getting rid of ants

[Pugwash]

For the second time in a year, I seem to have an ants nest in the kitchen. They appear to have eaten into the plaster (again)and got into the wooden door frame which seperates the kichen from the downstairs shower room. There is a daily pile of 'dust' by the frame (the same as last year) Last year they ate the wooden supports behaind the plaster and we had to shovel up the ants with a dustpan and put them into a black sack- took several cans of ant spray and powder to kill them all off.

They are back again .................

Anyone got an idea how I can prevent this happening?

PS they have eated away the bottom of the back door as well.

[Tarot]

Call the council pest control. The ants at your back door can be destroyed by boiling water straight away.

For future prevention of invasions,you must without fail,every March carry out this method,you will need a few small jars and Nippon ant killer.

In the jars you put a small teaspoon of sugar and mix in the Nippon,then you lay the jars beneath your windows of the affected area,but preferably where kids cannot touch, or pets,try to put a guard round it ,or conceal it some way.

The ants attracted to the sugar will take it back to the nest and kill them all after a few days..

Also round about storm time, flying ants will be looking for places to nest,dont let them in your home destroy them

or they will get in all the crooks and crannes, and plaster.

Keep your kitchen tops and floors free of bits of food. they can smell it thirty feet away.

[Tarot]

P.S/When the ants take flight it is a good time to top up your jars.

[Pugwash]

Have 4 cats so will need to be careful - perhaps jam jars with lids with holes pierced in. Will try the Nippon trick

Am always washing down surfaces and putting away food. Found my glass cupboard running with ants one night all I keep in there is glasses and it is a wall cupboard well away from the back door.

[Tarot]

One or two ants first appear,they are the scouts, they leave a scent trail,they take a grain of sugar back to the nest and then you have a mass of them,even in a microwave.

They are quite capable of moving right through your place very fast,so I,m not surprised you had them in your

cupboards,if you find one on your table while drinking tea,more than likely it fell off your cup.

So check your kitchen.

The flying ants,make nests so be sure to get rid of any,look out for them just before storms.

Its a good idea about the holes in the lid,I,ll do that.

Good luck.

[Tarot]

Pugwash I, forgot to mention that they do come out at night, and when you turn your kitchen light on .

There was one incident we had when we gave a cup of tea to a woman visitor,she screamed and dropped the scalding

tea down her shoes,

I persevered and got one jump ahead of them,so its a ritual now with the jars each year, I dont wait to see one

anymore.

Prevention is better than cure.

[Saffron]

We have a cat too, and Hubbie opposes ant poison on the grounds that he had a cat die from it many years ago. We had ants coming in our kitchen at a previous house. I mixed ecover stain remover gel with essential lavendar and eucalyptus oils. I applied the mix regularly to the inner and outer surfaces everywhere we saw even a single ant. The ants wouldn't cross the gel. And the gel isn't harmful to cats, kids, etc. The gel either biodegrades on its own after a while, or you can wipe it away easily. It might not be as efficient as poisons that are taken down to the queen, but it won't cost you a trip to the vet/emergency paediatrics unit.

[Rusty12]

The jar idea with holes sounds a good idea if you have pets.

I've used Nippon liquid ant killer before, which worked really well. Its a thick gloop, I just put a little on top of a 2p coin, and the ants take it back to the nest.

[intexasatthe moment]

Apparently mixing equal amounts of baking powder and icing sugar produces an ant killer .

[dbboy]

The red can of ant killer available at supermarkets works a treat.

[Smiley_blue_1234]

Hi Pugwash - a natural remedy is to spread used coffee grounds in areas where you wish to repel ants (they are repulsed by the smell of the brewed coffee grounds) Worked for me in a kitchen, though they never ate anything so you might need something stronger....

Good luck!