Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jul 19, 2012 5:56 pm There is a war being fought in the seedy inner western front of melbourne. Millions of evil corpses litter the battlefield but the little blighters keep coming over.....through the wall. I have tried shock and awe, chemical warfare, passive agressive greenie b@#**it environmentally friendly ant persuading products....that i'm sure are sold by veagans. Baits, traps, harsh language....none of it worked and this morning the final straw......they were in my COFFEE DRAWER!!!!! Short of buying shares in baygon and accepting a shortened lifespan for the whole family does anyone have any ideas? Re: ANTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2Jul 19, 2012 6:27 pm Ant-rid always works for me. Those spray on treatments only kill the ones you see. With ant-rid the ants take it back to the nest so you fix them all The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: ANTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4Jul 19, 2012 9:34 pm Ant sand is worth a try too. Used to drive me insane at my old house. Came in for water, came in because of water. I couldn't win. Re: ANTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5Jul 20, 2012 9:14 pm Don't shoot me down for citing an old wives tale - try talcum powder as a barrier. Find where they are getting in and lay a line of talcum powder along that area, be generous, make a line, don't 'dust' it about. Ants don't like to step on it and they will avoid it. It might mean they will only look for another way to get it, but if you put a good barrier in they might just move to the neighbour!! Good luck - I couldn't cope with ants in my coffee! Re: ANTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6Jul 23, 2012 8:01 pm sceen7...if anything you write a very funny story! I use Ant Rid as well, always works for me. They eat it, and if they make it back to the nest and die, the other ants eat those ants and away it goes. Cleans out a nest very well! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: ANTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7Jul 25, 2012 6:33 pm Holy crap i found the hive!!!! I was setting out a string line for our fence and I pulled away some black plastic that the slab was poured into and whoa horror movie stuff!!! A column, as thick as your arm coming out of the ground from underneath the slab. I promptly poured a bucket load of ant sand into the abyss so hopefully that’s round 2 to me. We have underfloor heating which I am sure is club med for ants this time of year, just need them to stop coming upstairs to eat. Re: ANTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 8Jul 28, 2012 7:17 pm Some easy ways to remove ants Vinegar is effective in removing ants Wet a piece of cloth with a mix fifty fifty vinegar with water and wipe cupboards and all other places where you find ants in the house. Do it thrice a day to sustain the efficiency. Vinegar helps to remove ants from the house because ants cant bear the smell of vinegar and covers the smell trails which they use as demarcation. Use baby powder or chalk to make a line across the area where you spot ants coming to your house. It acts as a natural replant. Leave peels of cucumber or any other citrus fruit where you spot ants. Citrus fruit peels are acidic to the fungi which ants eat. Thanks Edited by support team to remove spam link Re: ANTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 9Jul 28, 2012 9:40 pm Anyone who has read my posts will know I am not in favour of chemicals so I will try to give another type of solution. Ants are pests, and the only reason they come is to forage for food. There does not have to be much laying around in and around the house, just enough to keep them interested. I would to a complete survey of your food areas and store as much as possible in sealed glass jars and not leave unwashed dishes in the sink all night (I am not implying that you do) and generally keep kitchen and pantry free of spilled or accessible food. Don't forget outside, spillage of pet food etc. ( however neighbouring property could also be the problem) Recently I found that I was getting mice and found out they were living in compost, feeding on scraps. I got rid of it and surprise, no more mice. Food=Pests, get rid of the food and you won't need chemicals.However give it time to work. Hope this works for you. Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: ANTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10Aug 07, 2012 10:26 pm building-expert Anyone who has read my posts will know I am not in favour of chemicals so I will try to give another type of solution. Ants are pests, and the only reason they come is to forage for food. There does not have to be much laying around in and around the house, just enough to keep them interested. I would to a complete survey of your food areas and store as much as possible in sealed glass jars and not leave unwashed dishes in the sink all night (I am not implying that you do) and generally keep kitchen and pantry free of spilled or accessible food. Don't forget outside, spillage of pet food etc. ( however neighbouring property could also be the problem) Recently I found that I was getting mice and found out they were living in compost, feeding on scraps. I got rid of it and surprise, no more mice. Food=Pests, get rid of the food and you won't need chemicals.However give it time to work. Hope this works for you. I agree with you. Chemicals is not a solution from my end too. Ants are attracted by foods especially sweet. If you keep your sweet home clean from any kind of food wastage, you will see the improvement. Re: ANTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11Aug 09, 2012 12:30 am OK there is a lot of strange information on there about ant control. The first thing you need to understand is that there are many species of ants that live around humans. They can act very differently, and therefore the necessary control measure is going to differ depending on what species you have. You need to collect up a few by sticking them onto some sticky tape and send it in to your state department of Primary Indistries. Here in WA ant identification and control advice is a free service provided by the department of Agriculture and Food (Pest and disease Information Service Freecall 1800 084 881). Call up your states DPI and ask who you can send them to. Ants can be a real nuisance. Depending on the species, cleaning up food waste outside is not going to do much, and ant dust might not work either. Once they are entrenched they will be invading your house daily in search of new food sources. It will depend on the species, but the best bet is a type of bait that the workers take back to the nests. This then gets fed to the queens and young = collapsed nest in a matter of days. There are a few baits out there that are perfectly safe to use around pets/humans (extremely low mammal toxicity) Re: ANTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12Aug 09, 2012 11:56 am Thanks Barry.....I was exersizing extreem restraint by not responding to all the clean up your house comments. I mean I like leaving the lasagna out on the bench for a week to ripen as much as the next guy...... Sheesh! I might try the dPi route, could be fun letting my daughter loose with some sticky tape hunting the little critters. That said there haven't been any invasions for awhile now, maybe shock and awe worked lol. |