little black ants tickin me off!

[DENALI]

Anyone know how to get rid of them? We have some very small black ones invading the kitchen but we cant tell where they are coming in at. They are just sporadic like one every 10 minutes scurrying across the counters. Thanks for the input.

[BaronsMom]

Our extension office just sent out an article about ants marching into kitchens...maybe it will help you too.

http://lancaster.unl.edu/nebline/2008/may08/page01.pdf

[Common Tator]

I just got rid of mine yesterday!

I didn't want to spray poison all over my kitchen. I went to Home Depot and picked up old fashioned Boric Acid It is in a large white plastic bottle with a red label from Hot Shot called MaxAttrax Roach Killing Powder. Read the small print, it kills ants too. I couldn't find where they were entering the kitchen, so I squirted some on the places where I saw ants. I didn't want to be wasteful, so I took a small paint brush and spread it around to all the areas of ant activity. The effect was immediate on the ants. Last night there were only three left, and this morning they were all gone!

Read the warnings, but this stuff is relatively harmless to humans, and has been used in this manner for generations! I am sure happy. In the past I have used poisons, and had to re-apply over a period of days and weeks.

Good luck getting rid of the pests!

[Quint]

Yeah they showed up in my kitchen yesterday. I use Terro or Jones and killer and it does a decent job of killing them and does so safely as the stuff isn't particularly toxic. It's just borax and corn syrup. They ate all of it I put out last night and right now they're gathered around the new drops I put down like cattle around a stock tank. They supposedly carry the stuff back to the nest and it kills the entire colony.

I'd like to find something I could spray around the perimeter of the house to kill them before they ever get inside. it could be deadly poison i don't care as long as it stops them from getting inside.

One of the little devils bit me a couple of days ago. It hurt like the dickens.

[tamsam]

I used to spray a 50-50 mix of Malathon {sp} and veg killer around the edge of the house. Spray about 3 inches up and about an inch out and it kept the bugs out and cut down on the weed eating. Sam

[stranger]

a 50/50 mix of borax soap powder and sugar, just put it in small paper plates around or in little piles, it will kill, carpenter ants, little red and black ants, flying ants.
Malathion is banned in some places.

[texican]

How little?

I discovered a new species a few years back... they're about the size of a pin head... I was so happy that any kind of ant had survived the fire ant holocaust... when they moved into my home, I lived with them off and on... they rarely caused much discomfort. Then one day they started wanting to eat me... A little sevin dust around the exterior of the house keeps the fire ants at bay... haven't seen the teeny ones yet this year...

[Shrek]

I use ground cinnamin to make non toxic barricades at entry points. Ants dont like cinnamin and will turn away from it and become someone elses problem and it gives my home a pleasing fragrence that combines nicely with the aroma of my daily coffee brewing and two to three times a week bread baking.

I have also brewed cinnamin tinctures to put in my sprayer to spray my plum trees to keep the ants off the fruit without risking insecticide tainting that can negatively affect the taste of my plum wines.

[Tricky Grama]

Get some orange oil-either already mixed or what you can mix yourself & spray all around the counters, etc. They won't come back.

Patty

[Oldcountryboy]

I read somewhere the other day that mint and spearmint will keep ants away also. As well as mosquito's and fly's. I know that last summer we went to the lake park to have a cook out, and as you know whereever there is food there are fly's everywhere. Well my wife had heard about using mint extract as a fly deterent. She wetted a towel down with some and wiped the picnic table down with the rag and to our surpize it actually worked. Before she done that there were fly's everywhere. When we set down to eat there wasn't a fly anywhere.

[bqz]

Had the same problem last year ,I used borax and jelly,Mix a little together and put where you see them the most (usually around water source) and in a couple days they will be gone.Worked for me.

[foxtrapper]

Mine don't like sweets, but are very drawn towards greases. So a dab of the wet cat food mixed with borax works just fine. I re-use the old bait containers I've had for years. Works well.