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Ants are one of the most annoying pest problems you can ever experience simply due to the massive number that can invade your home. All it takes is for one ant to cross the threshold of your home and the rest will follow. They come inside for a number of reasons, but more often than not it is due to weather conditions and food-seeking.
There’s nothing worse than opening up a pack of sugar and finding hundreds of little black ants inside. They will get inside just about anything if it isn’t sealed properly and they can cause utter havoc and destruction to your food in the pantry.
Luckily there are several things you can do to solve the problem of ants. But the best way of all is to learn how to prevent ants from coming inside in the first place.
Methods to Stop Ants
Sealing the Entrances
This isn’t always an easy task because the ants are so small they can enter through the tiniest of cracks and gaps. The simplest way to figure out how the ants are entering your home is to look for their trail and follow them.
Once you identify the way they are getting in, seal it off. Depending on the type of crack or gap you can use a variety of materials such as putty, silicone caulk, plaster, or even glue.
Windows and Doors
Ants can easily enter through the tiny gaps around windows and beneath door frames. There are some rubber products you can purchase to place around windows to keep the heat in, and these will also work to keep the ants out.
Sealing around doors can be a little tricky, so you may have to deploy another method to stop them from coming underneath through the gap.
Diatomaceous Earth
This is a product that is rapidly becoming popular as a means of pest control, largely because it is completely natural and safe to use. It is a fine powder, and when it comes into contact with the body of the ant, it dehydrates the insect which results in death.
You can only use it in dry areas though, and if it does happen to get wet, you will need to replace it. Make sure your children and pets stay away from it because you don’t want them ingesting it.
Salt
Salt has a similar effect on the ants that diatomaceous earth does.
Often the ant will carry particles of the salt back to the nest, not even realizing that they are slowly dying from being in contact with it.
Then, the other ants in the nest that touch the salt will also die. It’s a good idea to spread salt beneath doors, along walls and windows to stop ants from coming in.
Create a Tape Barrier
Where it is possible, create a barrier in the kitchen using tape, sticky-side up. As the ants try to walk over the tape they become stuck. Eventually, you will end up with a piece of tape with tons of dead or dying ants attached to it.
Then all you have to do is dispose of it. When creating the tape barrier make sure there are no gaps beneath it that the ants can crawl safely under.
Talcum Powder Barrier
Ants don’t like to walk across talcum powder though it isn’t understood why.
Sprinkle the talcum powder where you have seen ants entering the house. You can even sprinkle it all around the exterior of the house to help prevent the ants from coming inside.
Chalk Barrier
Like with talcum powder, ants also don’t like to cross a chalk line. Again, it is not known why this is, but it is highly effective against ants. Chalk can be used around windows and doors, or even across your doorsteps.
But if it rains, you will need to replace it, as the water will wash the chalk away.
This makes it more of a temporary fix but is a good way to combat the ants before they take control of your home.
Natural Deterrents
There are a number of natural deterrents that work extremely well at repelling ants from your home.
They aren’t fond of certain smells and substances, including peppermint oil, vinegar, black pepper, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, cinnamon, and whole cloves.
Squashing Ants
If you think you can squash them all by hand, you are mistaken. But, if you see one ant on its own, killing it will have a huge impact on whether or not more ants will follow.
This is because a lone ant is usually sent out by the colony to investigate potential food sources. This ant then returns to the nest and reports on its findings. So, if you squash that lone ant, the others won’t know where to go.
Bleach Spray
You can make a bleach solution and spray it directly onto the ants to kill them, and then wipe up the debris with a paper towel. You can also spray the whole nest if you can find it.
Following a trail of ants may lead you to the nest which will normally be underground. But, if only part of the colony is killed, the survivors will simply set up new nests, which will lead to a vicious cycle of ants returning.
All-Purpose Cleaner
Spraying all-purpose cleaner onto the ants or the nest will have the same effect as using the bleach solution.
Watering the Ants
If you have ants on the floor, just throwing water on them can kill them.
Then you just have to wipe up the mess and get rid of the bodies. This isn’t a helpful method though if the ants are in an area where water will cause damage.
Boiling Water on the Nest
The only way to destroy all the ants and prevent them from coming into your home is to attack the nest if you can find it. Once you have located the nest, pour several gallons of boiling water into it.
This will kill almost all of the ants, and if there are any survivors, there certainly won’t be many! Just keep pouring the boiling water all over the nest until you can’t see any live ants.
Killing the Queen
The queen ant is the source of all the other ants, so killing the queen will get rid of all of the ants.
It is the queen that produces the offspring, and she is the one who controls the whole nest, so if you kill her, the rest will scatter away.
The queen is normally located in the center of the nest, and she will be the biggest of the ants so is easily recognizable.
Remove the Food Sources
One of the best ways to keep ants out is to make sure there is nothing around inside that they can eat. This means putting all food away, preferably in sealed containers.
They will generally come into houses because they can smell something they want to eat in there. Make sure you clean up any food that may have spilled also, especially those tidbits of food that fall on the floor or between counters and appliances.
Cleaning the House
By keeping the house nice and clean, you are limiting the chance of an ant infestation. The dirtier the house, the more the ants will multiply, and so you need to be diligent about your cleaning.
All surfaces, especially in the kitchen, need to be wiped down and cleaned as often as possible every day. Tables and counters can be sprayed with a vinegar or bleach solution to further deter ants from coming anywhere near them.
Ant Baits
An easy bait to make to catch the ants is a mixture of borax and maple syrup. The sweetness of the syrup attracts the ants, and the borax kills them. You can also use boric acid in the same way.
The borax and the boric acid both work in two ways to kill the ants: contact causes dehydration and death, and ingestion poisons the ant. They don’t die straight away, so they will take the poison back to the nest and share it with the other ants. Here are two mixtures to try:
- 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons boric acid, and 2 cups of sugar
- 3 cups of water, 4 teaspoons boric acid and 1 cup of sugar
When placing the bait, the ideal method is to use a lid or dish that is very shallow so it’s easy for the ants to get to. Put the bait in an area where ants frequently enter but make sure it is out of reach of your children and pets.
In Conclusion
By learning how to prevent ants from entering your home, you will find it much easier to control the situation before you end up with an army invading your living space.
Ants are industrious insects that will come inside for food, warmth, and shelter if they get the opportunity. Once you see an ant inside, act quickly so you don’t end up with an even bigger problem.
