How To Get Rid Of Ants: Prevention And Extermination
If you want to know how to get rid of ants, you've come to the right place. It can be difficult to get rid of ants, some of the most industrious creatures in the world. They have this reputation for good reason. If you think of ants, you'll probably think of two things - moving around, and food. Their chief reason for being seems to be the seeking out and collecting of food. And with good reason too - living in large colonies consisting of thousands, sometimes millions of their own kind, ants have a tremendous responsibility to feed their young and old alike. That's probably why they're in your home too, to try and get as much food back to their colony as possible. And that gives us a valuable clue about how we can put in a mechanism to keep them away in the first place.
Keeping Ants Away: Prevention - The Best Cure
As with all preventive approaches, if we know the cause of the problem it makes it that much easier to apply certain checks and measures to deal with it before it is too late. Since we've already seen that food is their primary target, all we need to do is make sure that we don't give them any incentive to be there. An open bag of crisps; a few stray popcorns under the couch; cookie crumbs on the carpet - these are all ant magnets. Preventive measures could range from something as simple as not leaving food lying around in the open, to making sure that all food scraps are picked up as soon as a meal is over, to sterilizing your floors with a lemon-based cleaning agent on a regular basis (ants hate this).
Getting Rid Of Ants: Exterminating The Enemy
But what do you do when they're already made their unwelcome entrance? In such cases, you could use one of several means to get rid of them. First, and by far the most effective, is to seek out their home and destroy the queen. This is not necessarily the easiest way and may require a pest control professional. However, once the queen is dead the colony will immediately start to fall apart, and your problem will be solved. Second, you could pour boiling water into their nest. This usually takes care of the problem immediately. Third, you can use baits and poisons such as peanut butter mixed with boric acid powder or borax. However, if you have pets or kids at home, it's advisable to either take extra precautions or look for another alternative. Fourth, and if all else fails, professional exterminators can do a deep reach fumigation for you. This should keep your home ant-free for about 6 months or so.
The After Effect: What To Do Once You Get Rid Of Ants
Once you've decided on and implemented your extermination method, it's best to apply preventive measures if you don't want another infestation on your hands before the year is out. Apart from the simple solutions already discussed, you could completely seal all the openings where ants might try to make their way into your home once again. You can caulk over any visible openings, or line suspect cracks and entryways with deterrents such as boric acid powder or diatomaceous earth. The secondary benefit of sealing your home is a considerable savings on your energy bill.
In most instances it is more cost-effective as well as easier to keep ants away rather than deal with them after they've invaded your home. However, in some situations you may not have that choice. In any case, it's best to shop around and see how cheap or expensive extermination services are before you DIY - it could actually save you time and money in the long run.
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Well-timed article! This house has recently come under attack by these persistant creatures. I'll definitely try the lemon-based cleaning agent and earth as my first steps in winning the battle (and hopefully the war).
Best of luck to you Merwyn!
If you feed the ants to the fish, the fish would get very fat.
I'm afraid I don't follow.....
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