Community Chat

[Mom2Dogs]

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.  

[4kitties]

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

I hate ants in my house......😤😤😤😤

[Harpa]

@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.

[tends2dogs]

I use peppermint oil.  

[Mom2Dogs]

@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!  

[Mom2Dogs]

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@tends2dogs wrote:

I use peppermint oil.  

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@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?

[eddyandme]

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.

[Eileen in Virginia]

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! 

[SilleeMee]

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

[fthunt]

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.