| Jon |
I have ants everywhere!!! At first it was only in the kitchen. Now it seems like they are trying to infest the entire house. I have had the exterminator come by twice in the last 2 weeks. It seems as though with every visit from the exterminator man, the ants come back in full force. I have tried everything from rubbing lemon on my kitchen counters to fumigating the kitchen. I fear with the summer season on it's way.......I am going to have to do something really drastic to solve this. Can anyone give me some helpful tips/tricks/remedies to deal with this problem?
Has anyone tried the "insect eradicator"? Those are the devices that plug into the wall outlet and emit a high frequency that supposedly disturbs any insect enough to leave the house. |
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| m2pc |
Not an ant expert, but are those carpenter ants or those little sugar ants? I just think you have to know what you are facing in order to deal with them. If you signed up with a major exterminator, they should guarantee the work. Usually, after the exterminator comes and makes the application, the ants will "come out in full force" because, the pesticide is messing up their nervous system, so what you describe is normal. Don't know the environment you are working against so cant help you there, but let the professionals handle it, after it is under control, either stay with them, or follow their application and do it yourself.
Good luck |
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| laborlitigator |
| You can identify the type of ant on their website and if you use them, it appears that they guarantee their work. |
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| hammermdx |
| Be careful of Terminix, here in CT. the Attorney General brought a class action lawsuit against them for fraudulent business practices, i.e. telling folks they had termites and needed their expensive services to get rid of them. In truth, some of the Terminiz folks planted the termites. |
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| msu79gt82 |
quote:
Originally posted by Jon
\Has anyone tried the "insect eradicator"? Those are the devices that plug into the wall outlet and emit a high frequency that supposedly disturbs any insect enough to leave the house.
I believe that Consumer Reports has tested several such devices and say they do NOT work. |
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| dbauchat |
We live out in the country with lots of woods and ants kind of come with the territory. However, I don't like to use insecticide since we are on well water, and I figure anything I put on the yard or in the house may end up in the water supply. Anyway, here are some things to look for and use.
1. Check all around your exterior house foundations for "mud" tunnels leading from the ground up to the wood structure. If you see these, it is usually bad news as they are made by carpenter ants. (Note: your exterminator should have inspected for this and sprayed). Scrape or remove the tunnels. (If you have carpenter ants, you will need expert help as they can destroy your house.)
2. Remove decaying wood chips & leaves from around your foundations. I find that cedar wood chips are much less prone to breeding insects than other cheaper mulches.
3. Several times a year, I spread a thin layer (about 12" wide) of Diatomaceous Earth (available at most garden or pool supply places) around the entire foundation of our house. It takes about 7 pounds per application. This is "earth" composed of the broken and crushed shells of diatoms. It is harmless to humans & pets (unless your pets are crickets), but it is hell on soft bodied insects. It is like walking thru razor blades for them, it literally cuts them to pieces. Note: I do wear gloves when I spread this simply to avoid getting any skin irritation. This stuff works amazingly well! If you have any ant mounds outdoors, just sprinkle the DE around the top and in a few weeks the ants are gone.
By doing these things we have been able to control the ants very successfully without using toxic sprays. I hope this helps. |
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| apple904 |
| Have you tried using those ant traps they sell in the stores? They are small discs that the ants go into and take the poison inside back to their nests thinking it's food. They have always worked for me and you don't have to spray poison all over the place. Just buy a bunch and put them in various places where you see the ants regularly. After a few days the ants usually vanish. If you try killing the ones you see with spray, you never get back to the nest. This kills the nest. |
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| ByeByeChrysler |
to add to the above environmentally safe ways
an old fashion way is to pour boiling hot kettle water on them. |
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| A2MDXer |
I used a product successfully in the past called TERRO. Not sure if you can get it in your area and it only works for "sweet-eating" ants I believe (not carpenter) but it was very good for its intended use.
Non-company link Company site |
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| BaldEagle |
quote:
Originally posted by apple904
Have you tried using those ant traps they sell in the stores? They are small discs that the ants go into and take the poison inside back to their nests thinking it's food. They have always worked for me and you don't have to spray poison all over the place.
Worked for me also.
Put some out about a year ago and have not had an ant since. Took about 2 weeks before they went away. I helped the ants find the bait by putting a little sugar around it. |
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| 02SSmdx |
quote:
Originally posted by BaldEagle
Worked for me also.
Put some out about a year ago and have not had an ant since. Took about 2 weeks before they went away. I helped the ants find the bait by putting a little sugar around it.
I've also used one called "Grant's Ant Traps" It works very well too. Give it 2 weeks and they're gone. |
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| crmsnidol |
| Set up a full picnic on a neighbor's lawn. |
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| ghotie |
quote:
Originally posted by crmsnidol
Set up a full picnic on a neighbor's lawn.
LOL!!
:2: :29: :2: |
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| socalJD |
| Get your Uncles to divorce them . . . :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: |
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| Pierre |
| Send them to Iraq. American missiles seem pretty good at annihilating little ones. |
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| Fireblade6 |
| A can of WD-40 and a book of matches:1: :9: |
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| mdxxxx |
quote:
Originally posted by Fireblade6
A can of WD-40 and a book of matches:1: :9:
:22: |
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| mdxxxx |
quote:
Originally posted by socalJD
Get your Uncles to divorce them . . . :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
:19: |
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