I hate ants

[simon275]

I seriously hate ants. We leave no food out what so ever and seal up all the entrances and holes and but they still sneak in. Now it has got worse the ants are breaking into some packaging. Short of calling pest control and fumigating which we are seriously considering does any one have any methods or ways to keep the little buggers down?

Tried so far

-Bug Spray
-Boric acid + sugar ant poison
-Ant Traps where ants take poison back to the nest and kill the nest

None of these work they keep coming.

The ants are only those small ass black ones. Sugar ants I think?

Please help!

Edit: Rushed out an bought the most evil looking indoor surface spray I could find. The ants are gone for now but by tomorrow or in a few days they will be back.

The war continues.

[xmastree]

Water. They can't cross it.

If you have a table, place each leg in a bowl and fill it with water. They won't be able yo get onto the table.

[Drum Thumper]

Plant some mint. They hate mint.

[GT40_GearHead]

burn the mother****er$

when you see one, grab a deodorant can, and with a cigaret lighter, make a personal flame trower and burn poor son of bitch to ant hell

[slytherock]

Plant some mint. They hate mint.

But then you will have to fight a MintyMadness tryng to go on the table :p

[.Maleficus.]

burn the mother****er$

when you see one, grab a deodorant can, and with a cigaret lighter, make a personal flame trower and burn poor son of bitch to ant hell
...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

You took the words right out of my mouth. Flamethrower = genius. Those ants won't know what hit 'em. You'll be known to the ants as "El Diablo" and you'll never see an ant again.

We had this same problem once here. It took a long time to stop the ants, but that was mostly the work of the weather. I don't think ants like going outside in -10º weather. I'd say for now, keep on doing what you're doing and if it gets really bad, call a specialist.

[xmastree]

You'll be known to the ants as "El Diablo" and you'll never see an ant again.Somehow I doubt it.
Whilst it would indeed be satisfying to frazzle them, the problem is that there are billions of the little fsckers, and they're tenacious little b'stards. They'll just keep on coming back for more and more and more.

You'll lose you might as well try to stop the sun setting.

The only way to stop them is take away what they want, i.e. food.

Remove that, and they'll go elsewhere.

[Mitternacht]

...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

You took the words right out of my mouth. Flamethrower = genius. Those ants won't know what hit 'em. You'll be known to the ants as "El Diablo" and you'll never see an ant again.

We had this same problem once here. It took a long time to stop the ants, but that was mostly the work of the weather. I don't think ants like going outside in -10º weather. I'd say for now, keep on doing what you're doing and if it gets really bad, call a specialist.

The temp outide my house right now is -19*C, and feels like -29. I don't think any ant would survive this. My ZIP code: 15132. Go onto weather.com and check it out.

[Airbozo]

Wipe the counters down with vinegar. If you can't take it full strength dilute it 50/50 with water first.

Another thing that works in my area (we get a couple different types and sizes here) are the Grant's ant spikes. They kill the whole colony. Drop a couple of the bait traps right across the ant trail, they take it back to the nest, and most of them die off. Usually the queen goes pretty quickly, and the rest abandon the nest in search of less lethal digs. When you see them on the march with their eggs in tow, wipe em out with Raid!

[TheGreatSatan]

HOT, HOT water. Boil it an pour! Trust me, this is what I researched for last summer and it works!

[DaveW]

The only way to stop them is take away what they want, i.e. food.

This won't work. Ants take dead stuff into their nest and use it as fertilizer to cultivate some sort of moss/mould. They eat that. That's right, they're little farmers.

So unless you can remove every piece of dead organic matter for about a quarter of a mile-cos these little critters will travel that far for food-that's no good.

Ants are probably gonna be the only guys left after we nuke this planet, they're tough little ****s. Being honest, the best you can do is call a pro, or hope that the weather kills them. Never heard of anyone successfully getting rid of them any other way.

-Dave

[intergalacticman]

Water. They can't cross it.

If you have a table, place each leg in a bowl and fill it with water. They won't be able yo get onto the table.

wow genius idea

[intergalacticman]

This tends to just piss off fire ants. I swear I have tried. It's almost like the little assholes have seek-n-destroy targeting systems too. They will literally _come after_ you if their nest gets disturbed and they think you are the culprit. gawd i hate em.

-Jeremy
*shudders* bad experiences with that.

[moon111]

#1. Start by putting some Grape Crush in a small container they can get to. They LOVE the stuff. Now what you'll find is they'll actually make a trail back and forth from homebase to get this stuff. You need this information.

