Last year at this time, I had a problem with ants in my apartment. Most of the time, they do not bother me overly much. I find the odd scout reconnoitring my rooms, the random forager exploring to see what food he may find to bring back to the colony. They are of a specific species and appear singly.
More annoying is the other species, the denizens of a colony that decide to launch their winged youngsters on their way to found new ant-nations. They too are usually not troublesome, but at this time of year, they choose the wall of my sitting room to break through and shoot off their pioneers.
I have tried various remedies for this invasion. Anything powdery does not work because the ants simply crawl along the wall, or the hot-water pipes that run beside it, until they they beyond the powdery barrier. Ant-traps are worthless. I have put down several, of different varieties; if the poison within is taken home, then it obviously is not destroying enough insects to matter. Orange oil seems to deter them a little but not sufficiently.
I am now using vinegar as a principal weapon. I spray it, diluted somewhat with water, on the part of the wall by which the intruders come, and pour some drops on the exact spot that seems to be their main entry. This has slowed their actions, so I prepared a vinegar-bomb: a small rag soaked in the sour substance and pushed as close to their entrance as possible. This has been the most powerful deterrent so far, though even it is not entirely effective. I renew the warhead of the bomb (soak it in more vinegar) every couple of days.
The solution is for the hole - for such it seems to be - through which the ants enter to be sealed. This will take a visit from the building manager and possibly some minor dismantling of pipe-coverings, so it can wait for now.
At least this year’s intrusion is not as bad as last year’s, and I have not yet had to flood my apartment with a spate of river-water, the way Charlton Heston did in The Naked Jungle. This is good, as we’ve had very little rain and the local river is low and sluggish…
Oh, ants are such a nuisance. We have some in the mouse-house since the foundation was dug. Time to get nasty.
ReplyDeleteI love the photo you have here. And ants? They are an anathema! I despise them. Right now I have a pest control person. He sprays outside against them. Works great.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, my apartment is a ground floor flat, one of those semi-basement ones (windows at ground level). My floors, therefore, are three feet below ground level. Spraying outside doesn't get any of them.
DeleteDarn. That knocks that idea out of the park!
Deleteguyz...due knot laff; but we had em comin outta a space under de sink area ..sew de food servizz gurl stuff a kleenex in de space til it couldna bee stuffed noe mor..... seems ta bee werkin...knock wood....sew far... with all de rainz we haz had...- everee thing wantz ta come...in....tell dad ta try this ☺☺♥♥
ReplyDeleteThat's similar to what I have tried with a vinegar soaked rag. The hole from which they come, though, is awkward to plug, very difficult to get to.
DeleteI see we're having similar problems with ants. (I had the winged variety.) I finally had to use bug spray as a last resort. I sprayed one room at a time and kept the cats out of the sprayed room for several hours. I had to spray the rooms two or three times, but I haven't seen any unwelcome "wildlife" for a week now.
ReplyDeleteThe winged ones are the potential queens ('princesses', I guess) and their smaller mates, ready to fly off to start new colonies. My apartment is not separated well enough for spraying and keeping cats out, but I may heavily spray a rag and shove that down the hole from which they are debouching.
DeleteOh, I didn't know that about ants. 'Ya think maybe I should move before I get a whole bunch of new pets - err pests??
DeleteThey will try to fly away. Mine end up on the inside of my screens, hoping to get out. I imagine if they can't get outside, they will simply perish.
DeleteI like your vinegar soaked rag solution. I too have ants this year - very tiny black ones. Not much seems to work and I don't want to use bug poisons. I guess it is the time of year for bugs.
ReplyDeleteUgh, ants in abundance make my skin crawl. I've had lots in the house over the years, including carpenter ants, though those seem to have disappeared (I hope!) with the removal of the dead brush that was behind my fence (a few summers ago now). I like your idea of the vinegar. I can remember the first next-door unit owner (when I first bought and moved in) telling me that ants don't like salt and to sprinkle it liberally around. I did that in the basement at the time and it worked there, though they came in upstairs, through various means. I caulked various spots and now I sprinkle food-grade diatomaceous earth (spelling on that?) along the outside of my unit (sold as ant killer). You could try it outside around your windows, if you're permitted to. Not sure it would help, but it probably wouldn't hurt.
ReplyDeleteThere are some heavy duty ant baits on you tube where the ants take it back to the colony to kill them.
ReplyDeleteI hate having them in the house.
That is a good idea and we will try it. The ant traps worked last year and this year we have on the scout. We will see what the fall holds
ReplyDeleteI detest ants! We had a lot trying to come indoors when we had the hot weather about a month ago. I sprayed along the window where they seemed to be appearing and that seems to have stopped them. A couple of weeks ago the flying ants swarmed and were everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWe have found a liquid that dries out ants, and it works really well when they track it back to their nest. Called TERRO, found in the hardware store. Once the ants start eating it, they call their buddies over, then they take it back home. Takes a few days, but the ants stop showing up. I like the vinegar idea, though! And why do my cats go after spiders, but not ants?!?
ReplyDeleteIt's not found in my city's hardware stores. One sells only what the others sell, and none sells Terro. I will have to wait out this year's invasion and order it online for next year.
DeleteI agree with Eastside! Definitely try TERRO liquid. Put a drop in their runway and soon the little buggers will form an "eyebrow" slurping up the sweet stuff.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately in the city in which I live, there is no imagination in products, and only the most generic types are carried. There is no Terro in the entire town.
DeleteMay I suggest using cinnamon to discourage ants? I had ants in my kitchen and my sister suggested using cinnamon sprinkled around where the ants enter...it worked surprisingly well.
ReplyDeleteKind regards,
Midori and kitties