topic Re: ANTS in Community Chat

ANTS

Mom2Dogs — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 13:40:57 GMT

Good grief, this morning I noticed ants crawling up to the ceiling of my family/kitchen area and the countertop! I have never seen them crawling up the wall to the ceiling and never this early in the season!

I have a lot of snow on the ground, where can they be coming from.

Re: ANTS

4kitties — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 13:44:47 GMT

Get some Terro. Works so well to get rid of them.

I hate ants in my house......😤😤😤😤

Re: ANTS

Harpa — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 13:45:25 GMT

@Mom2Dogs

I've seen a few, too! Out with the cinnamon oil! Haven't seen one since!

But, really, the smell could almost drive me away! It's either that or them!

I think they don't like lemon, too, but I have to check on that.

Re: ANTS

tends2dogs — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 13:55:33 GMT

I use peppermint oil.

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Mom2Dogs — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 13:57:07 GMT

@Harpa I don't have cinnamon oil, I did read vinegar might work...and boy does that smell!

I have lived in this house 40+years..never have they been crawling at the ceiling level!

Re: ANTS

Mom2Dogs — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 13:58:31 GMT

@tends2dogs wrote:
I use peppermint oil.

@tends2dogs ...is peppermint oil the type you would bake with? If not where do I purchase these oils...peppermint, cinnamon...if not in the kitchen aisle?

Re: ANTS

eddyandme — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:03:51 GMT

My aunt told me to sprinkle black pepper on the windowsills - that's what they used when in base housing. It worked but it was very messy.

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Eileen in Virginia — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:04:30 GMT

We had them a few years ago in our kitchen and main bathroom. There were so many of them! We'd never had more than a few in the past. They were coming in through the laundry room, traveling in the grout lines between the floor tiles and coming upstairs in the spaces behind the walls. They honed in on anything sweet, even a drop of mouthwash on a shelf in the medicine cabinet. We don't have small children or pets, so we put boric acid powder around potential entry points and that took care of them. If possible, locate their entry points and caulk or block them. This was one time that I was really glad I had so much Lock and Lock! Anything that might have attracted them got locked up tight. Good luck!

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SilleeMee — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:22:03 GMT

Snow on the ground forces the ants to look for warmer places to go. Wouldn't you?

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fthunt — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:24:17 GMT

Snow on the ground isn't a factor.......ants have a nest somewhere in your house. If crawling UP to the ceiling - you have to follow their route backward to the lower (floor) area.

Inside cabinets, under kitchen sink - stove - refrigerator - whatever.

Re: ANTS

Harpa — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:24:21 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
@tends2dogs wrote:
I use peppermint oil.
@tends2dogs ...is peppermint oil the type you would bake with? If not where do I purchase these oils...peppermint, cinnamon...if not in the kitchen aisle?

@Mom2Dogs

No, not in the kitchen aisle. I get mine from Wegman's in the bath section. Or, Piping Rock always has them for nominal price. I had to get the cinnamon from Wegman's, since I didn't want to wait for a mail order.

FYI, sometimes I diffuse peppermint when I haven't had much sleep. It also is beneficial for any headache.

Re: ANTS

tends2dogs — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:27:50 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
@tends2dogs wrote:
I use peppermint oil.
@tends2dogs ...is peppermint oil the type you would bake with? If not where do I purchase these oils...peppermint, cinnamon...if not in the kitchen aisle?

The oils that I have are the NOW brand and I have purchased them from Vitacost. It is a popular brand and I have seen it at a lot of places. In a store I have found it in the healthfood aisle. I put it on a cottonball and place it in my drawers. It is strong, but not unpleasant. I refuse to used products like RAID, but I do use the Terro baits if I get an infestation I can't repel with the oil.

One side note: The spray that I use on my dog before each walk has peppermint in it. It is Wondercide and so far has done a great job of repelling mosquitos, fleas, and ticks.

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Shelbelle — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:32:39 GMT

Do you have a fireplace, my daughter recently had a ton of ants on stored firewood in her garage.

Re: ANTS

tends2dogs — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:34:01 GMT

@Eileen in Virginia wrote:
We had them a few years ago in our kitchen and main bathroom. There were so many of them! We'd never had more than a few in the past. They were coming in through the laundry room, traveling in the grout lines between the floor tiles and coming upstairs in the spaces behind the walls. They honed in on anything sweet, even a drop of mouthwash on a shelf in the medicine cabinet. We don't have small children or pets, so we put boric acid powder around potential entry points and that took care of them. If possible, locate their entry points and caulk or block them. This was one time that I was really glad I had so much Lock and Lock! Anything that might have attracted them got locked up tight. Good luck!

@Eileen in Virginia We used boric acid and/or diatamateous earth sprinkled in the carpet when we had fleas in the house one year. We had to be on top of it, but it took care of them and we didn't have to resort to chemicals. We have also put a line of the powder around baseboards. There are many natural ways to get rid of pests. I refuse all inside chemical treatments. I have a dog and a husband that has survived cancer. Besides, I don't want to take a chance of it triggering a neurological disease. Bug chemicals work on the nervous system of bugs.

Re: ANTS

Mom2Dogs — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 15:12:49 GMT

@SilleeMee wrote:
Snow on the ground forces the ants to look for warmer places to go. Wouldn't you?

Makes sense but in all the years living in this house - never had a parade up the wall to the ceiling, and this early in the year.

Re: ANTS

Mom2Dogs — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 15:15:42 GMT

@fthunt Last week I cleaned inside and out of the kitchen cabinets and saw no ant issues...I guess I should pull out the stove and look under the kithen sink...I really dislike under the kitchen sink - .....it's clean but for some reason it creeps me out.

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SharkE — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 15:25:15 GMT

Boric acid rules !

we get it online and buy it in 5 lb bags and put all around perimenter of houe foundation. they track it back to the nest and the Queen ant and that wipes 'em out.

That little dab that is sold at stores isn't enough for nothing. got to go commando.

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fthunt — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 15:48:15 GMT

@Shelbelle Oh that's a good one!

When we had firewood stacked in house waiting - - lots of buggers came crawling out.

My nest of ants were in the basement just above the cement foundation where the 2 x 4's joined foundation. Exterminator eliminated them but I had followed the ant parade back to basement from kitchen before he got here. bingo - hit the mother load

End of Story

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SilleeMee — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 16:03:06 GMT

Where on your ceiling are they going? Is there a hole up there where they go and what is up there...water?

If you have trees or shrubs touching your house then you might want to have them trimmed away from your house. Trees make good bridges.

Sometimes ants will gain access into a house by using another creature's hole, usually one found somewhere close to the outside part of the foundation...it doesn't have to be that big of a hole.

Re: ANTS

Mom2Dogs — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 16:04:58 GMT

@Shelbelle ...We have a gas fireplace not wood....glad I don't have that mess any more, even tho I do miss a real wood fire.