Ants Problem (carpenter ants)

[dubbodown]

I got my boric acid ingredient from a laundry detergent/cleaner at Meijer. The name of the detergent is "20 Mule Team BORAX" its a green box (size of a small cereal box). I dont want to jinx it yet, but the remedy of (borax + sugar + hot water) seems to be working so far.

I place the remedy in one of the bedroom where the ants are coming through the vents and one in the kitchen where I notice lots of baby ants were coming up from. I notice very little ants in the bedroom now (maybe 1 or 2 after the first couple of day, comparing to about 30-40) and alot less baby ants in the kitchen (5-10/day comparing to 50-60/day). I have just started placing this borax stuff outside where I notice ants as well.....we'll see how that goes. If this stuff really works for less than $4 bucks!!!! thats a steal!!! maybe I should post it in the "hot deal" section!

I have tried all those power/pellets/spray (at HomeDepot/Lowes) that you spray/sprinkle around the house and then watering it. Spend close to a hundred bucks on all these ant baits and stuff.....none seem to be effective for my ant problems. So far BORAX is working well.....will update again in a week or so.

I need to start looking for a remedy to get rid of spiders next......let me know if u found something that you tried and actually works!

Thanks!

 

[NetGuySC]

Mty mom had those huge black ants in her house. Our family assumed the colony was outside and would never be found. I went in that attic looking for something and found a wet spot on the insulation (it was under a small roof leak). I pulled back the insulation and found thousands and thousands of carpenter ants. I slowly lowered the insulation, went to local hardware store and got several of those fogging insecticide canisters (referred to as bombs here), exposed ants and released three bombs. Ant problem solved.

Look for the colony anywhere there could be a water leak (under the house at kitchen and bathrooms, in the attic under a leaky roof, . A colony must have water easily available to survive.

 

[Luthien]

ants are one of the much less gross insects IMO

Train them to widdle you stuff.

 

[atybimf]

we had the same problem. called a really good local guy we know. haven't seen one in two months.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: dubbodown
I got my boric acid ingredient from a laundry detergent/cleaner at Meijer. The name of the detergent is "20 Mule Team BORAX" its a green box (size of a small cereal box). I dont want to jinx it yet, but the remedy of (borax + sugar + hot water) seems to be working so far.

I place the remedy in one of the bedroom where the ants are coming through the vents and one in the kitchen where I notice lots of baby ants were coming up from. I notice very little ants in the bedroom now (maybe 1 or 2 after the first couple of day, comparing to about 30-40) and alot less baby ants in the kitchen (5-10/day comparing to 50-60/day). I have just started placing this borax stuff outside where I notice ants as well.....we'll see how that goes. If this stuff really works for less than $4 bucks!!!! thats a steal!!! maybe I should post it in the "hot deal" section!

I have tried all those power/pellets/spray (at HomeDepot/Lowes) that you spray/sprinkle around the house and then watering it. Spend close to a hundred bucks on all these ant baits and stuff.....none seem to be effective for my ant problems. So far BORAX is working well.....will update again in a week or so.

I need to start looking for a remedy to get rid of spiders next......let me know if u found something that you tried and actually works!

Thanks!

torrax is 95% water/sugar 5% boric acid. the ants in my house drank it like water, and didnt affect them. i've used it for 2yrs, and i still see them in the same #'s even the next day/week/month after they drank the stuff.

how strong is your borax mixture?

 

[markgm]

The poison that comes in a giant plastic syringe. Trust me, it works great! I think RAID makes it. Here's a video of my little problem in a my house the first year I lived there (new construction.) 1 day later there were a couple of ants, the next day, I didn't see another live one.

Ants!

For good measure I sprinkled some powder poison around my house just in case.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: compuwiz1
Carpenter Ants are very strange. I've seen them come back and carry off their dead.

In my observations, all ants do this.

And, you guys are all a bunch of pussies.

The ants you see in your kitchen are not "babies". They're a completely different speices of ant. Carpenter ants are one thing, since they eat your house. Sugar ants are another.

We have tons of ants here. Our house is concrete, so we don't have to worry about carpenter ants.. Infact, I've never seen one in this house.

