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elizabeth
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Getting Rid of Ants
This subject seems to come up here from time to time...and both Pam and Vandenburg mentioned ants in a response to a weather thread. I had just
found the following in the SF Chronicle "Ask the Bugman" column...hope it helps....
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Q: Can you suggest homemade baits for ants?
- D.D., Sausalito
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A: Here are some ant tips:
If you know where the ants are coming in from, you can repel them with such products as food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE), baking soda, talcum
powder, damp coffee grounds, salt, cayenne or garlic powder. Place any of these materials in corners, under baseboards or in any cracks and crevices
where you see ants emerging. These products are mostly powders and won't work around the perimeter of your home as they will be blown away or washed
away.
If you can find the ants' entrance on the outside, you can block it with Vaseline petroleum jelly, any toothpaste or duct tape. You can also squeeze
the juice from a lemon into the opening and leave the lemon peel there. You can spray the ants themselves with a mixture of 40 percent water, 40
percent alcohol and 20 percent dish soap.
If you have ants making mounds in your yard, you can flood the nests with club soda or with white vinegar or food-grade DE. If you use the DE, mix 4
tablespoons per gallon of water. You can also use 1 gallon of orange juice diluted with 2 gallons of water and a dash of soap.
Or mix applesauce, Karo syrup, Crisco shortening, sugar water, canned cat food (fish flavored), creamy peanut butter, honey or jelly with boric acid
or borax. Mix about 2 percent boric acid or borax into the bait.
E-mail comments to home@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page E - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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meme
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OR you can sprinkle Baygone & be done with them!
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mtgoat666
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all those baits and home remedies are just waste of time, i know, i wasted my time with them all.
Just get the liquid spray ant killer from Costco (in US comes in 1-gal jugs with sprayer). spray their trails, and spray around edge of house, spray
their mounds. the stuff lasts several months between sprays.
chemicals are your friends 
[Edited on 8-7-2009 by mtgoat666]
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BajaGeoff
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Chemicals might be effective in getting rid of the ants, but they also might get rid of your pets too....or make them sick.
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Woooosh
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaGeoff
Chemicals might be effective in getting rid of the ants, but they also might get rid of your pets too....or make them sick. |
Only if you have pet ants. My lab puppy just carried a bottle of Sevin (my
preferred full spectrum bug killer) and he's fine. I think powdered Sevin is what "flea powder" is made of. I use it everywhere.
For ants I use the Home Defense spary like a poster mentioned. For trails of ants I use the gel they eat and carry back to kill the queen. Killing
the queen of the colony is the only way to get rid of them for good.
[Edited on 8-7-2009 by Woooosh]
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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DrTom
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"If you know where the ants are coming in from, you can repel them with such products as food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE), baking soda, talcum
powder, damp coffee grounds, salt, cayenne or garlic powder. Place any of these materials in corners, under baseboards or in any cracks and crevices
where you see ants emerging. "
lets see: dirt baking soda, damp coffee, salt etc......doesnt sound like im gonna have a problem looking at my kitchen
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BajaGeoff
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We have more pet ants than we know what to do with Woooosh!
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Skeet/Loreto
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If you live in Mexico CHLORDANE is the best, But make sure you use it Carefully!!
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
If you live in Mexico CHLORDANE is the best, But make sure you use it Carefully!! |
Chlordane? Are you nuts?
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Taco de Baja
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mtgoat666
| Quote: | Originally posted by Skeet/Loreto
If you live in Mexico CHLORDANE is the best, But make sure you use it Carefully!! |
Chlordane? Are you nuts? |
Chlordane and Heptachlor were (are) great ant and termite killers. Diazinon works quite well too.
As ants don’t like chlorine (big component of Chlordane and Heptachlor), I'd bet a small amount of bleach mixed with water and sprayed around might
work as a control too
Truth generally lies in the coordination of antagonistic opinions
-Herbert Spencer
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Bajahowodd
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Interesting hypothesis, Taco. Let me know if it works. As for Chlordane. Geez. I'm with goat on that. It's just so toxic to so much more than ants.
And the sad/funny thing is that way back when, when nobody knew nothing, I remember my parents sprinkling chlordane powder all around the inside of
our house.
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Bajajorge
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Ortho Defense works great on ants, pet safe too after it's dry.
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Farbauti
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Mint Extract
Protect the environment first! Ants are our friends!
We have used this home remedy for years...and it works to repel ants, but does not kill them. A plus is the pleasant smell.
