May 30, 2010

How to Get Rid of Ants in Your House and Yard

Each and every summer ants become an issue in our yard, and if we don’t do some thing about it they end up inside the house. That’s when the trouble really begins.

Leave any trace of food about and it’s covered in ants within mere seconds. The dog/cat dishes need to be emptied and cleaned straight after feeding and make sure the kids do not leave the honey out!

The ant problem starts when it turns into an infestation and they start taking over the house. After that we need to do something to fix the issue.

There is no point in just killing the ants you can see, that is really only about 1% of the entire colony. When they do not come home to the nest much more ants are automatically sent out.

The best situation would be to discover the primary nest where the queens and all the other ants are and eradicate the entire nest with liquid bait.

You can try following the ant trail back towards the primary colony but this really is near impossible as the trail might go behind skirting boards, along the within of the walls and out somewhere at the other end with the house

The most efficient treatment for homeowners is to bait the ants which are within the house. The advantage of utilizing baits is the ants will take the poison back towards the nest, the queen and also the rest with the colony will feed on the bait and the whole colony will be destroyed.

Place the bait at different points along the trail the ants have been using. You should see heaps of ants scurrying towards the bait.

Don’t kill them, just let them feed and you’ll see them leaving to go back towards the nest. This really is great! The ant activity should subside within a few days. Keep topping up the bait until no much more ants are seen.

Okay, you’ve put down bait but the ants are ignoring it! Would you believe that ants are fussy eaters and can alter their eating habits at different times with the year. It does not mean the bait is no good, just that the ants are searching for another kind of food source, so try another bait such as liquid bait.

The above baiting treatment will solve your indoor problem but should you have heaps of ants outside they will at some point return indoors searching for food or water. Therefore you ought to be treating both the home and yard for ants.

Foundation - For efficient ant control, you ought to spray the outside foundation of the house with an insecticide repellent. A guide for spraying would be two foot up by 1 foot out, all of the way around the foundation. Also treat the windowsills, door trims, pipes, cables and pathways. This ought to be done regularly, probably every quarter.

Yard - Treating the yard. The best solution for treating the yard would be to use both granules and liquid bait. Granules will last approximately 2-3 months. Liquid baits evaporate and require to become topped up regularly, particularly if you live in a hot dry climate. Check frequently to make sure they have not dried up..

To recap, gel bait for indoors, sprays for the foundation, granules and liquid bait for outdoors. This will solve all your ant difficulties if repeated regularly.

Tags: Gardening Tips

Filed under Gardening Tips by admin.
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