Ants may not appear to be much of a nuisance and they generally don’t bother humans. But, they will enter your home in search of sugary treats. Unfortunately, ants are capable of carrying a variety of pathogens on their bodies. These can be transferred to the surfaces they walk on and indirectly picked up by you.
That’s why you need to take ants in your home seriously. It’s a good idea to speak to the experts and find out more about protecting your home from ants. They can also help if you have an ant issue that you are struggling to get rid of. You can learn more here about your local experts.
There are several things that you can do at home to get rid of ants, it is worth trying these. But, you should also acknowledge when the issue is too big and you need professional help.
Bait Traps
When you see an ant you are looking at the scout ant, that’s the one that finds food and takes it back to the colony. In theory, if you kill every scout ant the colony will starve. In reality, this is unlikely to happen. Instead, you should monitor the ants you see to assess where they are coming and going from. This will help you locate the nest.
You can then put down several foods, such as peanut butter, honey, or even fried food. Watch to see which food the ants are attracted and then you can buy toxic any bait that caters to their taste. It changes throughout the year, hence the need to assess the taste buds with different types of food.
This will effectively kill the colony.
Vinegar & Water
Mix a solution in a spray bottle of one part vinegar and three parts water. This can be sprayed whenever you see an ant. You are not aiming to kill the ant, the vinegar and water eliminate the ant trail. As all ants follow this other ants will not come into the house as the trail no longer exists.
Of course, this is only effective if their nest is outside of your home.
Insecticide
You can purchase effective insecticides from your local store and simply spray the ants you see, the areas they come from, and where you believe the nest to be. You’ll find ants are most active early morning and evening, spray them then to get the best effect.
However, be cautious if you have small children or pets, the insecticide may be harmful to them as well.
Peppermint
Ants, along with many other insects, don’t like peppermint. You can put peppermint oil or even grow peppermint plants near the entry points to your home. This will deter the ants from entering. Again, this won’t help if the ants are already inside your house.
Keep It Clean
Finally, ants are attracted to food. Eliminating food waste by storing food in containers and keeping your house clean and disinfected will remove the attraction and keep the ants outside.