Ants!

[Itisallgoingtobeok]

I’m having a nightmare with ants coming into the house. I have put Nippon liquid down which seems to sort it for a few days / up to a week and then they come back through a different route. I can’t find the nest anywhere.

Next door are having some building work done so I am not sure if they have disturbed them.

This has been going on for weeks and I am starting to wonder if I need a professional to come and look at it. I am cleaning like a madwoman and all food is sealed away.

has anyone got any advice as to what worked for them to get rid of them?

Following as have the same issue.

Me too! They’re camped out in my hallway & won’t go…

The only thing that has ever worked for us are ant bait stations we literally had them pouring from a ceiling once - renovation job. The only thing that worked were these.

Small spray bottle. Water and a good few drops of tea tree oil. Shake and spray along where they are coming in. Worked for me last summer. Your neighbours reno is probably something to do with it, disturbed nest perhaps.

It might be the same as nippon, but I use raid ant powder. I puff a bit along the door frames/seal at the bottom of the external doors. Funnily, I started seeing a few ants inside on the weekend but since putting the powder down- haven't seen anymore.

I doubt is good for the environment though. 😬

Ant baits have worked every time for me and I’ve had some really awful infestations.

I’ve tried the bait stations too and those seem to work temporarily too.

I’m really at the end of my tether with it

White vinegar.
squirt it outside on all the entrances. Non toxic for pets too.
just reapply every few days. I use 1/3 of a bottle each time.

I have a thread about this! My problem has been tackled now, but it did take the 10 days, and we still have the odd few poorly ones still trying to go about their job. I hated the process so much. Anyway, I'm posting to say that one if the things I learned is that this end of spring is the time for house infestations. So it could be the building work, or it could just be the time of year.

My ants were really keen on the prefilled nippon bait stations, but not so keen on the seperate nippon gel. I never got around to trying out the powder and spray we bought.

@dudsvillethank you for your post, it’s given me hope! It’s seems as though the nest must be huge, or there are multiple nests, each finding a way into the house. It’s driving me nuts. DP has spent much of today squishing the scout ants to stop them heading all over the place.

I posted this on @dudsville's thread! Ants hate lemon juice, so if you can spray this around entry points that will kill the scent trails. If you spray them with the juice it also kills them. (I bought a bottle of lemon juice for this purpose, rather than waste the lemons in my fruit bowl!)

Thanks @BIWI I need to kill the nest ideally that’s why I have been using Nippon. I have been wiping the surfaces either citrus spray though to stop them from wandering too far and going to point them towards the Nippon which they then take back and it kills the nest… at least that’s the idea!

Verbax flea spray, bloody brilliant stuff, can get a can from Amazon. Tired and tested in our old house and works a treat. We have the same problem and I went hunting for it earlier but couldnt find it🤦🏼‍♀️

Checking in - also have bastarding ants marching about my kitchen.

We have DDog to consider so some options are out, so am currently persevering with lemon juice and white vinegar but there are a few hardy buggers that don't seem to care.

If anyone has any other pet friendly suggestions, please BRING THEM TO ME.

Sympathy OP.

@BigBadBarrie- does that kill the nest too? I suspect there is a big nest somewhere and if I don’t kill it they will just keep coming back ☹️

It's really painful, but with the bait stations you need to leave the ants and not squish them. They need to take the bait home. We weren't 100% successful at that, but they had a free run at night and we only did minor cleanups in the day.

W think our nest was in the house, and 2 or 3 days after the bait stations went down we started seeing them in other parts of the house. We also wondered then if it was more than one nest, but we just bought loads of stations and put them near wherever we saw a trail.

I don't know how to link to my thread, but @BIWI and others gave lots of useful suggestions. I'm planning on this being a late spring activity from now on, and next year I will try the kinder and more eco friendly approaches in advance.

They are not pouring in now, but I have about half a dozen in the kitchen and a couple in almost every room. 🤬

Diatamaceous earth works really well and is pet friendly. Last year I dusted it along the bottom of the walls and cupboards and the sliding door threshold and it stopped the ants. Problem is, it's effectively dirt and dust in your house and when you get sick of it and hoover it up, the ants come back. And if it gets wet it's even worse. I ended up with the Nippon bait stations last year - I hid them behind the kickboard of the cupboards so that should eb safe for your dog.

They dislike lemon juice, peppermint and vinegar so you could spray the entry ways with that instead of a chemical spray that kills them. To be honest, if its only a few I'd just leave them to it, assuming they are black ants and not those psychopathic little red ones that seem to channel Texan fire ants in their aggression and painfulness of bite. We get black ants every year for a couple of weeks that seem to hang around in the hall and downstairs loo in small numbers and occasionally make their way into the kitchen. There aren't loads of them and after a few weeks they stop coming. As long as they stay on the floor and I don't spot them on the counters I just ignore them (unless I find a line of them carrying something, then I am compelled to follow - maybe I was an ant in another life)

Agree with @Thumbtwiddler

Diatomaceous Earth is what you need. You will also need to get an applicator - they sell them on Amazon. I'd get a long one like SUNYAY Diatomaceous Earth Applicator Powder Sprayer Multi-Purpose Powder Duster Length Adjustable from 12 inches to 42 inches because then you can do at arms length and avoid risk of inhaling it.

If your kitchen has an external wall, I would start by applying it all along the whole length of that wall at the point where the wall joins the ground/pavement at the base. if there are any other obvious cracks or holes in the mortar, puff some in there as well. Start with it outside around the whole house if necessary and see if that makes a difference. I've never used it inside and wouldn't be keen to try it because it is so light and powdery and because of what it is made of but when I've used it like this outside, it has worked well.

You need to apply this when it is dry and preferably when it isn't going to rain for a couple of days.

It's very effective.

Also ants follow each others scent trails so combine the earth with cleaning up - if you've found ants in a particular place inside, make sure you give it a good wash and scrub with hot soapy water to disrupt their trails.

@SirQuaverofSkips many thanks for the advice. I’ve been cleaning like a mad woman, using traps, liquid and powder (outside), but nothing works, so I’ll give the Diatomaceous earth a try.

We used EcoValley Ant repellent when all previously tried and tested methods failed.
Worked first time.
Got it on amazon

Oh it will, we used it for a redmite infestation in our chicken coop too, never saw another one again! Just ventilate after and cover any fishtanks if you have them