Ants


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Old 03-06-11, 05:57 AM
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Ants

I am currently renting a basement apartment and i have a ant problem, small black ones, i have it under control to a degree but i have bought a house and and i am worried about bringing them with me when i move.

Dan
 
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Old 03-06-11, 06:35 AM
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Ants aren't like roaches. They come and go from a nest. If they get separated from that nest somehow (in a box or container) they will die very shortly w/o reproducing.
 
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Old 03-06-11, 11:03 AM
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Thank you Gunguy, i was worried i would be infested in the new house
 
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Old 03-07-11, 08:52 AM
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You may be but it won't be because you brought them with you

Ants are everywhere
 
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Old 03-07-11, 02:25 PM
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Just like Gunguy says they come from a nest, so to effectively elliminate them for good you need to get the queen of the nest. I've had excellent results in the past. Get some Borax (20 mule team, found in the laundry section) and mix with sugar, about 1:2 parts. Place in a small mound on the floor near where you've seen ants, or better if you can actually find one. Sit back and wait. They will find this delicious mixture and tell everyone back at the nest. Soon there will be a steady line coming in from outside, eating and going back to the nest. Resist the urge to stamp on them, because they are doing their own dirty work. A day or 2 later you are free. Use the rest of the borax (sans sugar) for fresh and white laundry!! Its actually fascinating to watch
 
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Old 03-11-11, 03:58 PM
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Buy liquid ant bait or the ant gel bait in syringes. It's a lot easier than making your own, although people do it successfully. Walmart, HD, Lowes, hardware stores all sell it. Same active ingredients that we use, nothing fancy about it.
 
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Old 03-12-11, 05:03 AM
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You're right...same active ingredient only the home made stuff per part is a fraction of the cost. Besides there is absolutely nothing hard about mixing a scoop of borax with a scoop of sugar.
 
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Old 03-12-11, 08:13 AM
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Seems to me that at some point in order to be effective, the homemade bait would need to be compounded into a solution or suspension rather than 2 dry formulations mixed together. Are you leaving it dry? If so, do you see a prolonged feeding at the site?

Some of the gel baits are basically boric acid (pharmaceutical grade) mixed with apple jelly. 6% active ingredient. It works great because of the acceptance.
 
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Old 03-12-11, 09:31 AM
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Yes, leave it dry. A small amount placed directly on the floor is all it takes. Shortly after only one ant discovers it, there will be a constant flow of traffic. Each one spends a few minutes tasting this succulent dish, and in my case, the whole thing was over in about 24 hrs. The mound is then easily suctioned up with the hoover.
 
 

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