Those blasted ants!!!

[BilliGoatsGruff (Billi)]

A couple months ago we moved out of town onto a 2 acre property. It's lovely and quiet, plus the light pollution is a lot less than where we lived before. There's one problem though- there are tiny black ants EVERYWHERE! It seems the only place thet haven't inhabited is our house. The kids can't play outside unless they're under the verandah and it's a struggle for me to do the washing without a bit of Irish dancing.
I've tried chemical warfare which just results in less ants for a couple days and major guilts on my part. Are there any family and eco friendly methods that actually work?

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Originally Posted by BilliGoatsGruff

without a bit of Irish dancing.

Try Ant Powder from Bunnings .... works every time for me.

Col....

[noeyedeer (Matt)]

pour boiling water down their nest holes

[Greenswale (Wren)]

Napalm!

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

I had the small black sugar ants in my kitchen in LARGE numbers about 10 years ago. I tried ant powder and other chemicals to no avail. Then I cut off their food supply. They were chasing sugar so I put a plastic tray on the benchtop half full of water. Into that went a smaller plastic tub and into that went anything they might want to eat. Eventually, everything they were interested i was in the tray surrounded by a water barrier. Beyond that, I let them go about their business. It took several weeks but eventually the ants went away. They've never come back. I imagine they paid down some sort of chemical signature to say, "don't bother, no food here."

Joe

[PCH (Paul)]

Originally Posted by OzEclipse

I had the small black sugar ants in my kitchen in LARGE numbers about 10 years ago. I tried ant powder and other chemicals to no avail. Then I cut off their food supply. They were chasing sugar so I put a plastic tray on the benchtop half full of water. Into that went a smaller plastic tub and into that went anything they might want to eat. Eventually, everything they were interested i was in the tray surrounded by a water barrier. Beyond that, I let them go about their business. It took several weeks but eventually the ants went away. They've never come back. I imagine they paid down some sort of chemical signature to say, "don't bother, no food here."

Joe

So all she has to do is flood her yard, right?

[Atmos (Colin)]

From memory (my high school chemistry teacher mentioned this); break fluid, polystyrene and laundary powdered soap... spray that around your back yard and they'll never return... just wear a lot of protective clothing when mixing haha

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Originally Posted by Atmos

break fluid, haha

Break Fluid ....

How about ' Brake Fluid '

[Weird1 (Keith)]

Try sprinkling salt around where the ants are, lived up the country a few years ago and the darned ants got everywhere especially in the kitchen cupboards, sprinkled salt onto the cupboard shelves and left it for a couple of days, the ants left and we were able to clear out the salt,in two years that I lived in that place the ants never came back.

Cheers keith

[guipago (Geoff)]

1st trick is to ID the ants, what are they? If the chemical warfare works then repeat it every couple days till they get the message, as for the guilts, it's them or you. Don't use salt outside it kills grass, old punishment for your enemies was to "salt the earth" so nothing grows, for the nests, boiling water works depending on how many nests there are, but a 50/50 mix of water & ammonia works really well. If they are that much of a drama you might have to say 3 hail Mary's & get the place nuc'ed, for the time being spray gumboots with surface spray to keep the bugger's off, green methods don't work well if you really want get rid off them. No easy solution.

[AussieTrooper (Ben)]

Yep, ID the ants. If they are not native, you can wipe them out without 'the guilts'.
Might be worth trying to work out why they are there. Will you end up with a flying insect plague if they are gone.

Failing that, get an echidna.

[pmrid (Peter)]

We regularly get ant invasions out here - a rural location. They frequently signal rain coming.
I've found two ways of dealing with them.
To keep them out of specific places, I sprinkle some cheap talcum powder which gets under their carapace or whatever it is and they basically snadpaper themselves to death.
That keeps them out of my car/caravan etc.
Then there's the AntRid - a small squeeze bottle. You squeeze a few drops across the trail the ants are using in your house. The ants come and eat it in droves, take it back home to momma and the next day they're gone, gone, gone.
Watch out for pets of course.
Peter

[leon]

Your in the Country Billi, ants are your neighbors, at least they are little ones, try outback OZ then you will know what ants are like.

Leon

[Boozlefoot]

Borax. Now hard to get, but usually found in industrial cleaner aisle of your local hardware store. Usual chemical precautions, works like 40 mongrels!

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

You and me both Leon , its been calculated that there is on average 20 tons YES 20 TONS of ants per Sq kilometer in the NT , big buggers some up tp 20mm long that bite bad right down to the tiny <1mm Ginger ants that are attracted to the 60 Htz of our power supplies so get into anything electrical , switches , TV's , machinary etc , and kill them .

I use a combo of the 'Ant Rid ' and the 'Bayer Ant and Wasp Dust ' from Bunnings it's quite expensive but if you find their nest holes , and there are lots !!!! dust them and their trails , they also take it back to the nest on their feet and kill from the inside .
Some ants wont take 'Ant Rid' tho so just Nuke them !!!.

Takes time but you will get on top of them ,,, also don't feel the Guilt's !!!, they are only ants .

Brian. ,

Originally Posted by leon

Your in the Country Billi, ants are your neighbors, at least they are little ones, try outback OZ then you will know what ants are like.

Leon

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by FlashDrive

Break Fluid ....

How about ' Brake Fluid '

"break fluid" is code for a 12 year old scotch... and completely appropriate for this conversation

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by leon

Your in the Country Billi, ants are your neighbors, at least they are little ones, try outback OZ then you will know what ants are like.

Leon

...or, come to Tassie. We have two little delights, "Inchmen"; name says it all and its like being shot when one of those buggers bite.... and the "Jack jumper"; they swarm at you when you disturb a nest and their sting can be fatal.

I don't know which is worse overall but I got a Jack Jumper bite on a finger, and lost feeling to the elbow for a day... after the excruciating burning stopped that is. I leave them both alone until they get within 50m of home. Just two dangerous otherwise. My 16 y/o son got bitten by three Inchmen in one go and scored a trip to hospital

Echidnas love them both and there are a lot of Echidnas down here

[entity62]

Molten aluminum, fixes the little bliters, and make some cash on the way.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=a..._AUIBigB&dpr=1

Darrell

[BilliGoatsGruff (Billi)]

Originally Posted by leon

Your in the Country Billi, ants are your neighbors, at least they are little ones, try outback OZ then you will know what ants are like.

Leon

I promise I'm a country bumpkin, through and through. One or two little ones would be ok, but when the ground under the clothesline is a moving black carpet something seriously needs to be done

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by Boozlefoot

Borax. Now hard to get, but usually found in industrial cleaner aisle of your local hardware store. Usual chemical precautions, works like 40 mongrels!

Not that hard! Borax Decahydrate (104g/L) and Boron (11 g/L) are the active ingredients in AntRid (see my post below).
Peter