How to get rid of ants? ~ Now tons of RED

[PunkinPeep]

Our ant problem became really really bad the last couple of days. One crumb on a clean counter was bringing hoards of ants in less than 15 minutes.

Thus, i inadvertently discovered that ants really dislike dishsoap. I dolloped a puddle of it along the area where they were getting in, and that greatly reduced the influx. They die on contact with the stuff. So my counter got a good dish soap cleaning while i was killing ants in mass.

Then my husband had to get some boric acid, and now i think we have them under control. *i hope*

 

[TanksHill]

Dace,
I know exactly how you feel. I live on an ant hill. Unfortunately I tried lots of different all natural things but nothing helped. My mom always used borax, my sister uses chalk.

I finally hired a bug company. They only spray the perimeter of the house and the base of the columns that lead up to my porch. It's the only thing I can do to keep them out.

Maybe you could pick up one of those big spray bottle from Lowe's or Hd and spray yourself.

I know chemicals are not favored but sometimes they do the job.

gina

 

[Dace]

Holy Crap! Huge red ants are EVERYWHERE outside! In the courtyard, in the back yard, in the front yard...everywhere all of the sudden.
Now what???

 

[k0xxx]

Orkin, Terminix, etc., or spray your own, I guess.

Sometimes you need to fade back and punt.

 

[Dace]

Sometimes you need to fade back and punt.

LOL...good one
Perhaps that is going to be the only solution. My son laughed when I said "if I find one of those red ants in the house all bets are off!' He said 'What mom, are you giving up on your no chemical rule??'
So I grabbed some baking soda and a bottle of vinegar and schooled those little MFers coming up out of the drain in the courtyard.......admittedly it won't last long but I felt triumphant and smug for a little bit.

 

[Aidenbaby]

I have almost every variety of ant residing in my back yard. The only ones we don't have are fire ants. The minute I see any in my house, the AMDRO comes out. Ants are notoriously difficult to get rid of. I like a balanced ecosytem in the yards but if they are in my house, they are out of balance (too many of them and not enough food outside). So, usually once a year, I end up broadcasting Amdro throughout the yard.

 

[rowdysunsetart]

We literally have ants coming out of the walls...along the baseboards.
I there a natural/non toxic remedy? I really do not want to call an exterminator but it is getting out of hand!

I have tried fresh lemon peel around the holes where they come in and it worked, they don't like the citric acid. I even sprayed some straight fresh lemon juice and they haven't been back.

 

[Farmfresh]

When we moved into our house our counters were literally COVERED with black ants (the tiny ones). We tried the usually treatments. When we went to a neighborhood BBQ that summer someone mentioned ants in a tiny voice. Soon we found out we had a neighborhood plague!

I gave up on the conventional eco friendly methods. I started hunting ant hills in the yard and when I found one I dug it up and poured in some GASOLINE! (I know evil planet killing person that I am) Within a couple of weeks NO MORE ants!

I guess the word got out because we have not had a major ant problem - just a few here and there - since! And we have lived here 20+ years since.

If I see ants now a days, I put a few drops of Tarro (borax based) in a pop lid and set it in the windowsill. Within a few days they are all gone again.

 

[ShaggysGirl]

Hi,
We've always use Boric Acid when we see ants. I've not tried it on red but it may work.
Years ago we had pharaoh ants and they would split in to two groups when ever we tried to get rid of them. I mixed a little pop and boric acid in a lid and sat it on their trail and they were gone in a day.

 

[dragonlaurel]

I used Dr. Bronners Eucalyptus soap to bathe a dog for fleas. It made me wonder what it would do to other bugs. We had a huge ant pile that was too close too close to the front door and I poured some on it. They didn't die but I spent an hour watching them move out of the nest. They never came back to it either.

I also smudge the the house with sage sometimes and the bugs seem to evaporate. They may think there is a fire from the smoke in the air. Who knows what goes through their brains but I was glad to not have them around for a while. I was doing it on full moon and new moon - twice a month.

DE is good too.