Oh, when the ants come marching in
Oh, when the ants come marching in
Lord I want to limit their numbers
When the ants come marching in
If you remember right, we talked about ants taking over the world here. Our feelings haven’t changed. It shouldn’t be a Zombie Apocalypse that people should worry about. What about the Ant Apocalypse?
Needless to say, the ants are loving us, but we do not feel the same way. This is a relationship we need some serious boundaries on.
Since we are not fond of chemicals, and love using what we got, we are trying some simple remedies first.
Our neighbor told us about frying up a banana peel until black. Got one so we’ll try it.
It didn’t smell that terrific, I guess that’s the point, but you got to do what you got to do.
Our neighbor said to crumble it up and set it outside, but didn’t want the mess inside and thought if that don’t like it crumbled they won’t like it whole either. Maybe we need to try it outside.
RESULT – They didn’t seem too bothered by it.
The Mister also found this:
We just finished up a peanut butter jar so we used the scrapings and a touch of borax. He then mixed it all with sugar and set it out.
*Warning these images may be disturbing.
They came and got stuck. The idea was to have them take it back and share with ALL of their friends and family.
So The Mister set out a little cup (again another reuse):
Ants check in and don’t check out!
RESULTS – As you can see, they did come in and get stuck but it took awhile longer than traditional methods we have used.
Other natural testing we attempted was sprinkled cayenne pepper, a bay leaf, and wiped down the counters with white vinegar.
RESULTS – The kitchen was clean but it didn’t really have an impact on the ants.
THE OVERALL RESULTS
After trying several natural remedies, the borax and peanut butter was the most successful.
Although we are intrigued by these natural techniques, good old fashioned Terro is our go to when time doesn’t allow for us to mess around (like when they have invaded our pantry and we don’t want a food issue).
As always use your best judgement to find what works best for your and your family. Plus, take into consideration the type of ant and how big of a problem they are causing.
Do you have a particular product or remedy that works wonders? We would love to know about it in the comments below.
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PIN TO SHARE –
We need to do this… Ants are taking over the world, one crumb at a time.
AGREED 🙂
Nice. You have given me an idea as we started seeing some ants about two weeks ago.
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Skip the peanut butter. Just put out some instant grits. In a dry place.
Em, Good to know. Please let us know if you place with borax, water, and grits???
Egads!! Ants?!?! I hate them and in Portland OR they are early this year. I admit I buy chemicals to ban them from my home. I think I will try the Mister’s solution especially on my coffee counter.
Thank you for sharing,
Cathy the Bagg Lady
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Cathy, Thanks for stopping by. We are in Southern Oregon and The Mister’s solution has still kept the ants away. WHOOHOOO
Hey Medford….I’m Grants Pass…..
Have tried the borax & sugar water stuff & it just seems to draw more ants in. I have a bird so I can’t use insecticides inside the house.
What does work for me is to find where they’re coming in (takes a bit of detective work sometimes) & sprinkle a line of powdery stuff across their entryway. They won’t cross it. I have used cornstarch, dusting powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, powdered cloves & probably a couple more I’ve forgotten about & they all work well. The advantage to the spices is that they make the room smell nice. They’re also non-toxic to people & pets. They don’t kill the ants….just repel them, but if it keeps them out of my house I’m good with that.
Judy, Thanks for stopping by. I (Salvage Sister) use to live in GP MANY moons ago though. We are trying to use just about anything so we appreciate all the tips we can use. Darn those little suckers!
I’ve used the water, borax and sugar method many times with 100% success.
1c water, 1T borax, 1c sugar. Boil it down to a thick syrup, but don’t burn it or don’t let it caramelize.
Put in small jar, like baby food jar. Lable. I use a small stick like popsicle stick, place on small pieces of cardboard and place on window sill, behind appliances, under sink, in cupboards, behind frig etc. Just because you can’t see it, those little buggers can and will take it back to the colony. They will feed the queen and kill it. Workers feed on it. Nest is destroy.
IF your not squeamish, it’s funny to watch one find it and how fast they merge in on the bait.
I was a licensed Commercial Pesticide applicator for several years. We used a commercial ant bait that was almost the same thing, we just didn’t use cardboard. Placing on the cardboard, makes it easier to clean up afterwards. Yes it is a poison and precautions should be taken to ensure animals, children don’t get into it. But if they do lick the poison, it won’t kill them. Might make them a little nauseous, cause the borax is like a soap. Just the ants can’t stomach the borax, it kills them.
Thanks Jan for your comment and stopping by!
We have fruit fly issues, but have never had ant issues…yay! but fruit flies are annoying
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Kirstin, For sure! Need a bug free zone in the home for sure