Home › Forums › Open Discussion › ant bait recipes?
- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
March 24, 2014 at 2:38 am #610812
JoBParticipanttoday i was talking with my neighbor and he told me that a local exterminator told him that it is likely that the entire hill i live on is one giant odorous ant colony… that almost everyone in the neighborhood has to deal with them. oh joy!
he also told me that they bait about 4 times a year with a borax/sugar mix and are not bothered by them.
I have looked up formulas on the web and they recommend mint jelly/borax 50/50.
i happen to know the critters living in my house swarmed for drops of dissolved coconut sugar…
anyone out there have any tried and true recipes they want to pass along.
the ants have to go.
March 24, 2014 at 5:47 am #806031
hammerheadParticipantI have personally used the borax soap (no sugar)it does work. As you know I have cats and dogs. No issues. I put it up counters where the pets have no paw contact.
The mint jelly is a mess, I could imagine.
March 24, 2014 at 4:33 pm #806032
sam-cParticipantmy husband takes a small desert sized paper plate, adds a big glob of honey in the middle, and circles it with a ring of Borax. leaves it up on the counter. it does the trick, works well in a day or two.
March 24, 2014 at 4:36 pm #806033
beefParticipantI guess I’m paying to much for the Terro ant bait traps! :) But they are nice and contained and do the trick. Although the first time you put them out, watch the ants storm the castle!
But they are the same thing, sweetness laced with borax.
March 24, 2014 at 7:28 pm #806034
trickycooljParticipantI tried 50/50 powder sugar and borax last summer and they wouldn’t take it, in previous places I lived that always worked. Did the orange Tarro bait traps in the summer and they swarmed the heck out of them but after a week it felt more like it was Old Country Buffet for ants, all you can eat but not strong enough to kill ’em. I suspect all the construction in High Point disturbed large colonies of ants too which is why after only a year in my new house I’ve been invaded too and they came up to the 2nd floor main living space too so I know the buggars are in the walls under my stairs! Over the winter I ditched the Tarro bait traps (they do dry up eventually) and got the syringe filled clear bait in a green package (name escapes me right now) but it’s intended for ants and roaches and I was able to inject it right into the crevices where they’re coming in from at the base of my stairs and the corners by my front door and garage door. Haven’t seen any yet this year. No pets or children so I was ok with applying this directly to the areas that needed it. I believe the main ingredient included Borax but perhaps it was a stronger concentrate this time. *fingers crossed* it’s only just starting to warm up outside.
March 25, 2014 at 1:28 am #806035
clark5080ParticipantI am told Grits work
March 25, 2014 at 3:18 am #806036
kayoParticipantThese bait stations work great and are not messy. Usually kills them off in a few days. I used to make a mix of boric acid and sugar, but it was messy to deal with and not really worth the trouble in my experience. http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/intice-gelanimo-ant-bait-stations-p-1276.html
March 25, 2014 at 3:21 am #806037
JoBParticipantMarch 25, 2014 at 5:18 pm #806038
oceanParticipantTo help keep ants away, use chalk– they won’t cross it! It won’t kill them, but if they won’t cross it, at least it will help keep them from coming in…. You have to re-chalk periodically, but if they are only coming in through one opening, you can effectively block off the trail they follow. (Because you have already sealed up their entrance, yes? And the only ones coming now are those who were far afield and are just following the scented trail?)
Also, scrub the scent trail area with vinegar to remove all traces of the scent trail, otherwise the stragglers will keep finding their way back.
We used Terro to kill off, vinegar to flummox them, and chalk to block them. We had hired an exterminator that 4 neighbors use, but their “natural repellants” were just a mixture of cinnamon and some other things, which would quickly wash away, and who wants to pay someone to keep coming back after every rain? So we hunted down the trails (kids had a blast with that), put out Terro baits where we could (out of reach of kids/dog), scrubbed a 5-foot wide ring around the house, and then drew/poured chalk around the inner and outer edges of the vinegar ring. The little buggers had been living under the garage! There was a tiny hole in the back [cement!] step that they were using as an entrance. It may sound mean, but watching them be confused by the vinegar, and trying to go around a continuous line of chalk, and taking the bait, was very informative.
But they don’t pay the mortgage, so they don’t get to live here.
March 25, 2014 at 6:10 pm #806039
oceanParticipantAargh, I take back all that I said: the little buggers just showed up at the tiny, had-been-filled hole in the step!
Okay, who are highly-recommended pest control people?
March 25, 2014 at 7:19 pm #806040
kayoParticipantI should have prefaced that we also use a professional service (Eden Advanced 6x a year) because we live on an anthill. This works well to keep them away. However, we typically get an incursion of ants twice a year even with regular treatment (February and August). These bait stations take care of that within a few days. If your problem is really severe, they might not work though. So far our typical February incursion has not happened, but I have these bait stations ready for them. I also like these because they do not leak sticky sugar solution like the Terro ones. The ants really go for them to the point that the station is literally vibrating with activity. Then, bam, in a couple of days, no ants.
March 25, 2014 at 10:04 pm #806041
Seattle TrashMemberPiles of Cornmeal. Give it about a week.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.