Ant infestation in a clean home.......... how do I get rid of these pests?

Question

i have a really clean home. I dont leave dishes out, I keep my floors mopped and vacummed however we just moved into our new apartment 2 months ago and have noticed that the ants here are horible. They will come out of no where within 2 hours to attack a little crumb. Its just so crazy that they can smell a bread crumb from that far away. Does anyone know how to get rid of these pests or why they are attacking our home like this?

Answer 1

do you live in a dry climate? often times ants will come into a home when it's dry outside because they are looking for water....pick up some terro ant killer....it's very effective and much cheaper than calling the orkin man :)

Answer 2

Like every under creature in nature, they're looking for food, and they're highly organized, so they have a team on reconnaissance at all times... If you don't have any pets or small children, find EXACTLY where they're coming in at and poison the buggers.  It'll take a lot of observation, but you can find the entry point and use Raid, bleach, or even boric acid to kill off the scouts.

Answer 3

once those tiny tiny little ants arrive, they will return over and over.....a liquid insecticide for ants may be useful over the long term, since this is an apartment....and the surroundings are uncontrollable......the aprtment owners/mangers should employ a routine pest program to controll these criters.

...boric acid powder is good to sprinkle inside the back of cabinets....and you may drill some 'small 'holes near the plumbing pipes of the bathrom sinks and sprinkle the boric acid in there too, use a puff ball, like the little thing used for baby's ears? filled with the boric acid powder and puff it into the holes....this also deters itsy-bitsy spiders

Answer 4

Cinnamon.

Being a holistic goddness with respect for living things I went through this a few months ago.  I wanted a peaceful way to remove them without injuring my small pets.  I read two great cheap ways to do it.

The first and most effective was cinnamon.  Sprinkle near doors, windows, the ant hole if you can find it.  Ants hate the stuff and will not pass it.  Granted for awhile you need to keep cinnamon on the floor, but I have not had an ant since (a few months ago).  

You can also use peppermint essential oil.  Again ants hate this.

these methods just encourage ants to leave, but again does not kill them.  Why make them die when they are only trying to survive??  :)

Answer 5

im glad you asked this we live in an apartment and we are having the same problem and we live upstairs even....im pregnant and dont want to use the ant spray so im glad i got some ideas on here but i have a really clean house and it seems like they just wont go away they are coming in through our windows i think

Answer 6

Go to the store, look at the section with mousetraps and stuff...they should have some green liquid poison you put out on cardboard squares...ants come and eat it like crazy, they take it back to their nests and within a few weeks they will be gone. put up with a lot of ants for a little while..it really works.

Edit: oh yeah..that's right Terro is the name of it, thanks to whoever said it above

Answer 7

I had this problem to  I sprayed and they're gone try that but be really careful to not hurt yourself with the poison.

Answer 8

Ants are everywhere whether your home is super clean or not. They can smell food from as far as a mile away. If you wish to get rid of them mop your floor with detol detergent and put insect trap paper near your dinning tables or near where you have food. After a few days you may notice more than just ants on it. But detol should be able to discourage the insects from roaming into your apartment.

Answer 9

You can sprinkle a little corn meal around for them to take back to their nest and they will eat it. When it gets moist in their bodies it will swell up and kill them. When the queen ant dies, the rest will leave. Good Luck!!!

Have a great day!!!

Answer 10

It's almost impossible to get rid of them, I just had my house exterminated and they are back already.. that was like 2 weeks ago... I hear if you feed them corn meal it will kill them cos they can't digest it. They will take it back to their nests...

there are probably infested in the walls or floor and they come from the floor boards or molding.. that's where mine are and my house is super clean.. they are hard to get rid of...

Answer 11

well, maybe it's to do with your next door apartment.

contact the land lord about the problem first thing, complain, it's your right. try some of the small solutions, like poisoned ant peanut butter (you can buy it most places, like walmart, for a pretty good price), if that doesn't work out have the land lord get and PAY FOR an exterminator.

Answer 12

As a renter, your landlord should take care of extermination duties - either calling a professional or by one of their maintenance crew members.

If not, you could call an exterminator on your own.  In my area, it will normally cost <$100 for a treatment, usually baiting.  Make sure to get one with a guarantee on their service and be ready to call them back if the ants aren't gone by the end of the guarantee period.

If you want to try on your own, I've had decent success with the Terro bait products.  As a bait, it will actually draw more ants initially, but once enough of them carry the bait back to the colony, they'll start dying off.  The Terro products are available at most any discount retailer.

Answer 13

Get the Raid Ant Control that has birth control in it.  The ants take it back to their nests and kill the colony off.

Answer 14

your landlord needs to call an exterminator out, most likely the little buggers are in the walls

Answer 15

exterminator