Ants

[tamada]

Ant Apocalypse. You read it here first.

[parrot]

"You maybe thinking, what's all the fuss about, they are just Ants doing their thing, well I've been here nearly 20years and never had a problem like this before."

I'd suggest doing a full inspection of the outside of the house....they're getting inside, so best to find out how. Most all our house is raised up a meter, but our kitchen area is on ground level. If we drop the tiniest speck of food, ants will come get it. It took a while to find out where they were coming from......but with headlamp and patience, I found several pin holes in the 25 year old tile grout........and there they were. The cans of chaindrite with the needle nose work wonders against these invaders. If you want to limit overspray, set the nose into the hole and wrap a piece of tissue around the nose at the ground level and spray.
Bigger ants are probably coming in from outside......in all liklihood, there'll be a trail.....some coming one direction, others going the opposite. Follow the trails.
Another trick: when you think you've got them beat, set out the small top from a 500ml bottle.....put a dollop of jam or other sweet in the top. Set it in an area where you've had a problem with ants. Wait....then follow the trail.
Play detective for a few hours and in all liklihood, you'll find out where they're coming from.
Good luck hunting.

[BillaRickaDickay]

Thanks for the info Mr Parrot, the micro Ants I don't have a problem with, they are in the background most of time and on the odd occasion when they set up a shock nest they are easy to track and deal with.
My first encounter with the larger Ants, about the size of the Weaver Ants, was about six weeks ago when I opened one of my storage boxes containing all my books, they had blitzed 75% of my collection, I closed the lid and dealt with them, killing most of the occupants.
They obviously have returned or re-established themselves. Because of the nature of the infestation, apart from the 3 entry points, they are difficult to track, they don't form columns they scatter themselves outside the house and when the have entered the house spread themselves about.
They are also nocturnal which makes the task harder, my guess is there are at least three separate colonies.
I'm going to adopt a different tactic tonight, rather than set Borax bait traps I intend spraying them with the Borax solution.

[Drunk Monkey]

As Mr parrot says find where the blighters are getting in and Chanerite zap em ..If that fails BRD ,, watch this short vid below to the end it shows how to get rid of ants quickly ..




Nuke em Rico !!!!

DM

[BillaRickaDickay]

I know where they are coming in DM, I live in the middle of a field and my house is very open plan, it's not where they are coming in, it's why, I've lived in this house for nearly 10years and not had problems like this before. If I close the points of entry they would easily find another.
Dusk is dawning, so getting ready for the next wave, I sprayed them with the Borax solution last night but I'm beginning to think it's not working.
Got lucky today, while moving one of my water tanks the spillage set one of the colonies off so I managed to blitz that one. I found another some 50ft away under a piece of old corrugated iron, blitzed again. I'm now actively hunting them now, all very boring and time consuming. The stress is getting to me, I now need 2 large Leo's a day instead of the usual one.

[BillaRickaDickay]

Given up on the Borax, last night blitzed them with some conventional spray, instant death.
This evening a lot less activity and those that have turned up, zapped. I will keep on using the spray at least I can see some result. Maybe the Borax helped, I'll never know.

[tutone]

I don't know why I didn't remember this before, but when I lived in the U.S. fire ants were a problem. Similar to the tiny red ones here but much more aggressive. A few seconds near or on one of their mounds meant being attacked by thousands of the critters and many, many painful bites. Anyway, boiling water was a good non toxic way of killing them and disrupting their colony to a point where they were not so troublesome. The downside being getting the boiling water to the ant hill. I had a large (several gallons?) stove kettle at the time and my property wasn't so big that it created a problem transporting the water. Google boiling water for fire ants for some information.

[Whistler]

I am with Mr T on the fire ants, a plague in Austin TX. Painful buggers, they would sneak all over your legs without you feeling them and they all would start biting in unison, lots of white bite blisters that hurt like hell. I also gave them the boiling water treatment but had one colony that only succumbed to petrol soaked nest and a match.

[rick]

The small red Thai fireants are not as bad, but still bad enough! Have several colonies in the garden, the stings (not bites) are a bit painful causing a white blister. Also, when stung on the fingers they cause a rheumatic like ache which lasts for days. I also give them the boiling water treatment (the only ants that deserve this). The Thai fireants are why I ALWAYS wear socks when gardening.

