OK I HAVE HAD IT.....

[Timmay]

OK is there anyone out there that can help me out here.  Spring has sprung....and so has all the water...the ground is saturated with so much rain water..it is driving the ants to higher ground...MY HOUSE!  I can not seem to figure out where they are coming in at.  We have a basement but we are finding them in the kitchen and in the bathroom that is directly above teh kitchen.  I have found a temporary solution only to ward them off to another path....but we didnt have any ant killer in the house so I took one of those Off wipes...and wiped it around the baseboard and the door frame. They seem to have stopped coming in that way.  What I really need to know...is there anything that I can put on the ground outside of my house to keep them out?  Im not so sure if there isnt an ant colony under the ground and they are some how down deep enough that they maybe coming thru our basement....any Ideas??

Timmay

[SLYinKC]

Timmy, We've had the same problem.  Just went to Wally World and got some ant traps.  The ants go in, get the bait, take it back to the colony, and the whole colony dies.

[Timmay]

Hey...great...i will make a run out there tomorrow to get some.....what are they called?

[SLYinKC]

Hey...great...i will make a run out there tomorrow to get some.....what are they called?

D-Con makes them and I think they are just called ant traps.

[JDog]

Tim have you ever thought about employing a Bic lighter and can of hairspray

[andrew]

Tim,

I've had pretty good luck with the ant bait, which they take back to the nest and kill the rest.  But, also I've gotten some poison (forgot what kind) that is in powder form that I sprinkle along the outside where the foundation meets the ground.

Andrew

[Timmay]

Thanks Rick and Andrew......JDog.....I just tried that and the can blew up!

[schro]

We had an ant colony outside our home a few years ago. Signed up with a pest control company for bi-monthly service. Haven't had a problem with ants (or wasps nests) since.

[Timmay]

I am starting to think that is the best idea there Schro.....just that im the type of person who likes to take care if it myself..if i can

[sparkster123]

i have had the same problem but it is with the little black ants and i think they are refereed to some time as sugar ants.when i tore my roof off i even found a nest of them up under the shingles.

i use [terro liquid  bait] and it wipes them out.you just put some drops in their path and they just start rite on it and in a few days they will all be gone. it works great..

[Timmay]

See I think that might be part of the problem.  I am ripping off old alum. siding and putting up vinyl siding...so I think I might have stirred them up somewhere...not sure though.  And yes these are those tiny black ants.  Drives me nuts....at least they are ants and not cochroaches...that is one thing I cant not stand at all.  Give me a mouse and a few ants...but if I see a cochroach in this house I will tear the whole damn place apart.  Never had them here and I had better never see one either.

[Cam]

I've done pest control for about 5 years now, and I can tell you for a fact that the ONLY way to get rid of ants is with bait. There's a good chance they're coming up your plumbing, especially after rain like you said. Ants feed on different types of foods at different times of the year. Somtimes it's sugars they want. Other times it's protein. A good - safe- thing you can do is get some boric acid, mix it with peanut butter and put it in a straw. Then cut the straw up into 1 inch segments and put them out where you are seeing the ants. It's basically like making your own bait station, and it works well for a protein bait. You can also add some sugar to make it a protein-sugar bait. You can also go buy those bait stations from Wal-mart, but in my opinion Boric Acid/peanut butter combo is a better solution.

[Sgt. Pate]

Tim have you ever thought about employing a Bic lighter and can of hairspray

JDog... we're talkin' to Timm here, ya might not want to teach him about things that go B-O-O-M! 

[Paul]

Tim try a product called Home Defense, you can find it just about everywhere.  It comes in a one gallon contained with sprayer.   We have a terrible time in th U.P. with ants and I was paying $100-$150 every year for a pest control guy to come out and many times he had to make a second trip.  I sprayed the Defense all around the foundation, incoming areas of pipe, cable, water faucets, etc.  This is now the third year and I have had NO problem with ants since then.  I use it in the basement along the base and where pipes, wires come into the house and it has keep it free of not just ants but spiders as well.  Even found it effective on those darn box elder bugs we get. 

[Timmay]

Thanks for all the info you guys.  never thought about ants coming up from the drains....I have heard of rats...and mice...but ants?  Oh well anything is possible in this redneck side of the woods.  I will see what I can do about it today...
Thanks again
Timmay

Still if anyone else has any secret remedies....please post em up