Just lately, we have been having a serious problem with ants in the house, They are everywhere I look.?

Question

They don't appear to be the big outside kind. They are small reddish looking and are in the kitchen,closets, even in the garage near the detergent. We have tried the ant baits, but these are not working. We do not know what kind they are and are desperate to find something that will work to get rid of them. If anyone has a solution it would be greatly appreciated. These are driving us crazy.

Answer 1

Sugar ants. Here's a good reference: http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of...

Answer 2

they are called sugar ants and they are very tiny. They come in through wour window sills and are everywhere. You can either get terro ant killer which you put on a small piece of paper and it kills them or do like I do and make a mixture (strong) of dishwashing liquid and water and spritz around the windows inside and out and around the base of doors. Soapy water is harmless to you and your pets but deadly to insects of all types. It is cheap and works faster than raid. I have killed everything from fireants to huge wolf spiders and even cockroaches. Bees hornets you name it. It really works.

Answer 3

Get Raid Ant Killer.  If you spray the ants it will kill them instantly.  Also spray around your doorways, corners etc of your home.  We had this problem and after spraying they were all gone.

Answer 4

You can make home made ant baits from sugar and borax.  If the ants aren't attracted to sugar it won't work, though.  The Orkin guy we had over last week said ants need three things: water, food and shelter, and you have to work on getting rid of those three things, that's what will get rid of your ants.  So if you know of a source of water that you can remove, or if there's a spilled or open food problem (pet dishes can be a big source of trouble) that's a possible solution.  Repairing your house, shutting off routes of entry and exit (if it is that kind of ant) are another approach.  Or you can do what I did and call Orkin.  I'm a big organic food head, but I talked to the guy at length, and they're very sensitive to the whole "low toxicity" idea these days.  I'm very allergic to everything (and get migraines at the drop of a hat) but a week after our first treatment I haven't noticed anything - not even a smell.  I'm very happy with how things are going so far.  I'm still going to need to make some more repairs and work on not leaving pet food out for the ants to steal, but I'm definitely seeing some progress.

Answer 5

Make sure all attractants are secured, (garbage, open food items such as cereal, ETC.) anything that they are searching for to bring back to the nest.

You tried baits, that would have been my second suggestion, but keep using them, it may take awhile until the entire nest is dead, especially if there are several nests. Ants bring their food to a central location, and the rest of the non-worker ants feed off of what is brought home. You could call it take out. Next take a slow walk around the foundation and try to find where they are getting in, you may, or may not get lucky there. If you happen to see the entrance, seal it or bait right there if you can't seal it. After policing up your food items in the house, placing fresh bait, try spreading diazinon granules, (the "Sevin" brand in a small red and yellow bag) around the foundation of the home. It can be found at any home and garden center, a $10 bag covers 5,000 square feet which is plenty. I use it in my yard and no ants get in the house.

This is my tried and true methodology, there are thousands of solutions, but, in my opinion, this is the most cost effective. I've been doing it this way for 20 years.

Answer 6

years ago we had a lot of ants in our apartment and we were told they were faro (sp. ?) ants and they liked water. a neighbor said to sprinkle corn meal around them (just the cheap stuff from the grocery store) because for some reason the ants can't handle the corn meal....we tried it and the ants were gone by the next day. i still use this trick and it seems to work..plus it's safe around pets and kids. good luck.

Answer 7

Depends on where you live - might want to call an exterminator.

There's a new small red ant that has invaded South Texas (not a fire ant) that doesn't respond to the bait poisons.