Hot Weather / Ants ? (apartment, HOA, condo)

[CNYC]

Been living in the same house for 3 years now and never had an ant problem. Suddenly two days ago I notice a few on my kitchen counter. I removed any food on the counter, ants still coming. They seem to be coming from underneath the stove and the sink which are clearly a distance from each other.

Does heat bring ants inside ? Do I care if I have ants and will they go away on their own in cooler weather ?

Do I spray the kitchen counter with poison or look for a nest somewhere to break apart ?

Never really had ants in NYC

Signed ,

Lost in North County

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Had no issue for a couple of years but they are back in force. Wowsers.

[GuyInSD]

One word for you: Terro

[CNYC]

Originally Posted by GuyInSD

One word for you: Terro

Ok but where do you put it....on the kitchen counter where food goes ? Is there some sort of strategy to the ant thing....nest , hive, eggs Etc. ?

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by CNYC

Ok but where do you put it....on the kitchen counter where food goes ? Is there some sort of strategy to the ant thing....nest , hive, eggs Etc. ?

No ant killer on food surfaces. Find out where they're entering the kitchen (hopefully somewhere on the floor) and put ant killer there unless you have pets and/or young children. Then wipe all ant trails with vinegar or something equally "stinky" to disrupt the ants' scent trail (an exterminator gave me that advice when I demurred his putting ant poison inside our condo).

If you're in a SFH then make sure to do something to discourage ants from hanging around the foundation of the building. If you're in a condo or apartment, contact the HOA or landlord and request that they do it.

It seems like everyone is having ant problems these days. Your mention of weather does seem to be the primary cause of the problem.

[CNYC]

Originally Posted by oddstray

No ant killer on food surfaces. Find out where they're entering the kitchen (hopefully somewhere on the floor) and put ant killer there unless you have pets and/or young children. Then wipe all ant trails with vinegar or something equally "stinky" to disrupt the ants' scent trail (an exterminator gave me that advice when I demurred his putting ant poison inside our condo).

If you're in a SFH then make sure to do something to discourage ants from hanging around the foundation of the building. If you're in a condo or apartment, contact the HOA or landlord and request that they do it.

It seems like everyone is having ant problems these days. Your mention of weather does seem to be the primary cause of the problem.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

[cruitr]

Windex does a decent job of killing ants. I've read that a 50/50 mixture of vinegar & water works too.

There have been several threads this year in this forum on ants. A quick search should find them.

My house is loaded with ants this year. 'Scout ants' seem to be everywhere. When a scout finds something good, there are 100s of ants all over it in no time.

I have found a few 'ant safe' places. For some reason, the center island in my kitchen is 'ant safe.' Not sure why. So that's where I do all food prep.

[USDefault]

Originally Posted by CNYC

Ok but where do you put it....on the kitchen counter where food goes ? Is there some sort of strategy to the ant thing....nest , hive, eggs Etc. ?

You put the Terro liquid where you see the ants. Take the Terro, and put some of the liquid on shiny flat carboard, or something that's flat and non-porous. Place the cardboard right next to where you see ants, or trails of ants. You want the ants to come out and eat it, the more you see, the better -- even if it's right on your kitchen counter, or floor, or wherever you see them. The ants will consume the Terro liquid, take it back to the nest, and that is what will kill the ants. You do not want to kill the ants immediately; you want them to devour the Terro poison, and take it all back to the nest, and to the queen.


You should see something like this. Sure, you can put the Terro liquid on a bare floor or counter, but most people prefer a little piece of cardboard. But you want a nice little round dollop of the stuff, and likely two or three of them. If you see ants congregating similar to this video, you're doing it right.


Ignore the previous advice about "poison." Terro is borax plus sweetener. Borax has low toxicity to humans and pets, but it interferes with ant digestive systems. Borax kills ants slowly -- which is precisely why it's so effective, because they take it back to the nest and it wipes them all out.



Also, don't use Raid, or Windex, or any other contact killer/poison. A fast-acting contact poison will kill only the ants you see -- leaving the many thousands you don't to survive and thrive. There is only one -- one -- way to effectively control ants. And that is a slow-acting poison that ants actively consume and take back to the nest. This is why Terro is effective and highly recommended.



One other tip, don't use those Terro bait-trap things which have a resovoir of poison. Sure, the ants will climb in there and eat it, but I've found they can't get back out, and you have hundreds of ants drowning in the poison, which is precisely what you don't want. You want the Terro liquid bait out in the open, easily accessible, and right next to where you see the ants. Make it easy and accessible. If you've done it right, you'll see hundreds of ants eating it. After a couple days, throw away the first little cardboards you laid out, and put down some fresh Terro on little cardboard pieces. Within a week, your ants will be dead. Period.

[moved]

Originally Posted by GuyInSD

One word for you: Terro

Yep. Terro's the best.

[eastcoastbias]

Originally Posted by GuyInSD

One word for you: Terro

I Second/third/fourth this. Works like a charm every time for me. It isn't something you want to put down around pets so don't put it on the ground.


Heat and dry conditions bring them they will find the space/crack to get in even when food other debris is out of the equation. You can also spray along the perimeter of the house.