Over the past few days I have noticed there are ants in the house. Just a few here and there. They are the small brownish black ones. We first noticed them about a week ago in the hall way and in my daughters room, just 2 or 3 of them and they weren't all in the same place and just seemed to be wondering around. Yesterday and today I noticed some in the dinning room and front of the house (opposite end of the house from my daughters room). I only find maybe a total of 12-15 a day but it is getting to be very annoying. Does anyone have any idea of how I can find out where they are coming from? Or how to get rid of them? I really don't want to have spray inside the house if I can avoid it. I have been sweeping every other day and also cleaned the floors and the weird (and good) thing is I don't see them around the dog food bowls. Someone told me to put down corn meal and they would take it back to their home and die because they can't digest it but I don't know if that will work since they are so randomly around the house? Thanks!
A couple days ago I cleaned up and sort of re-arranged my daughters bedroom- and found a bowl with a few crushed up corn flakes in it- BUT no ants anywhere around there! I completely moved everything and swept her room and also sprayed Odo-ban on the floors and around the baseboard and opened her window to air out the room. I have not seen anymore ants in the back part of the house so far. In the dining area someone had dropped some crumbs in between the table and wall and I notices lots of ants there but they were just hanging out, not moving a lot so I cleaned them up and found some fragrance free ant spray in the garage and sprayed all along the baseboard there and have not seen anymore ants in the front part of the house either. Hopefully they are gone for good now!
Corn meal - ant's cannot digest it and they die. sprinkle it around baseboards in rooms where you have ants.
Treat the outside.
Even cinnamon, sprinkled all along the perimeter of the house will help. I do that. Ant don't like cinnamon. But you will have to reapply regularly.
Also, seal any cracks/crevices with caulk. Ants come into the house that way. I did that too. And it does help. Last summer, on the exterior of our house, I sealed up all the cracks/crevices I could see... with caulk. And it helped.
Also, the brand "Terro" makes "ant baits" for indoor and outdoor, for killing ants. It works very well. I use that too. You can find it at like Long's or garden stores.
Ants also like moisture and will congregate there, or of course where there is food.
Just sweeping will not get rid of them. You have to also get rid of the ant trail and where they originate from. Or they will keep coming.
Also, Talcum powder, will deter them. The kind of baby powder that contains Talcum. Not cornstarch kind.
all the best,
Susan
terro is a great repellant because the ants eat it, it lets them live long enough to take back to the nest?hive? to share and everyone dies! It is kind of gross because it attracts them in where you don't want them but then the disappear. I mostly get the big black carpenter ants but it works on the little ones too. At the beginning of spring the first sign of an ant I put that stuff out and it works for the whole year.
There are alot of natural repellants like plants if you want a more natural organic approach but that is more to keep them out then to get rid of them. Online search will help.
Hope this helps :) Good luck
I get ants heavily every year and ant traps work great. and your kid cant get into them and no poison in the air etc. and they are not ungodly high.
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Jessica's right. Terro is the best!! It's like, $4 at Home Depot and it gets rid of them.
use fresh bay leaves something about them makes the ants go away.
find out where they're coming from and use VINEGAR. I use this in the house, ant hills, etc. Takes care of them and NO CHEMICALS!
I have used the corn meal method and it really works! I would put some outside all of my doors and a little around the kitchen where I saw them. You can clean it up the next day and the ants will disappear usually within a day or two. And the best part is it is safe for your children and pets!
If you are a coffee drinker, put your grounds around the foundation of your house. Good luck!
