Effing Sugar Ants!

[kerrisan]

Well, it all started in my bathroom. I saw a trail of sugar ants coming from a crack in the wall to a spot of toothpaste in the sink. So I cleaned it really well and put out some Terro (ant bait). In a few days, they were gone. Then they appeared in the kitchen and ate the raisin bread! Grr. More cleaning, more Terro.

After a month of chasing these guys around the house, they have gone into the half bath, returned to the full bath and kitchen, and are now IN MY BED! They apparently came to my bed while we were in Quebec, so I know that there is nothing in my bed (of all places!) that would attract them. And there is certainly nothing in the half bath because that is for guests (I say this because not only do I not remember having anything in either my bedroom or the half bath that would attract them, but when I see them in either of those rooms they are just wandering aimlessly). Terro just seems to chase them away for a little while.

Have these little buggers (pun intented :D) decided that since the full bath had toothpaste, other rooms must have food too? And is there a way to rid my parents' house of them without hiring an exterminator?

[ditchdj]

Have these little buggers (pun intented :D) decided that since the full bath had toothpaste, other rooms must have food too? And is there a way to rid my parents' house of them without hiring an exterminator?

As for my ant problem, I've discovered they're in the foundation on the backside of my house. They get in through the bottom of the back door. Keeping this area treated consistently has kept them out of my house entirely.


AHHHHH I KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF THEM!!!


What you need:

----2 cups boiling water
----sugar
----Boric Acid powder
----Empty plastic film cannisters
----cottonballs


I had the same problems. I got a recipe for homemade bait.

1. Boil two cups of water, add one cup of sugar and dissolve. Let it cool.
2. Add 1 and a half tablespoons of boric acid powder. Mix with a spoon until completely dissolved. Try to get as little of the mixture on your skin as possible.
3. Take some cottonballs and shove three of them into an empty film container. Take a knife and carve out a couple of small openings on the bottom of each one.
4. Gently pour the bait mixture into the cottonballs.
5. Place newly made baits next to where the ants are coming from.
6. Pour your leftover bait mixture on the sides of the walls as well as around the bait container.
7. Let the ants have a party swimming around and going in and out of your baits.

Give it a couple of days and they'll be gone. Also, they will probably resurface every now and then for a few weeks. Just keep doing this and they'll be gone for good. For good preventive measures make up another batch of liquid bait and pour it around your house's foundation where there's a lot of ant activity.

Also, follow the correct portions here. Too much boric acid will only kill the ants at the station. Too little wont. You want just enough to keep them alive long enough to take it to the nest and get rid of all of them.

[kerrisan]

Awesome! I'll bring it up with my parents. :) I think my mom plans to get some store-bought bait to put around the perimeter, but she may want to try this first. Thanks!

[ditchdj]

Awesome! I'll bring it up with my parents. :) I think my mom plans to get some store-bought bait to put around the perimeter, but she may want to try this first. Thanks!

I've found they like sugar water much more than they like store-brought ant bait. The ones I got rid of in my bathroom brought out probably a hundred of them one night when I put out my homemade bait station and doused them with it. They thought they found an awesome food source and then they just stopped coming.

[kerrisan]

Aaaaaand . . .

I now have a new reason to pick up my dirty clothes form the bathroom (I usually just pick them up on laundry day :angel:): The stupid ants like to hide in them or something. Hey, little sugar ants, I promise there is nothing sweet on my skivvies.

[LostMyMind]

Are you sure your skivvies aren't sweet ;)

Ants are a major pain to get rid of, I gave up. My ant problem pretty much went away on its own (probably because I try not to keep food in my house).

[kerrisan]

Update:

Ok, I know I said the whole "skivvies" thing jokingly, but I just noticed that they are GATHERING ON MY UNDERWEAR! :wtf::flame:

Sick, perverted little so-and-sos!

*does laundry*

:cry:

[NightAngel]

Ants suck.
Wasn't too long ago Fire Ants had moved into the back bedroom and I used Amdro on the lawn to get rid of them.

Whatever product you use make sure it's a BAIT. When you put out the baits ants think it's food and take it to their queen ant. Once the queen is dead life for the ants is pretty much over.

Baits won't give you immediate relief of the problem but waiting a little longer for lasting results is worth it.

[AFpheonix]

Heh...we only get ants in the apartment if they spray for them outside. Then they all troop in.

We did have a problem with them at my parents' old house though. They got into the christmas decorations where mom had some candycanes. They ate the candy canes and left the wrappers seemingly undisturbed. They were a pretty cool decoration the next year, though :)

[ditchdj]

I heard that Boric Acid is the best poison to use because it doesnt degrade over time and it has a lower toxicity than most other bait poisons do. I also read they're great in getting rid of cockroaches because it sticks to their bodies and burns holes in them.

[NightAngel]

The only problem with Boric Acid would be if you have children or animals you have to be VERY careful not to put it where they can get it on themselves or eat it.