Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

Tagged: ants

This topic has 13 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 11 months ago by amama5.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

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July 13, 2011 at 4:04 pm
2flowerboys
Participant
It seems like every yr or other yr we are invaded by ants! This morn I woke up to teeny tiny ants in the kitchen!! Not only that I had big fat black ones in the laundry room and bathroom!! OH MY!! Ants everywhere..and not just one kind!!
Hubby sprayed around the house outside..I just would not let him do it inside. I don’t want all that toxic stuff in the house. He said do you want ants or spray?? Well I don’t want either!!
So, what have you used that is natural to kill ants inside!! I am so desperate! I am killing ants left and right…not how I wanted to spend my morning. Now the boys are worried that they will invade their beds!!
Can someone help me please!! 🙂
Thanks
July 13, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Laura.bora
Participant
well, it’s not natural, but we laid down tarro liquid ant bait. IT works AMAZING. We just put it high up on a shelf where the kids could not get it, put one or two of the ants next to the bait, they very quickly forgot how scared they were and made a bee line for it. They ate their fill, and then head home, and before I knew it, the entire colony was at the ant trap. Within a few hours they were mostly dead, by the next day, there were no more ants living.
I got a 4 pack in Walmart, and they ate 2 or 3 of the packs completely. Good luck!!
July 13, 2011 at 5:10 pm
2flowerboys
Participant
Not natural BUT it is not spray! So if I set out traps, then it really doesn’t expose anyone! Thanks I will let my dh know now..leave a msg at work to stop by!!
July 13, 2011 at 5:14 pm
sheraz
Participant
I LOVE terro liquid…it is amazingly effective.
July 13, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Laura.bora
Participant
And make sure it’s Tarro…or Terro…I can’t remember. The other ant baits just don’t work as well.
July 13, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Doug Smith
Keymaster
Be sure to thoroughly clean the areas where the ants have been. They leave a scent trail that the others follow and it helps to disrupt their path, especially at the point of entry to the house.
July 13, 2011 at 6:19 pm
Rene
Participant
My tried and true method for getting rid of ants is to mix 1 part Borax (the laundry stuff) with 1 part sugar, and enough water to make a thin syrup. Soak a cotton ball, gently squeeze the excess, and place where you have a problem. The ants will just disappear within a few hours. I have done this numerous times both inside and outside with 100% success.
Two years ago, the first time I tried this, we had a two raised garden beds and we had bought a bale of hay to use as mulch. Well that bale sat there between those two beds for a while and ants set up home all throughout it. I didn’t know about using the cotton balls so I just mixed it up and put in in shallow containers – like margarine tub lids – set it on the ground near the hay, and they next day the ants were completely gone!
July 13, 2011 at 8:04 pm
missingtheshire
Member
We had this problem earlier this year. I ended up calling the pest man out, and he found where they were getting in the house, put some bait down outside and voila they never have come back. So I did not have to put anything in the house. They were coming in the dining room, but the actual entry point was on the opposite side of the house and they were making their way in the siding and dry wall until they found a small opening, which was out dining room. As soon as the bait was outside in that area, they ceased to come in and so far a few months later I have not seen anymore. So if you can find where they are coming in, that can help – then you can just put the poison outside. They hate cinnamon by the way, I found that out when I was trying to keep them at bay. Linda
July 13, 2011 at 8:50 pm
suzukimom
Participant
I have used the borax/sugar mixture too (before I had kids) and it had worked well. When I used it the whole city was having an ant attack, and you couldn’t buy anything at the stores because it was so bad. The news was telling people various home remedies.

I really have to do this…. we have quite a few ant hills in our lawn. Only seen a couple of ants inside, but I should get rid of those hills….
July 13, 2011 at 8:54 pm
2flowerboys
Participant
Thanks so much everyone for your advice! And thanks Doug of reminding me of that scent…something I should have known due to reading Magic School Bus books!! LOL!
July 13, 2011 at 9:50 pm
Sara B.
Participant
Ah, how well I know this problem……
Try diatomaceous earth. It’s not poison – it’s the dried shells of some tiny little creature of some sort, and while it’s not harmful to you and yours (or your pets), it IS harmful to any insects that crawl over it – ants, spiders, earwigs, beetles, etc, etc, etc. It’s like tiny shards of glass that they walk over, and it cuts them up so they die. Sprinkle/dust it around the outside of your house, even around doorframes, around your garden (be aware this will cut up the good insects, too), and you can even safely use it indoors (just use a dust mask while applying, as any fine dust will harm your lungs if you breathe it in).
BTW, do not get the pool quality – make sure it is for pest control. 🙂 In my neck of the woods, Ace was the best price, but I had to order it online. I got the Safer brand (a yellow bag).
July 14, 2011 at 3:57 pm
2flowerboys
Participant
OK, so dh got the Terro Bait and the Ants are going crazy eating it! We now see a direct line coming in and can follow that long long line back to where it started! Amazing…they love the stuff! Thanks for the suggestion!
Sara, will get that stuff to you suggested and put it on the ant hills! And I believe I will try Borax too! Great suggestions!
Hopefully, company will not be grossed out tonight by ants coming to eat bait! Thankfully, there are no more teeny ones in the kitchen!! Hooray!
July 14, 2011 at 4:22 pm
sheraz
Participant
If you look at the Terro package it is made from Borax. We just pay for the convenience of the store kind… =)
July 14, 2011 at 5:28 pm
amama5
Participant
Make sure you keep the Terro liquid fresh, I also had to place several, some by the house and some back where they were coming from.