Get Rid of Those Pesky Ants Naturally
As much as you think your home is safe from bugs, think again. Insects are everywhere. Despite 90 percent of insects being beneficial to us, they can be very annoying. The other 10 percent eat our gardens, attack our plants, sting us, bite us and spread disease.
As a result, these pesky critters aren't welcomed in our home, especially ants.
Ants are mostly beneficial to us in that they mix and aerate soil, feed on small insect pests and pollinate the beautiful flower bed you work so hard on. However, we still don't want them living among us in our homes.
Some of them bite; some raise fungus as a food crop; others tend herds of aphids, or less often, scale. These critters secrete “honeydew,” a sticky substance that the ants eat. Of course, in the kitchen, they will eat anything we do, which I'm sure, makes you sick to your stomach.
So, question is, how can we get rid of these buggers? While it's easy to get rid of them outside of the house, it's a little trickier to do it in the home.
Because ants like to hang out where we keep our food, you have to be careful in how you treat the problem areas:
- Seal the cracks through through which ants enter with caulk or other appropriate material.
- Good sanitation will help immensely. Make sure all food crumbs are cleaned up after meals. Keep counter tops and floor spills cleaned up too.
While, commercial ant baits can be purchased in your local stores, it is easy and safe to make your own.
The poison in commercial ant baits is often boric acid. Boric acid powder can be purchased at pharmacies. If this is used, be sure to wear breathing protection, a dust mask. Key is to mix the powder with something like jelly so the ants will take the poison back to the hive, which is the best strategy to eliminate the entire colony and not just one by one. Another option is cat food, which can work just as well.
A teaspoon of borax with two teaspoons of jelly or cat food will make enough bait to fill three bottle caps, a good place to keep the bait.
Of course, if all else fails, you might just want to call the experts, especially if you get to the point of infestation.
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