Plagued by ants?
We have found a method that will safely eliminate ants the source and totally eradicate the entire nest.
This method works well for large black ants and the little red ants too, sugar or grease ants.
Ants are not very big in size but what they lack in stature they make up for it in shear numbers.
To many people the mere thought of ants crawling over a counter top is unsettling.
One age old method to keep ants at bay is to wipe counters with lemon juice.
This seems to work in some cases, but does not eliminate the ants, it just keeps them off the counter top.
An old wives tale is to wipe with pine cleaner but in reality this seems to actually attract some ants.
You could use one of the chemical insecticide available but they are toxic and expensive and have residual effects.
So the challenge is how to get rid of all the ants with out poisoning your self and your family.
To many people the mere thought of ants crawling over a counter top is unsettling.
One age old method to keep ants at bay is to wipe counters with lemon juice.
This seems to work in some cases, but does not eliminate the ants, it just keeps them off the counter top.
An old wives tale is to wipe with pine cleaner but in reality this seems to actually attract some ants.
You could use one of the chemical insecticide available but they are toxic and expensive and have residual effects.
So the challenge is how to get rid of all the ants with out poisoning your self and your family.
To start you will need some boric acid which can be purchased at most drug stores.
Boric acid is a mild acid that has many uses, especially as an old time home remedy for eye infections and as an antiseptic.
The reason boric acid works on insects is they have a base gut, as opposed to an acid gut in humans.
Buy the smallest quantity available as it does not take very much. We have had the same 4 oz bottle for many years.
Boric acid is poisonous but so are Clorox and ammonia, two items that are found in most homes.
As long as its handled in a sensible manor its perfectly safe.
Obviously it is not something you would want small children to get in to but neither is Drano.
Boric acid is a mild acid that has many uses, especially as an old time home remedy for eye infections and as an antiseptic.
The reason boric acid works on insects is they have a base gut, as opposed to an acid gut in humans.
Buy the smallest quantity available as it does not take very much. We have had the same 4 oz bottle for many years.
Boric acid is poisonous but so are Clorox and ammonia, two items that are found in most homes.
As long as its handled in a sensible manor its perfectly safe.
Obviously it is not something you would want small children to get in to but neither is Drano.
The trick is to get the acid into the ants so they eat it and take it back to the nest to share with the others.
This is where the adage, just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down comes into play.
You will need a container to combine and serve the mixture to the ants.
We use the top of a cottage cheese container but anything plastic that is large enough to hold the mixture and is low enough for small ants will do.
We want to make it easy for them to feed.
This is where the adage, just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down comes into play.
You will need a container to combine and serve the mixture to the ants.
We use the top of a cottage cheese container but anything plastic that is large enough to hold the mixture and is low enough for small ants will do.
We want to make it easy for them to feed.
Start by measuring about a table spoon of sugar and a table spoon of boric acid.
Measure the sugar first so you do not contaminate the sugar with acid, or better yet use separate spoons.
It is not necessary to be exact, just roughly half and half.
Mix it with just enough water to make a consistency of honey.
If you have the little grease ants use some vegetable oil instead of water.
Measure the sugar first so you do not contaminate the sugar with acid, or better yet use separate spoons.
It is not necessary to be exact, just roughly half and half.
Mix it with just enough water to make a consistency of honey.
If you have the little grease ants use some vegetable oil instead of water.
Place the container in a spot that is readily accessible to ants but not children or pets.
It should take a few days for the ants to eat their fill and take it back to the colony.
In the test for this article we placed the bait out and 2 hours later it was covered in ants.
After 3 days there are no signs of ants at all.
When the ants are gone we dispose of any remaining bait.
Now you can find a better use for your lemons, like making lemon aide!
It should take a few days for the ants to eat their fill and take it back to the colony.
In the test for this article we placed the bait out and 2 hours later it was covered in ants.
After 3 days there are no signs of ants at all.
When the ants are gone we dispose of any remaining bait.
Now you can find a better use for your lemons, like making lemon aide!
