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Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,317
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

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.  

 

 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,272
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

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

I hate ants in my house......😤😤😤😤

“I heard the sound I had to follow”
In Your Wildest Dreams by Justin Hayward
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,201
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

@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.

 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,759
Registered: ‎05-08-2010

I use peppermint oil.  

Fear not Brothers and Sisters! I have read THE BOOK..........we win!!!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,317
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@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!  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,317
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@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?

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,247
Registered: ‎09-24-2011
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.
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,052
Registered: ‎08-25-2010

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! 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 35,612
Registered: ‎05-22-2016

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

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,809
Registered: ‎12-24-2010

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.