Ants

[thebucket]

Rent a better house
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[67rustavenger]

Sorry for the necro bump. But this is an existing thread on ants.

Onto my problems with ants.
I have been living in my rental house for 9 years.
The previous tenants piled 10 years of garbage in the garage. I didn't know this until after I had moved in and settled for awhile.
BTW, the house was gutted to the frames and refurbished before I moved in.

Every 6 months as the seasons change. I get ants on the counter tops. I can deal with that.

The one annoying thing is that the damn ants keep colonizing in my smoke detectors. This just happened again, today after changing the smoke detectors a few months ago.
I stepped outside and heard the smoke alarm go off.
Nothing cooking, Heater set at 45° F. No fires burning anywhere nearby.
Cussing as I grabbed the vacuum knowing what caused the alarm. Pull the living room alarm off the ceiling and, yep ANTs.

I have tried all the remedies recommended in this thread to no avail.
Terro, did not work at all. Bait traps, do not work at all. Revenge, worked briefly.
The Borax, powered sugar, yeast concoction worked for the counter top ants. But the colony living in the attic spaces is unaffected by these concoctions.

Honestly, I can tolerate the bi-annual counter top ants.
It's the smoke detector invaders that are pissing me off.
I can leave the detectors hanging by the power wires and the ants leave them alone. But, even for me. That looks tackier than even I can tolerate.

Are there any new ant control innovations in the last twelve years since this thread was started, that are worth a try?
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[Cusser]

My employer had Combat products, so for ants you need to destroy the colony.

So choose a product with either fipronil or hydramethylnon as active ingredient; the ants share it with their little friends in the colony, kills them all. Same with roaches.

New colonies get started by winged queen ants which drift in and start new colonies.
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[KTPhil]

If you can get into that crawl/attic space, try dispersing diazinon granules all over. Wear a mask.

I had ants coming out of switches and outlets and even shower handles, so I know they were in the walls, and likely got there crawling around the tight attic space.

Granules into walls (holes drilled and sealed) and attic finally got rid of them.

[67rustavenger]

I'm reading that ants don't like pepper, Black or Cheyenne.

Maybe I'll try some Cheyenne pepper on the hidden side of my smoke detectors. It can't hurt to give it a try.

Cusser and KTPhil thanks for your input.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[74 Thing]

I think talcum powder too and cayenne

[2type2]

FWIW, I have been state licensed in 5 states to not just do PC , but as a certified operator (the honcho),35 years now. First of all you have to know your enemy! DON'T DO anything if you have not positively id'd the pest. If you do the wrong thing you multiply the problem, as in feeding terro to attract + ants whose reproduction rate far exceeds the attrition rate the bait causes. So, find out what you are battling first.
If terro proves to be a good approach, my advice is..... make your own from karo syrup and boric acid......add about 10% water by volume to the karo syrup, than add 5% , by WEIGHT ....(Use a scale), volume of boric,blend well.
Otherwise you also need to be aware that if you spray all over for the "wrong" ants, you risk causing colony budding and dispersal, to the worst end.
Chemicals are toxic,poisonous, and deadly. Did you know there is no antidote for boric poisoning? Especially considering pets and kids like sweet syrup.
Be careful, you can pm me if u want.
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[mark tucker]

there are many things that can help.some may or may not work. dominion 2L isant a killer...from what Ive read.but it does make them for get where home is and they die off or something like that....and will not affect anything but bugs!!!! dont hurt crops,or pets or lizzards!!. filling holes wont do squat but make more holes.you may need to treet under the foundation....and in the walls..and a premiter around building. and make a feeding staiton for them about 300 feet away...when they all go there...then kill the rest of them off.. or however you wish to handle them.

[KTPhil]

My fave ant story... my friend and I ran a darkroom in his garage. In the asphalt driveway nearby there were cracks that, when it rained or when it was hit with water, expelled an army of ants carrying eggs like I've never seen before! Countless ants, covering more than a square yard solid, which would later make their way into the house. We tried all the usual remedies, poisons, even a blow torch down the hole. Didn't even slow 'em down.

Finally, in a fit of anger, we dumped about a pint of stop bath concentrate, aka, 28% acetic acid, pH 3, down the hole. That stuff made the asphalt smoke!

No more ants, either in the driveway, or the house.

Probably should be an EPA Superfund site now...

[Jon Schmid]

I was told corn starch works but it has never worked for me.

[Abscate]

If you go the Green route , make sure you get sold an anteater and not an Aardvark. There was a guy Arthur here selling aardvarks on PBS not ago. He thought he was King of the Britons, too.
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[mark tucker]

well.....any updates ???

[Abscate]

Might have been too steep a Hill to climb..
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[mark tucker]

I saw on the you tube thingys today...a billet 3D aluminum CNC ANT BEING MADE....TINY LITTLE CRITTER... eye shoulda got the linky thingy fer it.

[Abscate]

Ants in smoke detectors?

Fire ants, Shirley?
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[67rustavenger]

[mark tucker]

https://youtu.be/AzSMliTM-eM

that should scare them away, especialy if you can add a remote&camera to invade the colonies...

[67rustavenger]

[VW_Jimbo]

Crushed up Bay leaves work as well! Just so you have more options. They hate those things. I crush them up and sprinkle them in and around a few places in the house when the wet season comes to town. So, 2 days this year! Works like a charm!

Also, if you have ants really badly, you may have termites. Some types of ants (little black shit heads) (the name I have given them) harvest the secretions of dry rot and subterranean termites. SO, you may have a termite issue. Get rid of the termites and the ants leave. Well, they follow the termites!
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There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[NJ John]

The hat Terror tell is what works for me. Works real good.
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