Please do not forget to like
Natural Oils N Herbs on facebook to stay updated everytime we find a fantastic post to do more with herbs
1.Barricade your house against ants,seal,seal seal
Ants often enter your house through cracks and holes in the
walls. Try to seal off those areas with putty, glue or plaster. Do not use any
temporary seal like petroleum jelly. After trying for an hour or so I finally
gave up because there were way too many cracks in my own room where the floor
meets the sidewall.
2.Trace them and then…
It is natural step after the first one, trace the location of
ants by following them. Since they always live in colonies you will find an ant
hill. There are two or three things that we can do to an ant hill. As I am
writing this there’s an ant exodus going on. Earlier today I had cleaned the
garage and up rooted an ant colony, so the inmates are moving out. I am trying
many of the methods to see which one works effectively.
-
Ants always have a queen mother. If you spread grits around
the ant hill the worker ants will carry it to the queen and once she is done
eating and drinking she will bloat to death. The leaderless ant colony will
disintegrate themselves.
-
The second thing that you can do is cover the ant hill with
baking soda and then pour vinegar or fruit juice on it. These react together and
release carbon dioxide which will cut off the oxygen supply,again killing the
Queen.
-
Nicotine water or hot boiling water can be directly poured
on the ant hill.
-
Spread orange peels, lemon peels or cucumber peels around the
hill. These peels are not good for the fungus that these ants grow for food and
they will declare peace.
-
If you fill in a spray bottle with one teaspoon
of dishwashing soap and water then you get a handy ant killer. I do not know why
only soap works and not the detergent. So fill it and spray. To make it more
powerful you can use a drop or two of tea tree oil.
3.Drawing barriers
I already mentioned that I am seeing an ant exodus. I tried a
few things to see if any worked. For example I put talc on their entry points
and their speed of movement was considerably reduced. A few minutes later they
were back full on for they had found three new cracks.
Anyway you can put barriers on their entry points into your
kitchen. A barrier is un broken line. The ants will not cross it. Here are a few
things that you can try.
-
Powdered charcoal
-
Turmeric
-
Citrus oil
-
Black or cayenne pepper, the ants just go round it or above
it,so I used powdered pepper and they never even came close
-
Chalk lines,you can use normal chalk
-
Vaseline
-
Talc as mentioned above
4.Use essential oils
Ants,mice,spiders etc hate strong odours which we usually
like.
Peppermint oil, tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil,citrus oils are
taboo for them. If you can dilute a few drops of peppermint oil into water and
spray them on areas where ants frequently appear then you have got a solution to
your ant problem.
About 10 drops of cinnamon essential oil and water into a
small squirt bottle will stop them if sprayed at the right places.
Camphor is another agent with such a strong smell that ants do
not come near.
If you frequently find ants in sugar jars then keep a dried bay
leaf inside. The strong smell drives them nuts( Bay leaves are great for cooking
chicken)
5. Borax ant bait
As a kid I was always fascinated by ants and spent long hours
watching Discovery Channel where there would be shows showing the inside
structure of ant colonies. They are tremendously hard working creatures who are
very clever. They cultivate their own farms of fungi and have an intricate
network of worker ants who work day and night.
I always wanted to set up an ant colony in a glass box to see
them live but never got close to building one. But I don’t like their excessive
curiosity in my kitchen and on every crystal of sugar. The reason I am
suggesting ant baits is because all the above methods which involve killing the
Queen ant may not work 100% because in some cases these guys have alternative
Queens who are not born yet. They keep those royal eggs for emergencies and when
the Queen is dead hatch one of them.
Total extermination is the only way. But if you don’t want that
then do not try the borax bait.
For people who do not want to use chemical ant baits may be due
to the presence of toddlers who find everything interesting or because of pets
can try the borax ant bait. Even though Borax sounds chemical it’s 100% natural
and derived from boric acid that occurs naturally.
Borax does not harm us. In fact if you have ever played caroms
then you might have come across a crystalline powder used for smoothening the
board. Borax is as harmful to you as table salt but for ants it sounds a death
knell. It destroys their intestines and their skeleton and they die.
There are many ways in which you can use the borax bait.
First off you can create a sugar syrup and and line the edges
with borax. Ants who would be attracted to the syrup will cross the borax line
and when they feed they will also ingest borax and that will kill them.
You can also
-
Buy boric acid
-
Pour about a tablespoon of real maple syrup on a saucer.
-
Sprinkle the boric acid around the syrup so that the ants
must walk through it to get to the syrup
-
Place wherever the ants are frequenting.
-
It may take weeks
You can also mix sugar,borax and water and soak cotton balls
with the mixture and place on points where ants frequent.
Jam plus borax is something that ants can never avoid.
6. Use cornmeal against ants
This works because of the way the digestive system of ants
work. They are not able to digest corn meal and grits. Wheat flour and dried
rice (any kind) also work. If you sprinkle them around the places they frequent
then they will eat it and once it reaches their stomach it will expand breaking
their intestine and they will die.
7. Use Farina
Put out cream of wheat (farina). Even this works in much a
similar way. When they eat it they die.
8. Use coffee grounds
Ants are susceptible to the coffee grounds- the strain
remaining at the end once we drink our coffee. Almost anything that smells
strongly irritates their stomach. Leave it in you garden or kitchen and the ants
will eat it and die. You have to never give up with this method as it may take
weeks to show the results
9.Sprinkle Splenda where you see ants. and they are
done
10.Spray ants with vinegar water. If you have a flooring
of marble like mine then you should not probably try this because a stain is
left.You can mix water and white vinegar in a 50:50 ratio and spray on
ants. Ants release some pheromones and an acid on their trail and that is why
they are able to follow one another. Vinegar destroys that connection, the low
Ph also kills many
11. Use Food-Grade Diatomaceous Earth
Ants
won’t enter an area with Diatomaceous earth because it has microscopic edges
that harm them.
12.Use a sticky tape to capture ants
13. Now that you are tired with sticky tape squash them with
hands and then wash them off.
14.Sprinkle salt on flat surfaces
15.Squirt lemon juice, any citrus juice along sides
16.Spread pureed orange peels around the foundation of your
home. Again, ants aren’t fond of the smell of citrus. You can also use
cucumber skin.
17.Alcohol
In a spray bottle, add 1 part rubbing
alcohol or tequila to 1 part water. Spray at entrance points or trails. Reapply
for a few days.
18.Smear petroleum jelly along edges. You must agree
with me that you hate the sight of ants on pet bowls. Now you won’t complain.
Credits
.jpg)
