Creepy-Crawly-Ants

[rubyslippers]

Hello everyone,

I started this thread in the "Going-Green" section because it appears I have an ant problem. The bug-bomb ant sprays give me headaches. The little plastic traps are not exactly attractive. (Plus, it is always kind of hard to sit back and let them work as I invite more critters in to the house - - so gross.) Plus, after all the ivy battling, I am learning I might live on an ant hill. Okay, I am of course being a little sarcastic, but we have A LOT of ants outside.

Ants never specifically bothered me. A few sugar ants or grease ants here or there are no big deal. I also always quietly removed the proverbial ant visiting the picnic. They really don't bother me. The ones in the house are more or less under control now. However, as we start working in the yard and developing outdoor rooms, we need to take some steps in this arena.

Seriously, it is over-the-top ... so, what can I do? Has anyone tried the yard-sized gourmet ant bait? Is this a problem for a professional? Has anyone ever tried the good old fashioned boiling water and dumping it on their "home" - - inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks everyone. My new cottage name might be Ivy on an Ant Hill - -

Hee-hee!

[Heather]

Morning Rubyslippers! I've heard of sprinkling cornmeal around the area. They take it back to their nest, they eat it and when they drink water the cornmeal expands in their stomach and they die.

[rubyslippers]

I can live with cornmeal as a going green option ...

I have always sort of had a truce with bugs - - I live inside and they live outside - - but I have a MUCH lower tolerance for infestations. Even good bugs are gross when tere are lots of them.

...keep the ideas coming...

[Evelyn]

We had a huge sugar ant (the teeny black ones) problem last summer. They would even crawl out of my laptop!!! Previous years I ignored them and they seemed to run their cycle. This year they are back, but so far just a few.

Anyway....last year I finally went insane having them all over the kitchen and the bathroom and bought those plastic traps. It helped. Maybe that is why there are fewer this year?

Heather, I will try the cornmeal. I would rather have that around than the traps.

RubySlippers, do you have more than one species invading???

Evelyn

[rubyslippers]

I just had little sugar ants in the kitchen and the bathroom. I sprayed and put traps EVERYWHERE back in March. Things are declining, but now they are entering via the sunporch so there are plastic traps out there as well. I am pretty sick of the things. However, thanks to the little traps, they seem to be under control. Sadly, as soon as I get rid of the little traps, they seem to return - - and I can get over it - - I'm not that "picky", but it doesn't look great to cook for guests with ant traps all over the kitchen. Inside, I seem to only be dealing with one species.

My decking however is crawling with every type of ant known to man. It is gross - - I mean disgusting! Then, I simply tried to plant a gerber daisy someone had leftover from a centerpiece in a little niche of my frontyard and I uncovered an entire colony with one spade. It is bad out there. I have lived in this area most of my life; so, I know we have an abnormal invasion. I don't know if our recent yard work is just stirring things up or what - - but it is definitely crazy. Big black ants, little black ants, little red ants, big red ants, creepy-crawly-ants ... don't mess with my gardening!

I found some products designed to help on-line ... they are just spendy. So, I hate to cough up the money if there is a more affordable/natural alternative.

Thanks,

Jenny

[CohenCottage]

I've had really good success with some of the natural bug sprays that contain eugenol (the active ingredient in cloves). They do smell like cloves, but it's kind of pleasant. I know Raid makes one....

[ChapterTwo]

Rubyslippers - About three years ago we started having small ants run amok in our kitchen. I tried all the popular and well-known brands and nothing helped. I even tried some of the homemade solutions, with no luck.

One time while down at Home Depot, I saw something called Grant's Kills Ants and tried it. There are 10 little bait traps in a pkg., which sells for under $6. That first year I put the traps all around the kitchen but, like you, felt that I was inviting them in! At any rate, after 3 days, I would only see one or two ants in a day and by five, they were GONE!

This year, in the beginning of April, I put the little traps around the perimeter of my house (none inside), and I seem to have outsmarted them. I have only seen maybe two ants since the nice weather began! I have recommended it to others and this product has gotten rave reviews. Here is what the package looks like: https://www.mclendons.com/img/products/10/10308010.jpg. I give Grant's my seal of approval! It's not natural, :rolleyes: but I was desperate.

I have heard that some K-Marts have it; they also sell a canister of the product which you can shake on the ground outside. Hope this helps!

[RoseMary]

Nutrasweet sprinkled around will kill them. I'm not sure what that means for diet soda drinkers:eek:.

I've also heard that grits sprinkled around will get rid of fire ants. I guess it works on the same principle as the cornmeal.

[rubyslippers]

I might try tucking a few of those traps outside my bathroom window. That area is driving me CRAZY ... anyway, I found some on-line outdoor abatement type things at Gardener's Supply ... a little spendy, but I'm going to give one a try in a small area prior to investing in the whole yard. Plus, I am on my way to a Home Depot type place to check out this Grant's Ant stuff. I don't mind the stuff in the little traps ... I just mind the foggy bombs that give me a headache. I know it is a fine line, but I'll walk it. I also like the idea of the Raid Clove Oil type stuff. I like the smell of Cloves - - so, I don't mind checking out something like that either. Thanks guys!

