Help! Ants are taking over my apartment!!!

[SphinxnihpS]

Codewiz has the correct solution, it's just that it requires a birth cycle to be effective. It doesn't kill ants, it sterilizes them. So you get Terro + a can of Raid. You can also leave ant traps laying around to take care of stragglers, but unless you use a sterilizing ant control, they will be back.

As far as dropping food, etc. Sure it doesn't help, but there is enough ant food in the cracks of your floors, gaps of your walls, and every other place you could never see, to keep them happy for your lifetime. Cleaning helps mostly because you are erasing the little chemical trails ants leave behind to let the rest of the colony know where the goodies are.

 

[Oyeve]

Well, I put some terro out yesterday and they are feasting heavily on it. Ill report back with results in a couple of days. Thanks for the tips. Ill buy some boric acid powder and make some lines. I am hoping its only a couple of nests. It is an apartment after all.

 

[Kreon]

Cyonara 9.7 Insecticide.

http://www.pestmall.com/cyonara-9-7-insecticide.html

That stuff leaves a path of death and destruction behind. I spray my house foundation with it once a year and hardly get any spiders in the basement, and no other bugs. Maybe the occasional centipede. In winter, there is not a single bug. Any bug that has come in for winter retreat has died from coming in contact with this stuff.

Actually anything with Lambda-Cyhalothrin as the active ingredient should do.

Lambda-cyhalothrin is some great stuff. He's not going to be able to order or use it, since he's in NY (unless of course he buys it in NJ and carries it over).

I usually also suggest things with cypermethrin, but that's also not legal in NY.

My parents face an onslaught of ants yearly, and they use the Terro baits mentioned above, and have had success with those.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Borax is your friend and it's harmless to pets and people.

 

[Gintaras]

Borax is your friend and it's harmless to pets and people.

People do harm other species on this planet...and themselves as well...

 

[Drako]

People do harm other species on this planet...and themselves as well...

Adding useless drivel as usual. Good job :biggrin:

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

People do harm other species on this planet...and themselves as well...

That's just one of the perks of being at the top of the food chain.

 

[Gintaras]

That's just one of the perks of being at the top of the food chain.

Go to Africa, where lions and tigers are and try to be "the top of the food chain"....

Don't bring any guns, play fair, lions and tigers do not carry any guns...

Would like to see, who's on top of the food chain....

Still scared of ants?

 

[Oyeve]

Go to Africa, where lions and tigers are and try to be "the top of the food chain"....

Don't bring any guns, play fair, lions and tigers do not carry any guns...

Would like to see, who's on top of the food chain....

Still scared of ants?

When the ants pay rent then they can stay.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Terro-Ant-Killer-ll-Liquid-Baits-6-Pack-300/100595879#specifications

This will attract them by the thousands, then proceed to kill all of them.....

I have used it to kill outdoor fireants before.

The ingredient is borax. You could buy just borax and make your own but these traps work well.

These are the only ant traps I've ever used that actually work.

Drawback is they can be messy if placed anywhere that they might be disturbed.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Go to Africa, where lions and tigers are and try to be "the top of the food chain"....

Don't bring any guns, play fair, lions and tigers do not carry any guns...

Would like to see, who's on top of the food chain....

Still scared of ants?

Humans have done just fine for millenia with spears, pits, nets and dogs. The Lord exhorted us to be "good shepherds." He did not say never kill anything. Next time your boss says you could be replaced by a monkey, I'd take it seriously.

 

[Gintaras]

When the ants pay rent then they can stay.

ants and other species live pretty well without that stupid human species invention: "money"

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

ants and other species live pretty well without that stupid human species invention: "money"

As long as you accept being bred for a particular job with no hope of changing it or advancement. Speaking of which, I need someone to do yardwork. I'll gladly pay you in the leaf mold of your choice.

 

[Gintaras]

Next time your boss says you could be replaced by a monkey, I'd take it seriously.

They do that already...in corporations and some other places....

human species got lately pretty fucked up..women replacing men...men becoming like a women...grown-ups becoming like a children - never seen 2 pretty old guys comparing their cell phones like kids compare toys in kindergarden?

 

[Cuda1447]

I live in a co-op on manhattan on the lower east side. I am on the ground floor and ever since sandy hit (lost power for a week) I have been plagued with freaking ants! Its better than roaches but still, if I drop a piece of food on the floor it will be swarming with ants! I have ancient wood floors with many crack in it and they run into them. How can I get rid of em without spraying toxic crap in the house? The co-op will only spray bomb the house but I have severe allergies and that crap is nasty. Other than obviously keeping the house clean, is there a good safe way to get rid of them and KEEP them away?

