India 3 November 2016:
Are you frustrated seeing ants everywhere, along your kitchen countertops, around your living area or anywhere in your house. Read on to find out how to get rid of ants naturally from your house.
Identifying ants
When you are having ants infesting your house, identifying their type is quite important to get rid of them. The eradication process depends on the specific type of ants that have been invading your house. Each type of ant are known to have different behaviors, preferences in food, and so the way to get rid of each of them is different..
There are different types of Ants which belong to specific regions. In Today’s article we will be showing you’ll how you’ll can get rid of odorous house ants and carpenter ants.
Odorous House Ants
Odorous house ants are the ones which are commonly found in our homes. These type of ants are attracted to sweets.
Odorous house ants are known to leave a chemical pheromone trail wherever they go. Other ants simply follow the trail of the ants that traveled and show up in the same area. When you start seeing these ants in your home, make sure to kill them and sponge the area with soapy water to eliminate the pheromone trail so that other ants don’t follow the trail. it’s very important to kill the entire colony. For the same reason figure out the openings from where they’re getting into your house and place ant traps at these entry points.
Homemade bait for house ants
You can make an homemade bait using borax which will kill odorous house ants. To make this homemade ant bait, mix 1 part borax and 3 parts powdered sugar. You can place this homemade bait in tiny containers like bottle caps and place these baits as entry points from where ants are entering your house.
If you have pets or kids at home who might eat this powdery mixture, then you can try mixing one cup warm water with ½ cup sugar and 3 tablespoons borax. Soak a few cotton balls in this mixture and place them in shallow dishes near ant trails. The ants will carry this borax bait back to the nest and the borax particles will slowly kill the entire colony of ants.
More tips for house ants
Vinegar also works well to get rid of house ants. You can spray vinegar on ant trails to kill them. Washing the infested area with Vinegar also works to eliminate the ants pheromone trail and will deter the other ants.
The reason why ants infest your homes is that they find food in your house if its not kept clean. Keeping your home clean is one of the best ways to keep ants away from your home. Make sure all food is stored in tightly sealed containers, specially the sweet food.
For the natural ant bait to work you should make sure there is no other desirable snack around like spilled soda or cookie crumbs, as the ants will choose that over the bait.
Carpenter Ants
These type of ants are mostly found in homes around wooded areas. Carpenter ants don’t carry bait back to their nests. So if you have to get rid of them, you will have to kill them at the source itself. You will have to find their nest to exterminate them completely.
Carpenter ants will mostly have their nest very close to the house, and normally visit your house search for food.
How to find the nest
Carpenter ants mostly are known to live in the wood and make tunnels through it. The best way to find their nest is to look for small piles of very fine sawdust which they have chewed. Carpenter ant nests are mostly found in moist wood in foundations, decks, wood piles near your house, trees, gaps between boards, etc.
If you can see from where these ants are getting into your house, then you can easily track their nest by following the trail of ants. To get rid of them completely it’s best to seal the holes in the rotting foundation or cracks under doors they’re traveling under.
Natural remedy to get rid of carpenter ants
The best natural remedy to get rid of carpenter ants is to use Diatomaceous Earth. Diatomaceous Earth is completely natural and organic remedy to kill carpenter ants. Diatomaceous Earth is made from tiny skeletal remains of algae-like plants.
Diatomaceous Earth is a natural insecticide. DE has microscopic razor sharp edges which cuts through the body of the insects, and kills them. When carpenter ants eat it, their internal organs get cut.
Food grade DE which is available as an insecticide is completely safe to be used even when you have kids and pets around. If you want to get rid of the whole colony of carpenter ants, then put the DE directly into the nest of the carpenter ants. You can use a medicine dropper to squirt dry DE into cracks where they have their nests.
Other Tips for Getting Rid of Ants
We have some more Natural tips to get rid of ants in your house:
· Some ants are known to like protein and grease. To make a homemade bait for such ants just Mix a spoonful of peanut butter with a tbsp of sugar and a teaspoon of borax. Using a plastic straw, tap the end into the mixture repeatedly until the straw is full of the mixture. Cut the straw into ½ inch pieces and place them next to ant trails.
· peppermint essential oil also works excellently to get rid of ants. For this all you need to do is put a few drops of peppermint essential oil on a cotton ball and place in areas ants have infested.
· Another amazing home remedy to get rid of ants is to sprinkle cinnamon near the entry points from where the ants enter your house.
· Baby powder also work to get rid of certain types of ants. All you need to do is sprinkle some baby powder around the infested areas of the house.
· Vaseline also works to keep ants from entering your house. Just rub a little Vaseline near the entry points from where the ants enter the house