interesting ant solution

[nancy237]

i have been fighting lots of tiny ants (maybe sugar ants) for weeks.
They kept getting worse around my sink and I kept forgeting to grab some
bait traps while I was out.

yesterday we had watermelon and left a tray of juice & rinds in the sink to clean later . When we got home 3 hours later there were thousands of ants covering it. My son washed them down the sink . Then it occurred to me today
I haven't seen even one ant since.

I will be surprised if they don't return but I am enjoying it for now.

[Bearfootfarm]

I will be surprised if they don't return but I am enjoying it for now.

They will be back, but when they do come back you can mix sugar , boric acid, and a little water to make a bait that will kill them

Use 3 parts sugar and 1 part Boric acid with enough water to make a paste.

They will carry it back to the nest and feed it to the Queen

[PD-Riverman]

I have not looked yet but where can I get the Boric Acid? Thanks

Originally Posted by Bearfootfarm

They will be back, but when they do come back you can mix sugar , boric acid, and a little water to make a bait that will kill them

Use 3 parts sugar and 1 part Boric acid with enough water to make a paste.

They will carry it back to the nest and feed it to the Queen

[Alice In TX/MO]

Twenty Mule Team Borax in the laundry soap aisle.

[gobug]

Boric acid should be at about 5% by weight if using the standard boric acid, any stronger and it won't make it to the queen. That is like half a teaspoon or less boric acid in 8 ounces of the food chosen. It will kill only foragers if it is too strong. Baits are definitely the best way to control ants. There are many decent bait products at big box places. Ants own the earth. We just fool ourselves with paper and lawyers.
Gary

[EDDIE BUCK]

Originally Posted by PD-Riverman

I have not looked yet but where can I get the Boric Acid? Thanks

Around here Walmart. 99%Boric acid 16 oz $2.47

[Bearfootfarm]

I have not looked yet but where can I get the Boric Acid? Thanks

Most drug stores sell pure Boric Acid.

Borax is similar but not identical

[Pam6]

I put corn starch out and that makes them disappear!

[Pony]

Huh. When I was a kid, you picked up boric acid at the pharmacy. I remember my dad using it as an eye wash when he'd take a flash to his eye (welder).

I wonder if that 99% roach stuff is just plain ol' boric acid?

[EDDIE BUCK]

Originally Posted by Pony

Huh. When I was a kid, you picked up boric acid at the pharmacy. I remember my dad using it as an eye wash when he'd take a flash to his eye (welder).

I wonder if that 99% roach stuff is just plain ol' boric acid?

If its 99% "boric acid,"I think you can say without a doubt its just plain ol" boric acid",but ain't that what its supposed to be??

[Cindy in KY]

I've had these tiny sugar ants too this year. I was reading on them, and found out all ants eat termites and termite cocoons under the house. So I did not want to kill them or their colony anymore. I even fed them old candy bars under the house so they would stop looking in the kitchen. I am thinking of getting them a 99 cent bottle of syrup and push it under there. To keep them happy.

They eat aphids too. Round them up like cattle and corral them until they need the food. No kidding.

The sugar ants are always sending out scouts too. Everything goes in our fridge here, nothing is out on the counters. But they still look...

Just get some caulking and caulk really good around the counters and sinks, that's what I have to do again. Now, if I see the red ants outside in the yard, I spray them and their home with PineSol. I spray my counters and and my whole house with generic PineSol diluted in water spray. Smells good and is not poison and all bugs hate it.

[Marcia in MT]

We sprinkled diatomaceous earth (DE) around the wall edges of the counters and around the baseboards and haven't seen one in years. Won't kill the colony, but sure keeps them out of the kitchen!

[arcticow]

Actually, pine oil (what's in Pine-sol) is poison. Think turpentine... and you might want to leave the red ants alone, they do compete with fire ants for food. I'd rather live with the red ones...

[Cindy in KY]

We do not have fire ants here, hopefully never will.