Ants

How can I get rid of ants? We have them in our kitchen and they drive me crazy.

Be sure to remove anything they may get into, keep counters cleaned off and same with the floors.
A mixture of borax and powdered sugar in a small jar works well. They take the powder back the nest and this kills them.
Or, Terro liquid ant baits work well also.

I hate to kill ants unless I absolutely have to. I have had some success in keeping them out by feeding them outside, but to do this you need to know where they are coming from. You also need to be obsessive about not leaving anything to attract them inside.

I guess it depends on the type of ants. The ones we get here are only a problem if they invade the house in large numbers, once that has happened ant killer is the only option, but sometimes careful management can prevent the ants coming in. If you have a lot of shrubs close to the house it may help to clear the area, it certainly made a big difference to our ant problem at work when we did that.

My mom’s a teacher and her old school had an ant problem. She sprinkled the entrances (outside of the doors and window sills) with baking soda and salt and that did a pretty good job at keeping them out.

I don’t know what you can do for the ants that are already inside though, besides getting rid of what’s attracting them and spraying pesticides. That’s what my parents always did when we had an ant problem (as in, hundreds of ants invading the kitchen).

Can I do the baking soda and salt with cats? I have 8 cats and need something that will not harm them.

You could always try something I read about ages ago. I can’t remember where either… Anyway for ants, you sprinkle some corn meal around for them to eat. Your best bet is to put it where they travel. Anyway, they’ll eat it and then drink some water. They can’t digest corn so it stays in their stomach and they starve to death. It sounds gruesome but they are only ants. I’ve done it before & it helped.

Powdered sugar and borax is similar in that they take it back to the nest and it will kill the entire colony over time. If ants are dying prior to making it to the nest, cut back on the borax. I usually use 50% sugar to 50% borax.

I will have to try the cornmeal thing and if that does not work then do the sugar and borax. I want something that is safe with my cats.

That sounds like a good plan. I’ve never had cats, so I don’t know what’s good for them.

You still need to keep the borax away from the cats. Another idea is to make a liquid ant bait. Take a small jar and poke holes in the lid. In the jar add a mix (dissolve it first!) of sugar and borax. Put a paper towel (wadded up) in the jar and add the mixture in. Be sure to leave a quarter inch or so of space at the top. This way the ants crawl in but can’t crawl out.
I am also going to try the corn meal, sounds easy and quick! Thanks phoenyxstarr.

On the few occasions when I have had to get rid of ants I have found where they were coming into the house and tipped a kettle of boiling water over the area. it didn’t kill every single ant but it put them off entering the house that way. They don’t seem to like walking over dead ants.

Well I am not really sure where they are entering the house from. I will be trying the cornmeal though as it sounds safe.

I hope you get rid of them, I know how horrible it is when you have large numbers of ants in the kitchen.

Good luck! I hope it works.