We have ants in our kitchen, little black ones. How can I get rid of them?

Question

My wife is driving me nuts about this. We've put traps down, and some black pepper (I googled it, and somebody said black pepper worked) and they still are hanging around. We live on a crawl space, and they seem to be coming in around the water connection. We had pretty much rid ourselves of them, but my wife took up the traps and they came back, with a vengence. I need some advice on what to do to get rid of these things before the wife trades me in on somebody who can!

Answer 1

ok i know this will sound funny but i have used it lay a small line of CORNMEAL  the salt in it they will want water then the meal swells up and they diei spread it in my yard we had them bad and it does work

Answer 2

First:

Boric acid is nearly worthless.  It has to be mixed between 5% and 8% to work.  Any less and it won't kill anything... any more and it'll taste bad so the ant won't pass it around.  Also - most ants can not be wiped-out by it.

Pepper, cinnamon, chalk, baby powder, essential oils, bay leaves and other urban legends just don't work.

Also - there's no such ant as the "sugar ant".

Some ants you could have: Carpenter, Odorous House, Argentine, Pavement.

A professional will treat them all the same way, if they're up-to-date with technology.  They will use two products, one inside and one outside.  Sometimes I'll use a cheap boric acid bait I sometimes buy, but that's just to draw the ants across my spray.

Find a professional (and ugly one so your wife won't leave you for him).  Make sure they are confident that they can kill-off all the colonies you may or may not have with one or two treatments.  Make sure they offer a guarantee.  It's a losing battle when they're out of control.

My guess: Odorous House Ants.  Test my guess by squashing a few and sniffing their remains.  If it stinks it's 99% probable that they are Odorous House Ants.

If you're in Yavapai County, AZ - msg me and I'll take care of the prob.

Answer 3

We bought this mint oil spray from the co-op near us. It kills roaches (actually works) and ants. It is supposed to last for two weeks, but I am suspicious about that. I would cover things before spraying, because though it is just mint oil, the smell is a bit much after a little while. It should keep away the ants and get them distracted long enough for you to do a thorough cleaning and put all sweets and ant temptations either in a fridge or an air-tight container. We had a weevil infestation and we now save all glass jars and put everything in glass jars. It looks nicer and it so much better than finding insects in your cereal.

Answer 4

I have a carpenter ant problem in the summer. The great big black ants. Bleh. I just buy traps and keep them down. I replace them about once a month. It pretty much takes care of the problem. You might want to put some down in the crawl space, too. I think there is spray you can buy, too. We use an insect/spider spray for out doors and spray all around our house once a month, too.

Answer 5

Here in the UK, an ant killer like "Nippon" would do the trick. The little beggars love it and being social insects, carry it back to the nest to share with the rest of the tribe.

I'm not sure where you live, but no doubt there is a local equivalent.

Answer 6

baby powder

Answer 7

These are sugar ants. Everything you need to know about getting rid of them is here: http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of...

Answer 8

Have u tried talking to them???Communication is the key people!!

Answer 9

You can use a mixture of Borax laundry soap and grape jelly. Put it in small lids from jars, set them around areas you have noticed the ants. The jelly attracts them, they carry the borax back home along with the jelly and kill out everyone at home.

                                      Kim