Method:
Mint oil extract in a spray bottle. Mix 1/2 teaspoon with 12 ounces of water and spray suspected entry areas.
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tehag
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Ants
Among the 12,000 named species of ants, the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile is the great pest of the American Southwest. The tips in the article may
have little effect on other species. I live in Loreto, where the variety of ants is spectacular, and have found that a commercial spray around the
house footing and at obvious entry points works about as well as anything to discourage entry. Once they breech that and are in the house, I use a
window cleaning spray directly on them. I pay attention to food source minimizing, ie no dirty dishes in the sink, clean up the spilled whatever at
once, pick up the dog-food bowls soon after feeding, etc., and we sort of get along. The very last thing I want to do is risk poisoning my house-full
of geckos — they eat spiders.
[Edited on 8-8-2009 by tehag]
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OLIGUACOMOLE
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ants in the pants
Happened again...Just put on shorts from the floor that had red ants on them. Dance is the Ant in de #!@%# Pants
I have not tried this but sounds simple. Where can one get boric acid locally?
http://www.nathanchan.frih.net/?p=101
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Bob and Susan
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diatamatious earth...chalk...other powdery stuff doesnt work
chemicals WORK!!!
home defense is sold at home depot ans it works for awhile
but is very weak
there's a new crystal that the ants take to the hive that works
its at home depot too
ants LOVE food and WATER!!!
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Diver
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Can't you still buy Diazinon powder in Baja ?
A little sprinkled around the outside of the house a few times a year does it.
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Cypress
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boric acid will work on 'em.
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Farbauti
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Ant control secrets discovered!
Like the caveman who first stomped an ant said..." It ain't rocket science."
First realize though, tolerating a few ants in your Baja home may be a more realistic goal. Total eradication of ants may not be possible, nor even
desirable. We have had a southern Baja home for over 20 years and rarely have ant problems..and those few are minor.
Second, toxic pesticide sprays and dusts are poor choices in managing ant populations. Their use can make ant problems worse by causing colonies to
split up into multiple colonies. Most pesticide applications are not directed at the nest, and because in some species only 5% of a colony's workers
are out foraging at any one time, they can leave 95% of the colony intact.
Sanitation. Simple, but most important. Clean, clean, clean...daily. Wash those dishes NOW. Empty garbage. Store food in rubber-sealed containers,
not screwtops, put pet food bowls in slightly wider pans of soapy water, clean those countertops, etc....you know this. So eliminate the attractions.
Ants love water, too. Keep kitchen and bathroom areas dry. Wipe counters, eliminate standing water, and fix leaky faucets.
Ants sometimes nest in potted plants. If so, take the plant outside and submerge for 20 minutes in standing water.
A quick, but temporary solution...mix a teaspoon of liquid soap in a quart-size spray bottle filled with water, spray areas where ants are active, and
wipe up the dead ants with a sponge. This will destroy the chemical trails left by worker ants. Boric acid mixed with water kills them, too.
Seal entryways. Use good caulking practices & weatherstripping in initial construction. In older homes, replace rotten wood.
Outside landscape control is important too. No overhanging limbs, branches or bushes that allow worker ants to invade your home. No wood stacking up
next to the house, provide a vegetation-free border, such as brick or flagstone around the entire house. Regulary inspect potted plants, containers,
etc.
Now the most important part..and the sad reality of practicing complete genocide of an ant colony...sigh.
If you feel you must destroy the complete colony, try following a trail of ants until they disappear. You can also place syrup or honey on cardboard
or wax paper squares along ant trails. A thick trail leading from the syrup can help you pinpoint the nest. If the nest is found outdoors, pour large
amounts of boiling water directly into the nest to destroy it. Use a full pot of water and repeat as necessary..be resolute, you killer.
If you must use chemicals (which we never do), then use a bait chemical. This will carry the poison back to the nest where it will do the most harm.
It will kill all the little baby ants, eggs, the queen mother, the males..the entire population...dead, dead, dead...sob.
Now...who can tell me how to destroy these pesky hummingbirds and Monarch butterflies?
[Edited on PMu1u3931/10/ by Farbauti]
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vandy
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I used to use Spic n Span powder to wash my tile/concrete floors. Leave the soap residue on the floor, and ants/bugs/flies stay out.
This thread just made me remember that. I'll have to give it another try.
They seem to have bleeped the first word. I'm sure you know what it is. They are awfully niggardly with their use of language.
(A school superintendent in North Carolina lost his job for using that word).
[Edited on 8-9-2009 by vandy]
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