Ok so I think we are living ontop of one big ant hill. They are now coming in thourgh the boys room and our kitchen. Anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of them naturally? I have a three year old, 11 month old, dog and cat and I dont want to use anything that will harm any of them. Thanks in advance.
Ok so the Flying Ants in the boys room do not like vinegar, but the small black ants in the kitchen do not even give a care. So I'm going to try the basil leaves and whole clove leaves for the kitchen counter and see what happens. Thanks everyone for your wonderful advice..
My dad would use instant grits on the hills. If you know where they are coming in you can put some near their path. Good luck.
Hi. You didn't say what kind of ants you have. If they are the small ants they say putting out a little corn meal will work. They will take this back to the others and they can not digest it. However, it will take a while. It they are the big carpenter ants you need to get rid of those as soon as you can. They will eat the wood in your house and can do a lot of damage. The best thing I have used for those is a product called Terro. I will not use anything else for them because it works so well. They come in little liquid packs that the ants will come and drink from then take it back to the others. They will come and follow one another sometimes there are a lot of them, but after a while they will actually act drunk and then just dissapear. I put these packs whereever I see the most ants traveling. Good Luck.
We have the same issue every spring - they like to come in via a side door entrance on our house and in our basement, then make their way to the kitchen. I fill a clean spray bottle with vinegar and spray in the areas where they are coming in. Just let it air dry - works for us!
I have a book that shows to use 1 cup molasses, 2 packages dry yeast and 1/2 cup of sugar, mix it to paste and put on small pcs cardboard where the ants are until they are gone
i have used a website called myownpestcontol.com they have everything that the exterminaters use. just use common sense when spraying your home yourself. we do not have ants but those pesky asian ladybugs i have almost concord. be sure to do the entire outside perimeter of your home as well as the inside, cover every aspect window, trim, baseboard basement\crawl space attic. they have enviormently safe sprays at this website. it seems pricey but its really not, if you figure the multipal aplications you can do. i have 3 dogs and a 9 month old and have not had any problems. this website has been a life saver. i am a huge bug-a-phobe lol. and when we moved down here i about flipped out. so if i am getting this lady bug thing under control you will be able to get those pesky ants out. good luck
one last thing my husband well use the lawn spreaded to spread Ortho Bug-B-Gon® MAX® Insect Killer for Lawns Granules, 10 Lb. this helps so much especially with fleas and ticks.
black pepper also seems to work, sprinkled across their path.
for those little ants I buy those little ant houses or traps whatever you call them put them in the paths they take - it usually gets rid of them and keeps them gone - my cats don't bother them - they do like to play with ants when we get them... there are all sorts of things like plant merigolds around the house and lay them around - but the little houses work for me. I'm sure that you can google natural remedies so you can spray and get rid of a bunch quick.
If you know where they are coming in, like a window sill, line the area with basil leaves. For some reason they don't like basil and won't cross it!
I might be a little late as you've already responded - so what happened.... but, my friend told us to use corn meal last year when we had them. Supposedly, they take it back to their hill and all the ants eat it and can't digest it, which ends up killing them. It has worked for us.... good luck!
Do yourself a favor...call an exterminator. All the cinnamon, baby powder, grits and corn flour in the world...wont do you a hill of beans if the ants are that bad. There are exterminators out there that will do the job "organically"...you just have to look. I had ants....posted on this site...tried all the "ol' wives tales"...and just ended up with a big old mess of home remedies and STILL had to call an exterminator.
I know you said natural due to kids and pets...BUT I used Spectracide Bug Stop Indoor plus Outdoor last year and already this year. I do it around all the baseboards and in door/window frames. There's no stainning and no odor and it's safe as sound as soon as it dries. Neither of my dogs have ever attempted to lick at it or anything. Typically I get my son outside right before leaving and then I walk around and do the house. Takes 5 minutes, when we get back it's dry and we're good to go.
