directly into the mounds. Repeat the procedure one time a day until you’ve reduced the numbers dramatically. It can be good to keep populations down, but we really want to look at using bait to get to the source and eliminate a colony.
- Ant Killer
Most people will find it easiest to buy some ant-killer. Any other-the-counter product that has Ants on the label available from your local hardware store should suffice.
Use a straw, get the product into the ground and don’t be afraid to empty a quarter tank over each of the sand piles. Ant nests can be widespread and exist deep underground, so use more than you think.
- Salt and Boiling water
Ants don’t particularly hate salt. In fact, since they are opportunistic eaters, they may even be attracted to salt and take some back to the nest. Some studies even suggest that they prefer salty snacks to sugary ones.
Salt is a desiccant, once ingested it dehydrates them, thus killing them.
Placing lines of salt down around your home is unlikely to do the trick. You can try applying a saltwater spray to the affected areas, but for best results we want to look at a boiling water salt mix, or salt-sugar combo.
A solution of boiling water and salt which you can dump directly over an ant mound, should have better results. Again, like with the boiling water trick, you might achieve a lot of dead ants but you are mostly slowing them down.
- Get Juicy
Another trick is to create a borax-juice concoction. One part Borax, to a two-part juice is a great recipe.
Any liquid bait that you can buy from the hardware store as well. They’re not that expensive and actually work really well, we recommend you start with Borax. You could even go for more dilution, 3:1 or 4:1, at this time of the year (early spring) because right now they’re just waking up, they’re really weak.
What kind of juice? Apple juice, orange juice, anything sweet.
- Get Spicy
Ants hate cinnamon. Pull a jar down from your spice rack and sprinkle it around the entrances to your home. You don’t need a wall of it but just spread it liberally around the corners of the door.
You want to do it right away when you first see ants, because once they are established and they understand the kitchen counter is where the food is at, cinnamon is not going to stop them.
- Baking soda
Baking soda can work in some instances to kill ants. Once ingested it reacts with the acid in their digestive system, eventually killing them. Sprinkle a baking soda and sugar mixture along ant trails, around doorways, or anywhere where you have seen them.
The goal is for the worker ants to carry the sugar back to their nests to get to the queen. No more queen, no more baby ants.
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