Ants!! How to get rid of them once and for all

KIPAX said:
I think you will find the OP problem is far far worse than that..
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When you get a proper ant infestation, you know about it.
They start ganging up and carrying off the sugar bags,
melons pets
OK maybe not the last one :D
But seriously, they move like a wave over kitchen surfaces!

SarahLee said:
:thinking: I can't help wondering whether Marcel's wasp solution would work equally well on ants ???
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For the same reason that "plastic" owls etc, don't work to deter
gulls etc, from sitting and crapping on your roof, they know the difference.
But if you know a friendly zoo with an ant eater, you might be lucky :D
 
I dunno - anteaters are pretty cool looking beasties!

Chris, Mum and Dad had a big plastic owl to stop gulls carping on Dad's boat. As long as it got moved fairly often (once a fortnight IIRC) it seemed to work quite well but if left for much longer, the fornicating gulls would sit on its head (and carp!)
 
srichards said:
There is that powder stuff made from animal shell. Erinaceous earth?? Non toxic to pets but creepies of all kinds don't like it as it dries them out.

I've not really seen any ants this year. I have one of those sonic pest repellers in the hallway now. Maybe they don't like it.
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One of those sonic pest repellers might be an option, perhaps it will keep the spiders away also :eek:
 
Cobra said:
You are thinking of Diatomaceous Earth
Its the ground up remains of diatoms
(a type of algea )
Its razor sharp and cuts the little buggers to pieces,
sucking out their body fluids.
I've never used it so can't comment as to how effective it is though .
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That sounds good lol! Where do I buy it lol!
 
Nod said:
You might deter them a little for a while but as with almost all things natural, they'll win in the end! You could try feeding them on sugar somewhere in the garden - they often nest in compost heaps so a spoonful of sugar might keep them going there rather than invading your house.

In the past, we've had invasions but don't seem to be bothered by them so much recently - they're still around but seem to be staying outside these days for some reason! We seem to have tried all the usual remedies (including some European imports!) to little avail - maybe the cat eats them these days (although the few we do get seem to be hitchhiking in on her, since one of her favourite lying up spots is on a pot where they nest...)!
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lol!! Why do cats like to lie in the plant pots?! Mine does exactly the same, I filled it with plant this Summer and for about 3 days he sat and stared at for hours like he was showing he annoyance!!
 
Cobra said:

Hi Martin
It contains and is largely phenol (AKA carbolic acid)
So yes it does burn them.
Plus it has quite a thick meniscus and they hate crossing that
Ref back to the fairy liquid point in my earlier post.
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That might work, I could paint that on the window sills inside the house?

I'm sure the ants at mine live in the walls of my house!
 
MatBin said:
We bought some stuff back from Oz a few years ago, that got rid of them. Highly illegal now, skull & crossbones and all sorts of warnings on it. Trouble was it was so toxic it was almost lethal to Humans. I have found some stuff in France that's a spray on barrier for doors and windows etc, seems to be pretty effective, they learn it kills and go elsewhere, next door probably. :)
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lol! your poor neighbours :lol:
 
I used these last year

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wc...ay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=333772

and they really worked for us, you have to put up with the ants for a couple of weeks after laying them but it certainly sorted it, then this year I have been red hot with powdering the outside of the house and [fingers xxd touch wood] I have not yet seen one in the house.. bet I have jinxed it now saying that :(
 
Cobra said:
This is the problem that we (Pesties) are facing almost everyday
The EU are banning our most effective weapons against all sorts of pests,
and we are begining to lose the battle, the reason?
Because we in the UK are the only ones silly enough to take heed of the
"banned list" ;)
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I suppose some of the problem is the minority of stupid people that manage to get hold of the stuff and misuse it ending injuring themselves or others.
 
joxby said:
I like ants...:(


I mean, I don't like them in my sammiches or anything but, I dunno....what constitutes an invasion.

Half a dozen ants kicking about the kitchen floor won't get me reaching for the gattling gun.

Maybe we just ought to accept that during the summer months we will get bloody great big thockin moths, spiders, flying jimmys, wasps, bungly stings and all manner of creepies in through our open windows and doors.

Isn't it just what happens in summer...:D
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Believe me when I say that if I stopped putting nippon down then I would probably have maybe 60-70 ants crawling around in my window sill in the kitchen and the same in my hall way, that's not to mention when the flying ants come out and then it feels like there is ten time that amount!
 
AFC said:
We had a problem with some ants near our patio doors, so we got some Jeyes Fluid and used a 50/50 dilution of JF and water and painted it around the base of the patio doors and about a 3-4 inch strip along to small walls and so far nothing has come anywhere the patio doors and this was done about 2 yrs ago.

Chris is there something in the Jeyes Fluid that keeps them at bay?
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It would even keep me away let alone ants.
 
amumonamission said:
That sounds good lol! Where do I buy it lol!
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As its not a poison,
Its readily available
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&...hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_lmljbd0me_e

amumonamission said:
That might work, I could paint that on the window sills inside the house?