#2. Nuke homebase. Remember most pesticides are spin-offs of nerve gas experimentation. It's just a lower dose that doesn't immediately kill humans.
I've also used stuff that comes in a little bottle, they'll bring it back home and then feed it to the nest, killing the colony. I tried making some, but it wasn't worth while.

Happy hunting.

[progbuddy]

#1. Start by putting some Grape Crush in a small container they can get to. They LOVE the stuff. Now what you'll find is they'll actually make a trail back and forth from homebase to get this stuff. You need this information.

#2. Nuke homebase. Remember most pesticides are spin-offs of nerve gas experimentation. It's just a lower dose that doesn't immediately kill humans.
I've also used stuff that comes in a little bottle, they'll bring it back home and then feed it to the nest, killing the colony. I tried making some, but it wasn't worth while.

Happy hunting.

Try Amdro (the strong stuff). I've used it with fire ants, and they never come back. I know ants. They build colonies in my garage. Sprinkle the stuff on the colony about twice, and there's nothing left but a pile of dirt. Either that, or take the more violent approach. Instead of using a deodorant can, use WD-40 to make a flamethrower (lol, ive done it). Or place WD-40 on the ant nest, and light it aflame (make sure to pat out the flames around it! :p).

[armadilloben]

i would make them into temporary leds


im one sick mutha f*****

[armadilloben]

This tends to just piss off fire ants. I swear I have tried. It's almost like the little assholes have seek-n-destroy targeting systems too. They will literally _come after_ you if their nest gets disturbed and they think you are the culprit. gawd i hate em.

-Jeremy

*shudders* bad experiences with that.



I
feel your pain i got attacked by a ****ing colony of em in camp 4 summers ago and to think all i did was step on the wrong "mound of dirt". Oh my god if i had a genie my first wish would be to make them extinct

[Airbozo]

Dontchabehatingdaants!

Seriously when it comes to insects I do appreciate most of them for what they do in my garden. Ants are no different. My issue with insects (any of them) is when they start invading the house. They are welcome to do their stuff in the garden (mostly just not out of control), but even step close to the house and it is over!

Fire ants are one of the exceptions as are wasps or yellow jackets. I even try to be as "green" as possible, again with few exceptions (like invading the house or my birds aviary). That brings on a whole new round of warfare. and I always win. Like I said earlier, go with the ant spikes. They work wonders on _all_ types of ants, including the fire ants. It is so fulfilling to see the line of ants moving the larvae to another den. You can follow where they go and pretty much destroy all remnants of them. Forever. They only downside is. no flames...

Some things I have tried that don't work;
Fireworks. Sounds great, makes huge holes out of little ones, but spreads the ants all over (including you).

Fire (from blow torches to gasoline). Looks really cool when you get the gas down into the nest and it shoots a fireball 10 feet into the sky, but this is only good for a small amount of the ants. They find another way to get out of the nest and continue the migration to your house.

Fire extinguisher. Again. it looks cool and makes some pretty impressive sounds, but not all the ants die, in fact very few will die.

Water moats. Ok I saw this in an earlier post. Some ants can swim. The ones that do not swim, will build bridges out of their bodies and sacrifice themselves for the "good of the colony". I have watched this happen with a couple different species of ants and can confirm this approach. I used to put up water moats to the humming bird feeders, and it barely slows them down.

Hot water. It will only kill the ants you see and if you pour it down the nest, very few will actually die since the nest is usually built so water cannot reach the birthing chamber or food chamber (where most the ants reside).

If you are serious about removing ants from your house, go with the ant stakes. Next in line, chemicals. It also helps to keep the floors and counter free from ANY food particles. Also mop the floor with vinegar and wipe the counter with it too. Bleach also works, but it dissipates quickly so does not last as long. Find out where they are coming in the house and spray a line of raid across the entry point. It does not take much.

[progbuddy]

Hmmmm... Make sure you don't have an aphid problem (ants love honeydew [aphid crap]). Here's where some tech would probably help... Lmao make the ants resonate.

[Airbozo]

Yes, along with "farming" mold, ants are also "ranchers" as well. A few aphids don't hurt much, but when they get out of control watch out. I use insecticidal soap for the aphids and white flies (basically dawn dish washing liquid, vegetable oil and hot sauce. Usually I just puree some habanero's from the garden...)

[CanaBalistic]

So you'll have ants biting you on your ankle, while at the same time ants are biting your groin.