[annielinz]

We had a similar problem in both the kitchen and the bathroom, ugh. We bought the ant stakes(the ones C2 recommended) and put them around the yard and it seemed to clear up the problem.
I have dug in the yard or watered areas and have had bazillions come out carrying their eggs and I have resorted to just spraying the heck out of the area....I know not very green but I dispise ants. I'll have to remember the cornmeal and the nutrasweet. The nutrasweet makes me laugh since I drink a can of diet soda a day:eek:

[chyna]

I do the boiling water and chili powder, not sure exactly which one is doing the trick but I sprinkle the chili powder then boil the little demons. Gets rid of them right away, even the ones who weren't in the nest at the time. :cool:

Wonder if it is the year or something because I swear I'm over run by ants this year too. And not even the nice ones but those little biting monsters. I'll have to ask the bug guy when he comes in to work and see if it is just me. My dd's puppy thinks they are fun to eat, he's a bit insane. :p

[rubyslippers]

Chyna is out running around with the Discount Size Mega Jar of chili powder. I'm laughing like crazy!

[chyna]

Yeah I feel like a child up to mischief when I sneak it out of the cupboard and dump it on the ground. :o:p

[oxide]

Speaking of creepy crawly things, my rug has woodlice (pillbugs). They truly are snug as a bug in a rug. They must eat rug glue or something, because they don't seem to be coming in from outside. Instead, on damp days, several of them crawl up the wall and try to get TO the outside. Then they die next to the wall.

I live in an apartment so i can't pull up the rug. I'm using the nasty bug spray, which cut down on the pill bugs, but not entirely. I don't sleep in that room thankfully. They are pretty friendly, as bugs go, but it's still an annoyance.

Any suggestions?

[RoseMary]

I wonder if you could salt the rug or put baking soda on it and leave for a day or two before you vacuum. I know that baking soda and salt kill a lot of bugs by 'drying them out'.

The downside to that is that if it is humid, your rug will absorb some moisture and might feel kind of damp.

[memmey]

I can't beleive I found a thread about ants. This morning on my front porch I had some black ants on the cats food. I swatted them with a fly swatter and one flicked up into my right eye. It stung!!!! and now my eye feels weird. My gosh I got a carpenter ant in my eye!
I am still alive but it fells odd. Hey what is the likleyhood of a carpenter ant in your eye.
I have been through some terrible things in my life..LOL and this one IS true :o

[Lisa S]

No more of that! I tried googling "what to do when a carpenter ant stings your eye", but not much came up. Wonder why? :cool:

I can just picture you on your porch, swatting ants with a fly swatter. Why is it that, in my mind's eye, you're wearing a house coat?

Seriously, I'm sorry you got hurt. Cool compresses should help. Don't wait too long to go to the doctor if your eye gets any weirder.

[memmey]

:o I had on a old pink chenile housecoat and the fly swat was yellow....:o:o

What a world, what a world........

[Lisa S]

Watch out for flying houses.

[shabbychick]

Luckily (sort of) carpenter ants don't sting, but they can bite you with their powerful, wood-gnawing ant jaws, and they also give off formic acid like other ants. Did you wash your eye out after you picked Mr. Ant out of it?

[oxide]

I wonder if you could salt the rug or put baking soda on it and leave for a day or two before you vacuum. .

Hmmm, I'm going on a trip in a couple days, so I could easily do that. Thanks! :cool:

[LindaLK]

Good Morning Ladies, :)

Memmey, you and I could be twins. If the strange and unusual could happen, you can bet it happens to me. I haven`t had an ant in my eye. Well....not yet any way. :D. I did however have a pincher bug inside of my ear. How it got in there, I will never know. :rolleyes: Sheesh!

Enjoy the day everyone!


Hugs,
Linda :)

[CohenCottage]

My poor hubby was running with one of the dogs on Sat am and a WASP flew in his mouth!! Stung him several times on the inside of the lip... He came home looking like 'Bubba Gump', but after much benadryll and advil and ice, he looked more like Angelina Jolie for the rest of the day.

[LindaLK]

Good Evening Ladies, :)


Cohen Cottage, ROFLOL! :D about how you described what your poor hubby looked like. You have a way with words. Too funny. I hope the swelling goes down soon.


Hugs,
Linda :)

[CohenCottage]

Thanks Linda! He's much better now, but for 2 days he looked pretty funny...

[shabbychick]

Yikes! You guys are making me afraid to go outside!

[Heather]

Oh CC I had a funny thought in my head (happens often) - you said your husband was a physiologist? Was he talkin' kinda funny and slobberin' like he should be the one on the couch? Tee hee hee...

[chyna]

That's what you get for trying to be healthy. He should have stayed home and had a bowl of ice cream and veg on the couch. :D