But ants come out of every crack and crevice in the house. So what? Ants aren't dirty. The best way to combat them is to quit feeding them. As long as you aren't nasty, you won't have trails. The few you see are doing you a favor by cleaning up your crumbs. It's a win-win.

 

[compuwiz1]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: compuwiz1
Carpenter Ants are very strange. I've seen them come back and carry off their dead.

In my observations, all ants do this.

And, you guys are all a bunch of pussies.

The ants you see in your kitchen are not "babies". They're a completely different speices of ant. Carpenter ants are one thing, since they eat your house. Sugar ants are another.

We have tons of ants here. Our house is concrete, so we don't have to worry about carpenter ants.. Infact, I've never seen one in this house.

But ants come out of every crack and crevice in the house. So what? Ants aren't dirty. The best way to combat them is to quit feeding them. As long as you aren't nasty, you won't have trails. The few you see are doing you a favor by cleaning up your crumbs. It's a win-win.

Tell me about it. A place we lived in about 5 years ago had a highway of ants coming in, and across the kitchen. The wife and daughter were freaking out, spraying stuff, swatting them, etc. I took a closer look at this highway and saw what they were doing. There was a half container of sugar coated gummy worms on top of the fridge with the lid half off. They were cruising right to that, then making the southbound lane coming down. As soon as I sealed that container and threw it out, the ants went away.

 

[dubbodown]

stop what? am i in violation of the forum rules somehow?

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: dubbodown
Stop it, or I'll burn ya.

AnandTech Moderator

"Burninator" Mod, is that really you?

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: compuwiz1
Carpenter Ants are very strange. I've seen them come back and carry off their dead.

Keeps the humans from developing intel on troop strength, and an accurate body count.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: JEDI
<blockquote>quote:
Originally posted by: dubbodown
I got my boric acid ingredient from a laundry detergent/cleaner at Meijer. The name of the detergent is "20 Mule Team BORAX" its a green box (size of a small cereal box). I dont want to jinx it yet, but the remedy of (borax + sugar + hot water) seems to be working so far.

I place the remedy in one of the bedroom where the ants are coming through the vents and one in the kitchen where I notice lots of baby ants were coming up from. I notice very little ants in the bedroom now (maybe 1 or 2 after the first couple of day, comparing to about 30-40) and alot less baby ants in the kitchen (5-10/day comparing to 50-60/day). I have just started placing this borax stuff outside where I notice ants as well.....we'll see how that goes. If this stuff really works for less than $4 bucks!!!! thats a steal!!! maybe I should post it in the "hot deal" section!

I have tried all those power/pellets/spray (at HomeDepot/Lowes) that you spray/sprinkle around the house and then watering it. Spend close to a hundred bucks on all these ant baits and stuff.....none seem to be effective for my ant problems. So far BORAX is working well.....will update again in a week or so.

I need to start looking for a remedy to get rid of spiders next......let me know if u found something that you tried and actually works!

Thanks!
</blockquote>

torrax is 95% water/sugar 5% boric acid. the ants in my house drank it like water, and didnt affect them. i've used it for 2yrs, and i still see them in the same #'s even the next day/week/month after they drank the stuff.

how strong is your borax mixture?

Got "20 Mule Team BORAX."

2oz of luke warm water (got impatient and didnt wait for hot water)
2oz sugar
sprinkling of Borax

stirred the mixture. it was still as liquid as water.

poured a few drops in 2 corners of the room.

as i poured the rest into the sink, i noticed a thick pasty solution on the bottom of the cup. i think i should have used this instead. oh well, most of it went into the sink already.

i thought if the ants are still around after a week, i'll just re-do the mixture and use it then.

well, 2 days later, ZERO ants seen whereas b4 i would constantly see a couple of dozen.

screw tetro. 20 Mule Team BORAX FTW!

 

[Syrch]

Originally posted by: compuwiz1
Carpenter Ants are very strange. I've seen them come back and carry off their dead.

They are Marines!


and wait....a weird thread here...what exactly is that?

 

[KK]

Here's some information.

 

[nweaver]

Borax is great for many things. Treating thrush in animals is one use.