Controlling Ant Infestations – Warm summer months mean ants are out and about searching for food. Usually, where there is one, there’s a colony. While they may be fine when you’re out on a picnic, you don’t need to invite them into your home. Fortunately, there are a lot of easy and effective methods for controlling ant infestations and preventing ants from entering your home.
Controlling Ant Infestations Get Rid Of Ant Trails
If you’re reading this, then chances are that you’ve already spotted ants marching along an ant trail on one of your home’s surfaces. One of the simplest solutions when it comes to disrupting this ant trail is to apply a mixture of water and vinegar to the surface, along the ant trail, and on entry points like window sills or door frames.
You can also use peppermint or lavender spray – these are two scents that ants absolutely detest! If you do decide to take the chemical route, look for a product with boric acid, and make sure to carefully read the instructions. (Some can be harmful to pets and small children.)
Your spray will throw them off the scent of the other ants that they are following, and you’ll be able to disrupt the heavy ant traffic to their food source. Follow the trail to find the scene of the crime (food spillage) – and you’ve hit the jackpot.
Store Your Food Away Carefully
Yes, when it comes to controlling ant infestations, leaving your food out in the open is criminal. Pop leftover food in an airtight container and put it in the fridge or in a cupboard in the pantry. Otherwise, you’re asking to be robbed by a colony of ants keen to carry away and consume every last crumb of your leftovers.
Clean Up Your Dirty Dishes
We don’t mean to sound like your mother, but this bit of advice carries over from the paragraph above. Dirty dishes make for an entire buffet meal for a determined ant colony. Get in the habit of rinsing your dishes and stacking them away in the dishwasher immediately after use. Remember to take out the trash. Trash cans (especially in the kitchen!) need to be covered. And inspect the can for any lingering residue after you take out the garbage.
Wipe Down All Surfaces
Anything that’s regularly used – from the kitchen and dining room tables through to the countertops where you plonk your grocery shopping down when you arrive home needs to be sprayed down and wiped clean. Ants aren’t just attracted to your edible leftovers – they will gladly go for any sticky residue that you’ve brought home or created on a surface by accident.
Regularly Sweep & Vacuum Your Floors
Often food spillages go unnoticed on the floor or rubbed into a carpet or couch. Maintaining a high standard of hygiene by sweeping and vacuuming regularly is a great deterrent for ants on the lookout for any morsels that you may have missed when cleaning higher up.
Fill up any Unwanted Cracks That are Ant Entrances to Your Home
Now that you’ve got your interior sorted with a high standard of hygiene and food etiquette, it’s time to prevent the ant army from even entering your abode in the first place. Are there some obvious entrances that you can spot where the ants are gaining access? Often this is a window that is awkwardly ajar or a crack above a door that needs caulking.
Sealing these cracks and ‘leaks’ around your home will not only stop the ants but will also help with the insulation in your home and maintaining your ideal room temperature.
Keep Your Eyes Peeled For Scout Ants
A single, busy ant is, in fact, loitering with an intent to invade. These are the dreaded scout ants – hellbent on breaking and entering and making off with whatever they can find inside your home. If you spot a scout ant, it most likely means that there’s more trouble on the way.
If you are now wanting to take things to the next level so that the ants know not to mess with you, here’s what you can do:
Place Ant Baits Around Active Areas
The toxic ingredients in ant bait are ingested by scout ants and taken back to the ant colony. – wiping out your problem in one fell swoop. Place ant bait in the areas where you’ve seen scout ants, and out of reach of children and pets.
Destroy Ant Colonies Around Your Property
When you notice ant mounds developing around your property, take action and apply exterminating products to the colony itself and the area immediately around the colony. In order to control ants in your home, you also have to make efforts to control them in your yard.
Carpenter ants tend to hide in damaged or wet wood, so inspect tree stumps, woodpiles, damaged trees, old patio furniture, and any outdoor structures. Once you’ve found the nest, pour boiling water over the anthill or spot treat with an outdoor insecticide.
Destroying the entire colony will prevent them from spreading out and creating a new home elsewhere on your property.
Spray An Ant Barrier Around Your Home
Proper application of an insecticide around the perimeter of your home’s foundation will create an ant barrier, steer ant scouts away from your home, preventing ants from entering in search of food. Professional pest control companies have products that are more effective than those available commercially, and so this is a remedial action best left to the professionals.
When To Call The Pros
Need help controlling ant infestations? If a handful of ants turns into an army and you’ve tried everything, you might just have an infestation on your hands. Call Pest Control Unlimited to come and inspect your home.
With years of experience in the pest control field, we can remove ants and any other pests from your residential or commercial space safely. Rest assured, our professional and friendly team will get the job done properly and rid your property of any pesky ants. To find out more about the various services we offer, visit our website today.
