Posted on 04/21/2018 9:00:54 PM PDT by SamAdams76
It's the beginning of spring and this is when ants try to get into the houses. Not sure why now and not middle of winter when it is cold.
Stepping on them and killing them when you see them makes you feel good for a minute or two but it does not solve the overall ant problem. For there are THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of ants from where they came from, all intent on servicing the QUEEN at all costs.
Normally I just tolerate the springtime ants, content to step on them when I see them and flush their dead bodies down the toilet. But this spring, I'm putting my house up for sale and do not want prospective owners seeing ants crawling across the floor. For that might make them want to offer me less money for my otherwise pristine home.
So I went out to the Home Depot and purchased some liquid ant traps (six to a carton!). You just rip off one end of it and set it down on the floor. This liquid - actually the consistency of sugary syrup - is like crack cocaine for ants!
Within an hour of setting the traps, those ants were swarming bigtime. The traps actually brought MORE ants into my home and the wife was reduced to using the guest bathroom because she was really freaked out.
As for me, I was loving it. I like to see ants swarm, especially when I know they are unwittingly committing suicide because that sweet syrup contained a poison called BORAX.
Yes, borax is fatal to ants but not right away. It eventually eats away at their digestive system but takes a couple days or so. In the meantime, they are taking that poison to the QUEEN and eventually the Queen Ant dies. Not even God can save her at this point. Like I said, that Borax is FATAL to all the ants, and especially the Queen.
So after about 3 or 4 days, the ants slowed to a trickle and even those ants were moving rather sluggishly, like they were totally drunk after having a night on the town at various dive bars.
Within a week of laying those liquid traps, there were no ants at all! All of them were dead. They done went up to ant heaven.
What I'm trying to say here was these liquid ant traps really work. That sugary syrup laced with Borax was like a holocaust for ants.
Ants battle termites. So if you get rid of the ants....
By the way - the Jews may be coming after you. You used the word holocaust in a manner not approved by the ADL left-wing hate group.
I mix equal parts borax and granulated sugar. Drop it on or very near where the ants are, and a couple of days later, no more ants.
Works every time! A whole lot cheaper than buying essentially the same thing, and I don’t have to go anywhere.
Diatomaceous earth. Maybe the best. Maybe the cheapest. I think it works on all crawly bugs. Definitely works great on carpenter ants. Spiders. Yellow Jackets. And me. Of course without the same results. My doctor was amazed, but I don’t think she believed me. Make certain you use “food grade” DE for yourself.
Have used Terro liquid for years and so did my mother. The formula has changed and back in the day contained arsenic. The borax in the current formula is far less toxic and works as well.
Terro only works on sugar ants. All the others just skedaddle on by.
Love it,I am going to tell my daughter.Nothing works at her house.
Dad and I used to go out with 2 shovels when the fire ants were up in the top of the mound. Each person would take a big scoop and put it on the other mound. Then knock the ants that made it to the handle off.
The invaders rush to kill the queen during the ensuing war.
It was during the 1980s that they really invaded down there with force. As a boy in the 1970s, they didn't seem to be as much as a problem. I used to thrust sticks and other objects into the mounds all the time and watch them swarm all over it. Once, and only once, I stuck some firecrackers into a mound. The result was I got some of the sand and ants sprayed onto my pants. I didn't get bit but decided not to press my luck any further.
I do a lot of outside work, got a big garden, always out and about. Despite my precautions, I always get stung up several times a year.
I am at perpetual war with the fire ant nation!
Nope. Occasionally I get fire ants in the house. Last summer I was sitting here at my desk (probably on Free Republic!), and started to feel the stings on my feet!
I looked down and yup, fire ants. Sugar ants don’t bite like that!
They were on a trail from where I put a cable to my outside camera to my computer, heading thru my feet to the dog food.
I sprayed them directly with poison, killed most, and put a terro bait for them by the hole. They swarmed then died.
I also stuffed silly putty into the wire hole gaps. Still working.
“No! Your house won’t hold water then.”
They are not filling up the wall space, they are spraying it with a chemical that dries to a powder. That’s what WP means, wet able powder. It is a small amount that is designed to be found by the ants in its powdery state and it is done in the exterior walls only. It won’t even come close to filling the wall.
rwood
Yes we have used them for years, very effective against carpenter ants.
you misunderstood- I was joking that if you drill holes in your house, your house won’t hold water then
I’m sorry. As an applicator for Terminex for a few years, with a state license in Washington State, a lot of people misunderstand how a drill and treat works and I missed your humor. You’d be surprised how people would ask the same question seriously as they don’t understand that the hole is drilled about 4 feet up the wall with a special drill bit that pushes everything to a position that will keep everything inside the wall with the special nozzles used on the can that fans out only inside the hole a ways to keep it in the wall space. And we’re not trying to drown them, just poison them in the walls.
rwood
Myth
They also seemed to like what was
left in the beer cans.
Smoking and drinking shortens one’s
life, maybe that can be said for
fire ants also.
thanks for the post!
a few weeks ago i had seen these Terro ones at the store, but bought a different kind, which turned out to not work at all. i took those back and bought the Terro ones instead and they cleared the ants right up!
BTTT for reference
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.