[tamada]

I had a small fire ant mound pop up on the front lawn in Houston. I was doing the lawns and my buddy advised against disturbing it until it had been "properly dealt with" by the regular pest control guy. I made the mistake of assuming the lawn mower would deal with them properly, them being "just ants" in my view. Texas fire ants are bad enough when disturbed locally but disturbed and projected across several hundred square yards of lawn, driveway and sidewalk including the lawns and driveways and open garages on either side, I learned the hard way (and really pissed off my neighbors).

[BillaRickaDickay]

No Ants last night, Anywhere, All Colours, All Varieties, The End.

[tamada]

No Ants last night, Anywhere, All Colours, All Varieties, The End.

What? Did you hear a fat lady singing? Have you been counting those chickens again?

Reminds me of my mate's stories from the trenches during the Korean war. After several days, the waves of attacking Chinese soldiers vanished. They thought they'd won. The reality was a supply train from the north had broken down, blocking the line and 'normal service' resumed a few days later.

[Khun Paul]

egarding ants having been blassted for my feeble attempts to educate some, i ahve had Ants showing themselves through cracks in the concrete raising earthworks along the cracks. Now all clear the Ants have gone , undestand they were/are enlarging below ground living quarters, once done they return from whence they came.
Wat until some ain has dropped and you may find the ants reemerge again.

saw my normal coloum of ants going from one side of the garden to the other , carrying what appeared to be dead or almost dead larger insects, happy in their work and not interfering with my daily life at all. However the geckos are in full attack mode dealing with the fresh almost daily offerings happily , which will pelase he Tuktares who feed on the geckos and the green tree snakes which feed on the Tuktares and frogs and also geckos , so natures full circle active and working .
ALso saw one of the larger birdsm deal with a tree snake , what was left the Ants collected

[BillaRickaDickay]

Oh, I know they will be back, whether they will be as invasive as before remains to be seen.

[Khun Paul]

ANTS outnumber us about 300/400 to one worldwide, why fight them, learn o live with hm far easier and less costly, let mother nature takes it course, for everything alive there is a PREDATOR and 99% of the time it is not us, as Humans we are too stupid to win this particular battle .

We fight above ground, ants use above and below ground we ar just an intrusive animal in their territory
.

[Udon Map]

An costly solution would be to pour a ½" wide strip of honey all around the outside of your house. The sweetness will attract them, and then they'll get stuck in it. A thick engine oil will work almost as well for getting them stuck, but won't necessarily attract them. When I was a child a professional exterminator used the engine oil all around the concrete foundation of our house, and it was 100% effective at preventing them from getting inside.

[Stantheman]

ANTS outnumber us about 300/400 to one worldwide, why fight them, learn o live with hm far easier and less costly, let mother nature takes it course, for everything alive there is a PREDATOR and 99% of the time it is not us, as Humans we are too stupid to win this particular battle .

We fight above ground, ants use above and below ground we ar just an intrusive animal in their territory
.

So he needs to invest in a bunch of Ant Eaters?

[BillaRickaDickay]

ANTS outnumber us about 300/400 to one worldwide, why fight them, learn o live with hm far easier and less costly, let mother nature takes it course, for everything alive there is a PREDATOR and 99% of the time it is not us, as Humans we are too stupid to win this particular battle .

We fight above ground, ants use above and below ground we ar just an intrusive animal in their territory
.

If you're going to give lectures on Ants you need to get your facts right Mr Paul, according to Google, Ants outnumber us 2.5 million to one.
If you want to cuddle up to an Ant or two that's up to you, I have said a few times now on this subject, which you choose to ignore, I don't have a problem with Ants, until they choose and attempt to take over my home.
I wonder if you have the same attitude when it comes to Termites, Fly's, Cockroaches etc, after all we are just an intruder in their territory.

[Earnest]

555, this thread is a hoot!

[Whistler]

KP

Never swatted a fly
Never purchased or used an insect spray
Never whacked a Mosquito
Never killed a cockroach
Never hurt a spider

Nothing but bugs and hugs