I'm sure the ants at mine live in the walls of my house!
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Yep thats one place they live, you could do, but I don't know, if you know, it stinks ;)

amumonamission said:
I suppose some of the problem is the minority of stupid people that manage to get hold of the stuff and misuse it ending injuring themselves or others.
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Absolutely :thumbs:
 
amumonamission said:
Believe me when I say that if I stopped putting nippon down then I would probably have maybe 60-70 ants crawling around in my window sill in the kitchen and the same in my hall way, that's not to mention when the flying ants come out and then it feels like there is ten time that amount!
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A few years ago I woke up from a Sunday afternoon siesta to the sound of flappin an screeching coming from the back garden.
So out the patio doors I go and there are hundreds of birds bouncing round the garden going bats*** bonkers.
I thought WTHells going on ere, we get the odd sparrow once in a while and a blackbird sounding the Magpie alarm, but that's about it.
Anyway, on further inspection I see the flying ants, millions of them crawling out of garden walls, the grass, flower beds everywhere.....it was nutz......a plague.
An hour later, I couldn't find one...:shrug:
 
joxby said:
...it was nutz......a plague.
An hour later, I couldn't find one...:shrug:
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I refer you back to an earlier post re flying mating and evaporating
 
amumonamission said:
That might work, I could paint that on the window sills inside the house?
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I sorta missed this first time,
if you are referring to the washing up liquid, then yes a thin bead of NEAT
liquid, but don't use a cheap one, go for something like fairy.
 
amumonamission said:
Brill thank you :)
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No worries, you may well need quite a lot though
sprinkle a fine barrier around the house, failing that
if you can identify where they are coming in from,
(ie put food down, sugar / fruit etc)
and watch where they go, then put it around the area in a FINE barrier, so they
have no option but to cross it ;)

amumonamission said:
I was referring to the jayes fluid. But thinking now that the waging up liquid would be better.
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Its gotta be worth a try and of course, its one of the cheaper options too :)
 
LOL I assumed you meant washing up liquid ;)
 
Hi Sarah, I had very much the same issue. I moved into this flat in early May (it's ground floor at the back of the house). I had ants all the time up until about 3 weeks ago. I tried the commercial ant powders but they didn't seem to do the trick. In the end I put a thin line of bleach near all of the exits and entrances they were using. They wouldn't go near it. It's been 3 weeks now since I have seen any in the house (I have had the odd one here and there), and it seems to work.. probably also helps that I have a rather large spider living in my kitchen now as well which seems to scare them away :D
 
Pinpho said:
probably also helps that I have a rather large spider living in my kitchen now as well which seems to scare them away :D
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Oooh, forgot, I've also got a couple of house geckos that probably help too :D
 
Pinpho said:
Hi Sarah, I had very much the same issue. I moved into this flat in early May (it's ground floor at the back of the house). I had ants all the time up until about 3 weeks ago. I tried the commercial ant powders but they didn't seem to do the trick. In the end I put a thin line of bleach near all of the exits and entrances they were using. They wouldn't go near it. It's been 3 weeks now since I have seen any in the house (I have had the odd one here and there), and it seems to work.. probably also helps that I have a rather large spider living in my kitchen now as well which seems to scare them away :D
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I hate spiders! :eek:
 
Sonriendo said:
Oooh, forgot, I've also got a couple of house geckos that probably help too :D
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amumonamission said:
I'm not over keen on those either! lol!
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A couple who were in the same hotel as us a few years ago complained about the presence of a geko on their balcony so were moved to a room that didn't have one. A couple of nights later they were moaning because they had been bitten by mozzies!
 
Just found 2 nests in our garden so going to have to try and get rid of them :( They don't look too established yet so may try the boiling water in the nest .
 
BigJohn said:
Just found 2 nests in our garden so going to have to try and get rid of them :( They don't look too established yet so may try the boiling water in the nest .
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An ants nest is a bit like an Ice burg ;)
Plus if they are not coming in the house its sometimes best just to leave well alone.
If you start poking the nest, they may well start to spread out.
The Queen will be fairly deep underground, and unless you kill her
you will be wasting your time.
 
I think I have killed the queen , there was a very large one walking about that I stood on , but been on grass I couldn't tell if I squashed it . Gave the area a good dosage of ant powder and spray . Been in the middle of our lawn is a pain as our 18 month old will now have nowhere to play :(
 
BigJohn said:
I think I have killed the queen , there was a very large one walking about that I stood on , but been on grass I couldn't tell if I squashed it . Gave the area a good dosage of ant powder and spray . Been in the middle of our lawn is a pain as our 18 month old will now have nowhere to play :(
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TBH that is generally the only way to kill her, get her to evacuate the nest,
its not easy, but it looks like you may have succeeded in that case :thumbs:

And I do understand about the small child problem,
even the black ones can and will bite,
especially in very hot weather.
 
When it just seems this situation can only get worse!

We are now in the season of flying ants and they are everywhere! Coming in places now that I never knew holes existed! They're even coming in through the round holes in the window that usually have those plastic covers in them! God only knows where the plastic bits went, I think the ants ate them!!! I have had to put ant powder in a Hoover bag and start hoovering them up as I don't know how else to get rid of them! :(
 
Try one of the nematode type remedies - I've not tried this with ants, but did with mites on a reticulated python (long story, I got a new animal & it came with mites and I had a busted shoulder so couldn't use a more traditional method) and it worked http://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk/9-nemasys-no-ants
 
PaulButler said:
Try one of the nematode type remedies - I've not tried this with ants, but did with mites on a reticulated python (long story, I got a new animal & it came with mites and I had a busted shoulder so couldn't use a more traditional method) and it worked http://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk/9-nemasys-no-ants
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I have got to ask......

....what the hell would you have done if your shoulder had been ok? :eek:
 
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