-Jeremy

I dont think thoes are ants bitting your groin... Maybe its time for a doctors visit... :)

Thoes are probably carpenter ants you've got. If so, its essential you kill them before the temp warms up because the little ones can fly. They can move thier nest rather quickly. Also, they love to hide in wall cavities and rot the wood structure of your house. If youre going to use spikes, bait and the like, put them in the crawl space under your house and in the attic. After doing that, put some food around the crawl space vents in your house to lure them neer the bait.

[Airbozo]

... After doing that, put some food around the crawl space vents in your house to lure them neer the bait.

Careful with this, you don't want to turn an ant problem into a rodent problem.

I usually just drop the spike across the ant trail. That is a sure fire way to get rid of them. Just heed the poison warnings on the package (no they are NOT lollipops for the young ens).

[simon275]

Wow thanks guys. I would give rep but like there are so many good replys posted.

So far all quiet on the ant front the surface spray did its trick. If the ants do come back though I will try vinegar there seems to be a general consensus that it works well.

Cheers

[nil8]

Airbozo has it. Those ant spikes work wonders.

[Omega]

Hmmmm... Make sure you don't have an aphid problem (ants love honeydew [aphid crap]). Here's where some tech would probably help... Lmao make the ants resonate.

I am going to wire my entire house for sound and research resonant frequencies of EVERYTHING.



That begin said, I would normally go with some sort of cleaning chemical (409, Windex, CLR), because it kills the ****ers quick and it's all over the place.

If I was bored, I would probably flamethrow them, or something else innovative.


Once I got a bunch of ants on a metal plate I had... then I got a few hard drive magnets and dropped them on the big groups. Most hilarious thing I've seen.

[Drum Thumper]

Ants are probably gonna be the only guys left after we nuke this planet, they're tough little ****s.

-Dave


It'll be the ants, cockroaches, and Keith Richards left after we nuke the planet. Maybe Chuck Norris, but I don't want to start that **** here lol.

[progbuddy]

It'll be the ants, cockroaches, and Keith Richards left after we nuke the planet. Maybe Chuck Norris, but I don't want to start that **** here lol.

LOL. Wow. Don't forget the chance that all those twinkies Rosie O'Donnel ate may save her life from a nuclear attack :p.

[Ironcat]

Being in Florida, we sometimes get ants in our cars... I know how to get them out of your car, maybe you could find some way to tailor it to your house.

Place a bowl of very sugary water under your car. Make sure it is sugary enough that they want it but watery enough that they will drown trying.

Sprinkle cinnamon inside your car, ants hate it and they will begin moving around to get away from the smell... they will eventually find a route to the sugar and then it's all downhill...

Repeat until the sugar bowl is almost ant free...




* On a separate note * Flies will not land on a slice of lime. THAT's the real reason mexican beer is served with a lime wedge on top, to keep the flies out of your bottle.

P.S. If you do have an aphid problem outside (you'll see black sooty looking stuff on the underside of your garden plants if you have aphids) and you think that's bringing the ants inside, go online, you can buy 1000 ladybugs for like 20 bucks.

[Airbozo]

Place a bowl of very sugary water under your car. Make sure it is sugary enough that they want it but watery enough that they will drown trying.

This would attract so many more pests where I live, you would be happy to have the ants back...

* On a separate note * Flies will not land on a slice of lime. THAT's the real reason mexican beer is served with a lime wedge on top, to keep the flies out of your bottle.

I thought the real reason was that Mexican beer tastes like piss water without the lime... ;)

P.S. If you do have an aphid problem outside (you'll see black sooty looking stuff on the underside of your garden plants if you have aphids) and you think that's bringing the ants inside, go online, you can buy 1000 ladybugs for like 20 bucks.

BTW most of the aphids around my house are white and live on the stems. The black sooty stuff under the leaves are scale (at least in my area). It is cool to watch the cycle of aphids in my garden. Our roses will get covered in aphids within a few days, then the ladybugs and birds move in and they are clean a week later for the rest of the season.

Damn you guys got me itching to get the garden going. May have to start the seedlings indoors this weekend.

Hmmm, another idea...Garden mod....

[AJ@PR]

BahahaAHH!

This is a great thread.
So much fun and information.

I congratulate the other wielders of WD40 FlameThrowers.
w00t w00t

I love those.
Although, being serious, it won't get rid of the problem... just make it fun.

I once poured gasoline down ant's colony holes... for like, 60 minutes.
After that while, we poured some more (no replacement for displacement), and lighted it up.
WooomppHHHHH!!!!!

HAHAHAA... fire started appearing from other holes in the yard.
Funny stuff.

