topic Re: Ants in Kitchen

Ants

beach-mom — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 07:15:38 GMT

I've never had them this time of year, but I do - for the past two days they are all over the kitchen counter by the sink. I've scrubbed and there is no food around. Any ideas about how to get rid of them?

Re: Ants

Blooming Hyacinth — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 07:54:10 GMT

I've been having problems with ants too, which is unusual for this time of year. I read recently that bay leaves discourage them, which I'm going to try if they show up again. Luckily, I've had a few ant free days. Since there are pets, I am not wanting to try anything too drastic.

Re: Ants

zebrakitty — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 07:55:09 GMT

Terro!!!!!!

Liquid Ant Killer

Best Used For:

Attracting and killing all common household ants including Argentine ants, ghost ants, cornfield ants, pavement ants, acrobat ants, white footed ants, little black ants, odorous house ants and other sweet eating ants. Designed for use in and around your home, this highly effective ant bait kills the ants you see, plus the thousands you don't see!

1 oz bottle

$3.29

Re: Ants

NYwoman — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 09:30:42 GMT

Orange cleaners help and electronic bug repellers (not to be used with ferrets, hampsters, gerbils).

Re: Ants

Lila4Now — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 09:44:14 GMT

Terro does work well. They feed on it and take it back to the nest.

Re: Ants

Big Sister — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 10:36:56 GMT

Another vote here for Terro.

Re: Ants

doglover3 — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 11:19:10 GMT

3 years ago I had this problem in late fall and I was told to put tiny bottles(like a pill bottle) and put a cotton ball in them than put 100% pure pine oil. I got this at a GNC and boy did it work. My whole house smelled like a fresh cut Christmas tree. You just get the bottle of 100% pure pine oil and put a little in a tiny empty pill bottle or something about that size.

Keep out of reach of pets and kids I would guess. I do have 3 dogs but they can't get where I put this.

I keep staples in the basement, canned goods and dry packaged noodles. I went down for egg noodles and found an empty bag. I picked it up and looked and thought what the heck is this, did I get an empty bag? I looked on the table and saw a box of pasta almost empty as well as another bag of noodles. I talked to my neighbor and she said mice, had this problem and this was what she was told to do so, I did the same and no more problems.

I also had to put a tiny pill bottle on either side of my stove since they were coming up the gas pipe that way into the kitchen, this also stopped this. I do this every fall now since I was told they like to come in when the weather starts to turn cold but, works anytime of course.

edited to say, sorry I wasn't thinking, this is for mice

Re: Ants

turtle52 — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 12:59:18 GMT

Terro ant traps are the best!!!!!

Re: Ants

debic — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 13:55:24 GMT

I would get the traps also, but walk around your house and find the trail and try and stop them at that point also.

Re: Ants

number one queen — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 13:56:13 GMT

Get ant traps/ houses ,6 in a box and put them in spots, corners in kitchen. I put a couple under furniture in spring time,so my kitty won't get into them. Works very well and inexpensive, buy in supermarkets/ hardware stores.

Re: Ants

m0rgan — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 14:01:09 GMT

Sprinkle baby powder on them and their trail. Works really well.

Re: Ants

MKR14 — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 14:14:16 GMT

Get a spray bottle and fill with water and 25% salt. Shake well. Spray, boom, dead. My friend just sent this to me yesterday. The less chemicals the better. She says it works.

Re: Ants

ValuSkr — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 14:36:31 GMT

Funny you'd get them in February, must not be ice-cold by you. I find that regular ant traps do the trick.

Re: Ants

QVCclosetQueen — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 15:30:29 GMT

I just learned that soaking orange peels in vinegar for a few days and then spray that mixture in the area works well. I haven't tried it yet, but I am planning on it before they even think about coming in here!

Re: Ants

cookie16 — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 15:52:30 GMT

We are also dealing with ants in NW NJ where it has been in the minus numbers. For us, however, they are in both my bathrooms which share a common wall. I try to find point of entry but so far I can't. Our type of ant is different than summer ants . I am thinking because we are letting our water drip, so as to not freeze, and that is bringing them in. We are not infested but probably 10-15 per day. Hoping when it warms up, they will be gone but then summer ants will be here.

Re: Ants

debic — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 16:06:15 GMT

On 2/25/2015 cookie16 said: We are also dealing with ants in NW NJ where it has been in the minus numbers. For us, however, they are in both my bathrooms which share a common wall. I try to find point of entry but so far I can't. Our type of ant is different than summer ants . I am thinking because we are letting our water drip, so as to not freeze, and that is bringing them in. We are not infested but probably 10-15 per day. Hoping when it warms up, they will be gone but then summer ants will be here.

We call them sugar ants, the teeny tiny ones. Don't actually have them where I live now, but they were a pain when I lived in Utah. I've also used soapy water in a spray bottle outside for those who don't want to use chemicals.

Re: Ants

Meowingkitty — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 16:37:25 GMT

You can also try putting down a pile of grits. The ants take it back to the nest and they supposedly blow up. It expands in their stomach.

Re: Ants

inallsincerity — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 16:43:44 GMT

Every year I post this. People must not trust me. Diatomaceous earth is the way to go. They call it food grade or farm grade. Do not use ""pool"" grade.

Re: Ants

Eileen in Virginia — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 17:47:11 GMT

We got little black ants just after Thanksgiving in our kitchen and bathrooms. At first, we just saw a couple at a time, but it turned out we had many more. They were coming in through our laundry room and using the pipes as their main highways in the house. We used 2 products to get rid of them: Terro and Zap-a-Roach Roach and Ant Killer. As the others have stated, the Terro is great for attracting them so they'll take it back to their nests. It has a scent that attracts them - not heavy, but you can detect it. Just make sure you don't put it directly on the floor or other surface, as it dries really hard in a couple of days. We were surprised at how many died on contact, some of whom got stuck to the bathroom floors. The Zap-a-Roach is 100% boric acid powder and it is also geared to having them take it back to their nests. We put this around the baseboards in our kitchen (we don't have any small children or pets). Once we realized they were coming in through the laundry room, we spread this at every possible access point and it really killed them. We bought the Terro at Home Depot and the Zap-a-Roach at Amazon (we had googled Roach Proof and this came up). It took us @ 5 weeks to get rid of them, but only a couple of days once we realized the laundry room was their main entry point. It's hard to refrain from squashing them when you see them, but they've got to take the poisons back to their nests. We woresurgical-type rubber gloves whenever we applied either product. Good luck!

Re: Ants

ChynnaBlue — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 19:08:28 GMT

Ants are common during extreme weather - hot, cold, or wet. I like the Raid Double Control Ant Traps. If you can find the spot where they are coming in, you can also sprinkle the area with ground cinnamon. Ants won't cross cinnamon and smells nice for you!