Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I recently moved from CT to NJ, and was shocked by how many bugs I have in my kitchen and bedroom....... Although I live in condoes surrounded by woods both in CT and in NJ, I never noticed such a problem in CT before.
I took out my trash everyday, and cleaned my condo every other day, but didn't seem to solve the problem. The kind of bugs I see are like some mini version of house flies (sort of like ants with wings..) . No idea where they come from. Does anyone else experience similar problem? I am interested in how you resolve this issue. For example, if there are any effective bug sprays you can buy to keep these insects away.
My condo is really old at this point (it was built in the late 80s), which may also be why this problem arises. Thanks much for your help in advance. This is getting so annoying at this point that I am even afraid to turn on the lights during the dinner time...
Ants with wings? I hope you're renting this place rather than having bought it, because those might be termites. Might just be flying ants, but sounds like you need a professional at least to identify them.
Thanks for the response. Fortunately, this is only for rental. These bugs are slightly bigger than termites, and they like to stay close to the kitchen trash can. Probably just some sort of kitchen bug. I agree that calling pest professionals sounds like a good idea.
ok. just talked to my neighbor. he said those bugs are gnats. and he is having the same issue. They seem to only come during the summer, so my neighbor said just leave them alone.
Could they be fruit flies? These are usually tiny but they are very annoying. If they are fruit flies put all fruit and food in the fridge and keep the garbage empty. Fruit flies will disappear in a few days since they live for a very short time and once they are gone, they're gone unless you bring in fruit/veges with them again. I get them every once in a while. Usually with bananas or onions.
These bugs are slightly bigger than termites, and they like to stay close to the kitchen trash can.
I had something similar like this happening at my mother's apartment, but with carpenter ants. We had both the searching/scavenging ants and the giant queen(?) ants with wings. They first appeared during the spring. We did let the building manager know of the problem, but I'm not sure if he did anything or not.
The first way of dealing with them that I did was sprinkling hot pepper powder on them. And then, wash all the kitchen counters with wet paper towels sprinkled with pepper. As for the garbage, I just washed it in pepper trying to see if it works. After the pepper incident, nothing really improved, so I moved onto bug spray spraying on the ants' paths and the ants, themselves.
The spray worked okay, but to me, it wasn't enough and was just too toxic for me to keep using. And then, I moved on again to the most unthinkable object in the kitchen. Softsoap hand soap. I just individually squeezed the soap onto whatever ant I could find on any surface, kitchen counter or floor. The ants started to disappear little by little after that. I wasn't too sure if it was the soap doing this little magic trick but I kept doing it no matter what. I even washed part of the kitchen with the soap.
A week or two later, the queen ants appeared looking like newborns. They were all hogging the patio door trying to get out. I let some out, but most of them, I kept putting the Softsoap on them. Then, the thought occurred to me that I should deplete their numbers. So, I went on a killing spree on the rest of the queen ants to make sure they didn't complete their mission. Aaaand after that event, not a single ant could be seen in our kitchen, dining room, and living room. ^__^
The idea of mixing sugar/honey and boric acid crossed my mind many times to make a custom made carpenter ant trap, but, I didn't really like the idea of using acid.
Extra tip: And make sure to keep the house area dry and clean as possible. Carpenter ants love areas and food that contain moisture. They can't eat dry food, but they could grab the food and put it under water to soften it.
For gnats, I'm not sure how to deal with them as I never saw them before in my life. I've dealt with fruit flies though in another location. How I dealt with them was by using the old fashion way. My hands. I just kept smacking them and slamming my hand on the walls. It took an evening to kill over 70+, but it was worth it.
After comparing these bugs carefully to the online reference, I believe they are also carpenter ants. I will start the softsoap trick that seemed to have worked wonder for you and see how it goes.
^ I think any soap would do. You don't have to stick with Softsoap. Softsoap is what's in my kitchen. ^__^
Anyways, give it a shot. I warn you that it might drive you and other family members crazy, but this kind of thing deals with patience. (And as a free alternative to bug exterminators.)
And again, I can't fully gaurantee that the soap is what did the trick since I had so many other variables before using the soap. I just notice that the soap scared away the ants even more than using hot pepper, because ants rely on familiar smell in order to navigate. The only theory I have with that and soap is: by using soap, you keep cleaning up the ant's smell trail. I don't know if the apartment manager hired an exterminator to spray outside the building, either. All I know is, liquid soap is one of the best non-toxic ant (and other bug) killers I've ever used. I was so disappointed when the ants began to dwindle in the kitchen because I wanted to use it more.
Edit this part in: If you're adventerous in this, you can probably test out making your own anti-ant colony bait using a combination of honey and soap. I'm quite curious to see if this works but I have no more ants to try this out on.
I also forgot to mention one more thing towards the "keep you areas clean", you might not want to use your kitchen for a few days if you can. Ants will come when they smell food as you noticed by your garbage can. When your kitchen lays dormant with not so much cooked food, the ants will leave your home and go to another place to find food.
I wish you good luck and you're welcome! And if worse comes worse, a bug exterminator is the last resort to use. (Or search the web and see other methods of taking care of carpenter ants.)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just individually squeezed the soap onto whatever ant I could find on any surface, kitchen counter or floor. The ants started to disappear little by little after that. I wasn't too sure if it was the soap doing this little magic trick but I kept doing it no matter what. I even washed part of the kitchen with the soap. 
I just kept smacking them and slamming my hand on the walls. It took an evening to kill over 70+, but it was worth it.
