Just thinking about ants makes me itch. In the heat and dry weather of summer there is usually a greater ant problem than at other times. or the safety of your children, pets, and yourself it is a good idea to find a natural non-toxic pesticide to rid your home and yard of ants.
There are different types of ants, so different natural pesticides may be more effective depending on the ants with which you are dealing. It is also important to keep in mind that ant colonies are highly adaptive. That is why you often attempt to destroy an ant colony in one spot only to have it built up another hill nearby. Killing ants with natural pesticides may take some persistence.
The most common ants considered pests are carpenter ants, sugar ants, Pharaoh ants, thief or grease ants, and fire ants. All of these ants can be controlled with baited traps, but there is a danger of kids and pets getting hold of traps. The safest way to control the ant population around your home is to find an effective natural pesticide that will kill ants.
Carpenter ants are huge ants that devour wood to hollow out nests. Regardless of whether it is a tree or wood in your home, these nasty little gnawing ants have an amazing capacity to work their way through most any wood.
Last year, carpenter ants began parading into my home. Someone suggested the best natural pesticide was to place fresh bay leaves where the ants were coming into the house and anywhere they paraded around the house. I used bay leaves and it worked to get rid of the ants. Once the leaves dried out, I began to see carpenter scouts, again. It was time to replace the dry bay leaves with fresh bay leaves, or try another national pesticide. Others who had dealt with similar ant problems suggested cinnamon, basil, garlic, or other bitter leaves to get rid of carpenter ants.
Sugar ants, or pavement ants, are small black ants. Their real name is Little Black Ants. Black ants show up between March and September. Bay leaves and cloves help get rid of black ants. Place the herbs around the baseboard, the place of entrance, and along any sugar ant path of which you are aware. White vinegar is also good for repelling sugar ants. We’ll address killing the ant colony outside a little later.
Pharaoh ants are small light yellow to reddish brown ants. Pharaoh ants are common in hospitals, cafeterias, hotels, apartments, and rest homes. Pharaoh ants are highly attracted to a variety of foods including jelly, honey, peanut butter, corn syrup, glucose, soft drinks and grease. Pharaoh ants will chew through boxes and plastic to get to food. These ants are especially difficult to kill without traditional bait traps, because their colonies spread out for protection. Spraying pharaoh ants is not recommended for pest control because spray will only cause Pharaoh ants to disperse.
The first line of defense against Pharaoh ants is to keep surfaces clean. Clean with vinegar to help repel Pharaoh ants. Using a solution of corn syrup and borax may be the best way to kill Pharaoh ants. In order to keep Borax away from pets and children fill a jar with the solution. Use a permanent marker to clearly note what is in the jar. Poke holes in the lid. This allows ants in, helps prevent them from getting out, and keeps your kids safely away from the borax solution. A jelly jar works well. This has proven to be effective pest control for Pharaoh ants.
Thief or grease ants are not attracted to sweets. These ants seem to be attracted to grease, meat, and cheese. Again, once of the best defenses is to keep the kitchen cleaned of grease spatters and spills. Grease ants can also be captured and killed with natural pesticides. In order to kill grease ants create a jar like the jar in which you can catch and kill Pharaoh ants. In the case of thief ants, make a mixture of borax and left over grease. Clearly mark the jar and poke holes in the lid. This allows the ants to get in, but they cannot get out. The borax and grease mixture will kill them. Put the natural pesticide out of reach of children and pets.
Fire ants are the bane of the south, or any yard that is unfortunate enough to provide fire ants a home. Fire ants create the mounds from which ants appear to be able to attack at supersonic speed. Fire ants will cover your feet and legs before you know what hit you. Fire ants are spit-fire little pests that leave behind watery or pussy bites that hurt when you get them and itch like mad until they are healed.
Fire ants gave birth to this article. Our Church soccer field is in good shape. The ants have been successfully run off the soccer field. The problem is they have only relocated in the grass where parents sit. Last year I grew weary of trying to watch soccer while constantly swatting fire ants. As I looked around it seemed everyone was swatting at their feet or ankles. I can’t deal with that this year, so I began to search for a natural solution to kill fire ants.
As it turns out there are simple ways to get rid of fire ants. A tradition for getting rid of fire ants is to sprinkle the ant hill with dry grits. It is said that the ants will carry the grits into their nest for food. Once the grits are eaten and the ants drink water the grit expands and the ant will explode. They key to the grit solution is getting the grits to the queen. If the queen is killed, the entire colony will die.
I have heard stories of the success and failure of the infamous grit ant killing method. It never worked for me. The best way to destroy a fire ant colony, or any other outdoor ant colony, involves boiling water. It takes about 3 liters of boiling water to destroy an entire mound. Some people add borax to the boiling water. Others add dishwashing liquid.
Professional lawn maintenance technicians often destroy a fire ant colony with steam. It seems, then, that boiling water alone should kill fire ants.
I’ve been told that if you scoop out an ant colony and place it beside another ant hill; then, scoop a portion of the second ant colony and place it beside the first colony you shoveled that the ants will battle and kill off each other. I have had no desire to try this. If you kill ants this way, let us know. Also, let us know how long your shovel handle is.
More logically, Fire ants can be killed by delivering borax to their colony via a borax and powdered sugar mix.
Other outdoor ant colonies can be killed the same as fire ants. Using natural pesticides will cause less harm to the environment and create less risk for your family and pets.
Resources:
“Ant,” Wikipedia.org
Ants in and Around the Home,” Ohio State University
“How to Get Rid of Sugar Ants” How to Get Rid of Things
Pharaoh Ant Fact Sheet,” Ohio State University
