Ants don’t like Specific Essential Oils
There are a number of natural solutions that can be employed in combination with cutting off the ant’s food source that will deter them from entering or remaining in your home. For example, peppermint oil and cinnamon extract are both popularly regarded as ant deterrents. Similarly, tea tree oil, lemon oil and even acidic liquids like vinegar and lemon juice deter ants.
Ants Can Build Multilayered Nests Housing Thousands of Individuals
You’ve probably heard about how pouring boiling water down an exterior ant nest is a sure-fire way to knock them out, but it is an inconsistent strategy. Sometimes, ants will have multiple entries and exits to the same nest. Other times, the nest will be deep, and so a full kettle isn’t enough water to do the job. If you are going to attempt this process to get rid of ant’s nests, you will need to be persistent and consider using several kettles, repeating the activity for a few days, and watching closely to ensure the job is done a few days afterwards.
Sugar Ants Can Be Tricked!
Sometimes referred to as odorous house ants and other times as sugar ants, these small black or brown ants love sweet things. You will find them in the kitchen going after sweets and fruits. These ants lay a pheromone trail back to their colony, and so killing all that you can see is inefficient because more will simply follow the trail.
You can slow them down by wiping their trail with vinegar or soapy water, and this should it make it harder for those ants in the colony to venture to the location, although there is a better solution. Sugar ants will die on exposure to borax, and they cannot detect borax in a 1:3 combination with powdered sugar. They will even carry borax particles back to their nest, thereby killing ants at their source. If you want to be rid of these ants for good, lay a few borax spiked sugar piles along their trail and see how long they take to disappear.
Termites are not Ants
Termites are more closely related to cockroaches than ants. For this reason, it’s worth remembering that these tricks will not work on termites.
For Serious Ant Infestations, Call AGJ Pest Management
Ant colonies can get out of hand very quickly. Particularly if they have taken up residence in your walls, ceiling or crawl space, they can persist for years even with regular baiting. If you have an ant problem that won’t budge, call us on 07 3171 8277 or contact us online and we’ll sort it out for you.