Ants suck bro. I lived in an apartment and the neighbors apparently moved out in the middle of the night one day. Few days later, ants everywhere. They must have left garbage out. They started to infiltrate our apartment. TONS of them, under teh floors. Creepiest shit ever. I fucking hate ants. I killed millions that night. I went all around the apartment complex spraying ants everywhere. Since that day I've had a personal war with ants. If I see them, I fucking kill them. I don't care if I'm at someone elses house, at a business or in my car. I fucking kill ants every chance I get. Get spray. Get lots of spray. Get ant traps. Get ant killing shoes. Gear up for war, cause ants fucking suck.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

They do that already...in corporations and some other places....

human species got lately pretty fucked up..women replacing men...men becoming like a women...grown-ups becoming like a children - never seen 2 pretty old guys comparing their cell phones like kids compare toys in kindergarden?

So, when did you lose interest in being human?

 

[bononos]

Well, I put some terro out yesterday and they are feasting heavily on it. Ill report back with results in a couple of days. Thanks for the tips. Ill buy some boric acid powder and make some lines. I am hoping its only a couple of nests. It is an apartment after all.

Terro (and other products using boric acid or borax like niban or antrid) is excellent for ant control. The thing is not to place the baits all over the place but btwn your apartment and the nest, preferably closer to the nest if you can find it (just follow the trail). If you place the bait in your house, the ants might make another nest in your apartment.

Like many other posters I've had success with Terro, but the ants would always come back after a few weeks and I could never find how they were getting into the building. The long term solution was to buy a giant container of boric acid powder and lay down a thin strip on one path that they always followed under my radiator.

They don't eat the pure boric acid like the Terro, but they pick enough of it up by walking through it that it kills them later. Since I did that I haven't seen a single ant. I'm not sure if it kills the scouts before they can lead the others back, or if it has some repellent properties, but it definitely works.

Of course this strategy will only be practical if you have an out of the way area that you know is near the entry point where you don't mind leaving a bit of boric acid. My understanding is that it's particularly harmful to humans.

If they came back after a few weeks, there might be other nests around or the queen wasn't killed and took the time to build up the nest again.
You could use lime powder (not hydrated lime powder) which will kill and deter insects and is much safer than boric acid powder. BA powder isn't very hazardous but it shouldn't be used indoors if it could be swept up by moving air and breathed in.

 

[Gintaras]

So, when did you lose interest in being human?

I'm more into birds...but humans are kinda interesting species...

There are lots of sources about humans on the net...

btw, humans invented better things about self-extermination - guns, nukes than against ants...
ants...they just go to some other place...where do humans go, after guns or nukes are used?

 

[jteef]

i spray concentrated bifenthrin around the interior and exterior walls of my house twice / year. I've never seen a living insect within my house and I live in a marsh in Florida.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I'm more into birds...but humans are kinda interesting species...

There are lots of sources about humans on the net...

btw, humans invented better things about self-extermination - guns, nukes than against ants...
ants...they just go to some other place...where do humans go, after guns or nukes are used?

Ants also don't care if a few million workers die. The queen just churns out more. Birds are nice although I prefer the ones that taste good. People have a choice in what they do, insects and quite a few animals don't. I like having a choice.

 

[T9D]

I would like to point out that these are Argentine ants no doubt. They are horrible invasive species that shouldn't even be here. they destroy many many other species of native ants. The native ants (usually a lot bigger) are more beneficial to the native environment. It's hard to even find native species anymore in areas where these terrible and annoying Argentine ants take over. The more you can get rid of the better for nature.

 

[Sinsear]

Advion Ant Bait Gel made by Dupont

Works better than Terro. It's what the professional exterminators carried and used when they came to my house a few years ago.

I purchased my own stash, and when i get a small incursion after heavy rain, etc it wipes them in 24 hours.

 

[Gintaras]

I like having a choice.

You don't have Choice...neither had over 100,000 iraqi people invaded from US(american ants...)...

Go to youtube > George Carlin...and you'll find out everythng about "choices" you would want to know and to find out that you have no choices...Of course, if you have brains and you can think...

Ants aren't that poisonous that humans are...

Don't cheer that you today are ON YOUR SIDE OF THE FENCE, because next day might be not your day....

 

[randomrogue]

1 Daddy Long Legs will probably take care of all of them. When you're cleaning your place make sure you get rid of the food but leave the spiders.

 

[RossMAN]

Advion Ant Bait Gel made by Dupont

Works better than Terro. It's what the professional exterminators carried and used when they came to my house a few years ago.

I purchased my own stash, and when i get a small incursion after heavy rain, etc it wipes them in 24 hours.

Thanks for the suggestion, tagged for future reference.

It has great reviews as well.