Posted on 11/13/2016 1:48:53 PM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
How does one kill crazy ants in a do-it-yourself way? We've put down Boric Acid and flea spray, both of which kill them. But, they keep coming back by the thousands. Any ideas?
Someone must have read your mind. See post 78.
Ants are in the family Formicidae. If you smash one, you can smell the Formic acid that they get their name from. The baking soda is a base.
You are giving them a acid/base reaction.
You are welcome. Anything for a fellow Freeper. Just thinking outside the box. . . and it will keep you busy and build up your biceps at the same time, not to mention helping with your fine motor skills. GRIN!
It's available on Amazon. . . just search Terro. . .
You end up with straight chlorine gas by mixing the two. When that mixes with with water in the air (or in your lungs) you get HCl. Strong Hydrochloric acid.
I have treated several people over the years with burned lungs from mixing this.
Get a box of Quaker Instant Grits...not the little packets but the box, wait until dew is all dried up and no moisture on the mound...liberally cover the mound with the grits and watch them grab a grit and take it into the mound...mound will be clean in minutes...wait 48 hours and dig into the mound...you will find lots of dead ants but not one live one.
Theory is that they have just enough liquid in their digestive system to activate the grit and it swells and kills them. I have used this method many times here in Northeast Louisiana with 100% success.
Fire Ants: Guess Where They Got Off The Boat?
"Red Imported Fire Ants invaded the U.S. in the late 1930's on ships from South America that docked in Mobile"
I'm in Mobile.
Four bottles of Guiness Stout. Relieve yourself on the nest. Worked for me!
I too had a terrible infestation of crazy ants - multitudes of nesting sites outdoors (trees, stumps, power line poles, etc), with numerous places where they were starting to infiltrate the house. It was remarkable!
I read through all the comments in this thread, and two people provided the absolute best remedy given my experience: Termidor SC which consists of fipronil.
The ants walk through the dried spray (outside where you spray) and it contaminates them but does not kill immediately. They take it back to their nest(s) while contaminating each other ant-to-ant. The nest(s) and queen are dead within days.
The product is very easy to apply outside, but be sure that conditions are dry, and will be for a day or two after application. It is available online, such as Amazon, but I usually buy it from these people:
http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/termidor-sc-p-184.html?gclid=CL3d9OjrptACFZSEaQodEdoDDQ
This will solve your problem efficiently and affordably.
Sometimes you just have to call the professionals in. 8>)
Jeez - it took 63 posts for this to come up!
Thanks Lx!
Boric acid for carpenter ants and those little brown sweet ants- it clings to their feet and they take it back to their nests. I’ve see them go absolutely nuts when BA was sprinkled on them. My dad uses powdered sugar mixed with BA to attract them so they’d run through the stuff. Hadn’t seen an infestation of them in several years now.
Seems I’ve heard that ants don’t like BLACK PEPPER or
POWDERED HOT RED PEPPER. I’d try the black pepper first
since most of us have black pepper.
Also, the little spiders in our upstairs bedroom killed &
stored in their webs a whole slew of ants. I didn’t even
know the spiders were in there.
I use DIATOMACEOUS EARTH sprinkled around for pests; but
DO NOT get the diatomaceous earth in your EYES or allow
your pets to get into it as it can cut the eyeball.
The same thing in it that kills bugs by cutting them can
also cut the eyes.
Another hint: Mice HATE mint. Sprinkle a bit of ground up
mint around and they will avoid it and maybe just leave.
I put ground up mint at the doors that open outside; and
so far they don’t seem to enter the house.
I use Hav-a-hart MOUSE TRAPS; but you have to check them
daily as the mouse will die in the little “humane” trap.
I’ve only ever caught two mice in the Hav-a-hart and
released them outside.
Remind me to tell you about Mrs. Tittlemouse sometime.
So sweet.
If they are like fire ants, I had a small yard with one mound in it. Took three applications of fire ant poison, the kind readily available in Texas stores, that one sprinkes on the ground and then moistens. It’s yummy ant food that kills, and the key is to get them to carry it down to the queen. I’m guessing the third time I did it, that happened. No queen, no more baby ants, and the rest get old and die fairly soon.
Tried using oleander flower clippings and it killed off all the ant hills in the yard.
Didn’t expect it to work, but it did.
You have to find the nest and deal with that. All else is just triage.
Thanks!
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