Ants!!

SAM81

SAM81

SAM81

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Joined
3 Dec 2005
Posts
1,516
I'm finding we have a few ants appearing here and there downstairs. Can't pinpoint a single entry point as yet but they've already led a trail to our kitchen bin

I've put traps down along the obvious routes and where I've seen them but I think this will take a while and no garuntees of success.

Anyone dealt with them before? Tips on controlling them or finding the best?
 
Had them before - but really bad, the nest was in the ducting under our house that fed the incoming cable to the electric meter (was an old house with meter under the stairs) - came home to literally thousands of Ants all over the front room (including flying ones as well). Had to hoover them all up and then sealed the duct with concrete on the inside and outside.

Couple of years later had them in the Conservatory, but fortunately this time the nest was external somewhere - one of those gel traps you can buy sorted it pretty sharpish.
 
Have had this in rented accommodation before. Used the little ant traps and they were gone within a week. They are little plastic structures with some tasty smelling poison in them which the ants then take back to the nest. Quite brutal really.. but rather effective.
 
Entry point is key really.
We get them every year, they nest somewhere along the side wall of our house and then eventually end up coming in at the back door to near the bin/worktops and they are horrific sometimes with how many there are.

This year I found the entry point sharpish luckily. Put white vinegar all over the skirting board and around bottom of the door. They cannot stand the scent of vinegar, it completely ***** up their scent trailing.

Put some sugar sprinkled in the stones outside near the back door and have completely eliminated them coming into the kitchen as they have some sugar outside to entertain them.
 
Had to use the ant powder stuff recently as had a few inside main door, so put it along the outside of the door and not had any inside since. Been getting worse outside now for a few years but this was first time I had noticed them in the house. Last few years had nest under the water meter cover but not this year, yet. I have all sorts of stuff now, granules, powder, the plastic traps and a spray gun :D. I beleive they got inside via a tiny gap in the rubber seal around the door.
I find them attached to the roots of weeds when I pull them up through my stone chipping covered path.
Ground around the house is mostly block paved driveway, stone chippings and grey slate and hoping they move on a bit :)
 
get some crawling insect powder they take it back to the nest on their bodies.

I've got it sprinkled over my pantry cupboard floor the amount of tiny bugs that die in their is insane, never had anything reach the food though
 
This has saved me posting - thanks chaps. Small ant problem when I got back from a few days away.
 
I've had ants for the first time ever last year. I used these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07JGK8B8G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Put them down in a couple of places where I could see ants roaming outside, they go crazy for it, take it back to the nest, and boom no more ants.

I blame the shoddy falling apart patio the previous occupants put down themselves, must be an ants dream under those slabs with a ton of exits.

If putting outside put something on top to stop rain getting in and diluting the poison.
 
Raid Ant Bait works every time for me.

Find ant trail, put bait tin close to trail and wait for the little **** to find the tasty death gel. It can be a little concerning the first couple of times that you use them as they can bring the whole nest’s worth of drones out to collect the tasty death gel, but they’ll all be gone in 2-3 hours never to be seen again.
 
I had this months ago. Not entirely sure where their nest is but they were coming in under the skirting board. Initially I tried those AntStop bait stations but they didn't work at all, not sure if it was because it was only the flying ants that were getting through?
In the end I just sealed it up with silicon and have not seen them since. Hopefully they don't find another entrance point.
 
The ant bait stations worked well for us. After about 2 weeks we started seeing less. After 3-4 weeks we didn't see any again. We put down two in areas we had seen them in the kitchen.
 
I try to avoid at all costs killing them or the nests, and only put non-harmful chemicals/vinegar near the entry points. Unless they are causing considerable damage or you are being overrun, look to divert them away rather than destroy them.
 
If anyone is looking for a nontoxic alternative, garlic works very well. Used a lot in China. Try drawing a line with a garlic clove, they really don't want to cross it!
 
In the last five years, I have had ants in the kitchen for the second time now. I located their nests to the first row of patio tiles against the house wall. When tiles/slabs are laid using the spot method - 4/5 spots of mortar to lay the slab - results in ants building nests. They were getting in through the gap in the door sill; which I filled with expanding foam & sealant on top.
 
I also have ants at the front of my house in the patio; first time ever. Whenever it rained, water would seep down from the letterbox. I thought nothing of it but found that the skirting is rotten near the upvc door & they're wandering around on the door frame near the sill. I suspect the ants have built a nest in the portion of skirting which is rotten. I'm going to rip the skirting off in that area & also flush the water weeping/drainage holes to see if they're in there. Note - when you disturb the nest they run up the house wall so, have a broom at hand to stop them & both ant killer spray & powder. Will update findings to my investigation. Here is a link to a video of a man stating that the spot method results in ant nests - https://youtu.be/tNU9ECnVPVE
 
They go for sugar like fruit flies, if you have rotting fruit etc that attracts them, you need to destroy then source of their food.
 
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