I once got rid of ants in my car (god, I loved that Jeep) by going to WalMart, and buying the cheapest ant/roach killer "pucks" you can find.
They where like $4 for 12.
I bought like $20 worth.
So, just open them all up, and place them everywhere.

After a couple of weeks, there where no ants... only dead bodies.
YES! Humans prevailed!



* On a separate note * Flies will not land on a slice of lime. THAT's the real reason mexican beer is served with a lime wedge on top, to keep the flies out of your bottle.
I wanted to add to this...

Ironcat, you're partially right.

Not all Mexican beer needs this.

Where does this come from?
I'll let you guys in a little secret (and probably get me killed by the company... Crimson, Dave, don't give them my IP! haha)...

Corona.
Corona Extra.
Mexican Corona Extra.

You see, Corona is made out of corn..
And the containers (beer bottles) are transparent.
These two facts work against Corona...

Corona makes excellent beer, but then, they have to export to the outside world... right?
Right.

BUT, Corona found out that their beer, by the time it arrived to its destination, was mostly "rancid" and "cut".
It was only slightly, but enough to make people notice.

So what did Corona did? (mid 90s was this)
Purely genius.
I mean, really... Genius on their part.

What they did was a huge marketing campaign of
"If you drink Corona, place a lime in there... that's the way it's supposed to be drinked!"

And, well, people bought into the idea... and now everyone (ESPECIALLY bartenders) places a lime in a Corona.

Why?
Cause the lime masks the "cut" beer, and consumers are nonthewiser.

That's it.
Plain and simple.

There are Mexican beers that are NOT made with corn... and are not packaged in clear containers... so they don't suffer this problem.

Next time somebody crams a lime down your Corona Extra, think about it twice.
Ask for a Medalla instead. :p (sorry, couldn't resist the plug)

[armadilloben]

It'll be the ants, cockroaches, and Keith Richards left after we nuke the planet. Maybe Chuck Norris, but I don't want to start that **** here lol.

ill be here to cuz ill jus crawl behind my thermaltake armor and that will save me:p then again ill probably jus die from the fallout though:down:

[Ironcat]

A: It's not cut or rancid. It is skunked... and while I don't know all the science behind it, it has to do the effect light waves have on the hops flavor.
Urban legend is that Corona has actually patented a way of making their beer taste skunked even when it isn't so that people who get it draft at a ballgame can have the same taste they recognize from a bottle.

B: Medalla is Puerto Rican. It's not a bad beer, but we're discussing Mexican beer, don't confuse people. ;)

C: Lots and lots of beers have either rice or corn used as a filler. Coors uses Corn, Molson uses corn, Budweiser uses rice, etc, etc...

D: Since they put lime on or in EVERYTHING in Mexico, including coke, tortilla chips, and meat, I am gonna stick with my original "it keeps away flies".

[Airbozo]

A: It's not cut or rancid. It is skunked... and while I don't know all the science behind it, it has to do the effect light waves have on the hops flavor.
Urban legend is that Corona has actually patented a way of making their beer taste skunked even when it isn't so that people who get it draft at a ballgame can have the same taste they recognize from a bottle.

New info to me! Now I know why I never really developed a taste for the light mexican beers.

B: Medalla is Puerto Rican. It's not a bad beer, but we're discussing Mexican beer, don't confuse people. ;)

Yes, The correct answer would be Modello. Negro Modello is a good one.

C: Lots and lots of beers have either rice or corn used as a filler. Coors uses Corn, Molson uses corn, Budweiser uses rice, etc, etc...

According to the Bavarian beer code, you can not call it beer if it contains anything but Malt, Water, Hops or Yeast. (yes I know we are not in Bavaria) The Bavarian Pure Beer Code of 1516, for example, is the oldest pure food law in the world that is still in force. I have pissed off my friends by calling the domestic lagers "malted beverages" NOT beer. (Rice in beer? Really? No kidding? In beer? Was it made in Japan?) <some comments from friends. (side note: my neighbor is a licensed Zymurgist and his favorite domestic beer? Coors. If he only knew how many kids play in the waters that feed the coors plant he would know why we fondly refer to it as Rocky Mountain Pisswater)

D: Since they put lime on or in EVERYTHING in Mexico, including coke, tortilla chips, and meat, I am gonna stick with my original "it keeps away flies".

D: I'm voting with you on this one Ironcat.

[Airbozo]

8 more posts Boz, and you got 1000

w00t

/spam

-Jeremy

heh and you are at 420... :smoker: Not that I know what that means or anything. :rolleyes:

[xmastree]

You know, for your ant problems, just look at the google ads up there...

As I type this there are four ads for pest control.