ants in the house...

[cedarblue]

at the moment about 6 red ant nests have appeared on my lawn. the only reason it bothers me is that we like to run about in the garden in the summer and dont want to get bitten - also have one child who freaks out at the sight of them.
now i dont want to be horrid but i usually squeeze lemon juice over them and they retire to another garden but this time they are sticking it out and have stayed put...advice anyone please?

[lolamako]

Ive heard that sprinkling cinnamon around where you dont want them works. I havent tried this yet....

[mmclean]

Mint tea bags!

place them where you see the bugs, especially ants.

works for me!

[Roxy]

My mohter-in-law places her used coffee grounds in the areas that she doesn't want the ants and it seems to keep them away. Aparantley they don't like the acidity or something.

Roxy

[cedarblue]

thanks all, will work through suggestions and see which my 'buddies' hate most!

[phillip888]

I had a real problem with tiny ants invading my kitchen last week. I was cleaning so I had to get them out or I would end up squishing them. They were about 2mm long, so it was really hard to remove them. I went to put my dishes away after dinner later and found three of them dead on my counter. I know that they die just because they are so fragile, but I still feel horrible when I am the cause. I do usually just let them live out their life but remove obvius food sources so they'll leave, but this time I messed up. When I build my new house it's going to be very insect resistant be design, so hopefully there will not be to many issues. BTW I have the wierdest spider on my door. It's leegs are translucent like little stalks of glass. Very cool looking.

Oh, and afraid of spiders? why, only a few can hurt you. I was bitten by a black widow last year, and I still can't fiind a reason to be afraid of something so helpless. They so tiny, you are the danger, not them.

[firejuggler]

I had an ant invasion this summer ans of course I did not want to kill all the lill guys so I took some advice form an old artical in the vegan mag.

Sprinkle lots or essential peppermint oild down - the ants don't like the smell, they moved house in about 3 days

[tails4wagging]

Hi, I too will not kill anything, but last year I had, suddenly an ants nest come alive (flying ants with them) running up my wall into the house. What could I do a friend gave me ant killer which I had no choice but to use as they were running everwhere around my dining room, thousands of them. I felt so awful doing it.

This year I sprayed the area outside. as a precaution before the ants appeared. No sign of them this year.

[Mystic]

We had a storm last night - A BIG storm. Now there is a huge ant invasion in my kitchen! What the hell should I do - they invaded my boyfriends peanut butter and they are crawling all over my bananas and jars of dried fruit!!!!!!

[snivelingchild]

That stinks. I had an invasion like that a few months ago. Put the food their on in a bag and put in on the ground outside, away from the building. Try to spare some food in a jar (like if you're almost out) to put in thier path to draw the rest to it to put them outside. Are the currently coming in through a window or door? If so, put paprika across the path, and they'll stop coming in. Good luck!

[tails4wagging]

I had that problem a couple of years ago, they invaded my dining room. I panicked as I did not want to kill them, so I hoovered them up and emptied the bag in he bin. Hopefully most survived. terrible dilemma.

[firejuggler]

We had a storm last night - A BIG storm. Now there is a huge ant invasion in my kitchen! What the hell should I do - they invaded my boyfriends peanut butter and they are crawling all over my bananas and jars of dried fruit!!!!!!

Relax Banana if this Vegan and non-evil method does not work I will eat meat again.....

I had an invasion of ants some many I thought they had their own legions of Roman Armys.

All you need to do is go to a shop that sales essential oils by a couple of bottles of peppermint oil.

Step 1/ take some kitchen towl and cover it in the Peppermint Oil leave it near the ants entrance.....this should start to make them leave.

Step 2/ If this method is proving slow take a small dish of or old CD case and put lots of drops of peppermint oil on it, leave it at the point the ants come in.

Step 3/ If you have an essential oil burner, add a little water and lots of peppermint oil, then of course light you tea light for your oil burner, as soon as it heats up you will have strong smell of peppermint oil, keep this going all day if you are in.

As a last resort sprinkle the oil all over the areas the ants are coming in.

This does no harm to the hants, they hate the smell of peppermint oil, it will drive them away, If the ants are coming in through a hole once they have gone fill the hole with expanding foam of silicon to stop them returning.

You will need to keep up with this for about 7 - 10 days.

It will work if you keep up the work...I had 1000s coming my place last summer.

Remember it must be pure peppermint oil, with no additives.

[gertvegan]

The Feeling Antsy article from Joanne Stepaniak may help. So might many posts in THIS thread.

[mattd]

So we've got a slight ant problem. I'll clean the kitchen really well after cooking, but the past few days there's been ants along the back of the counter (not alot, probably just about 10-20 ants). Anyone know of any good tricks to keep them away? I just read that it's good to spray vinegar where they like to walk around, so I'm trying that. Just wondering if there are any other suggestions in case that doesn't work.

[SeaSiren]

I have them too. They seem to come into the house every Spring. We had a heavy rain last evening and they were on my counter, in the bathroom, and by the front entrance! It's so annoying....so I need help too!

Oh yes....the kitchen and bath are spotless, I do not leave food out except for a basket of very fresh organic fruits and they don't seem to be interested in it.

[tails4wagging]

Scatter talcom powder along the edge of the counter and anywhere where you think they are coming in.

If you find the nest, keep disturbing them by racking it up they will then move on.

I had a red ants nest in the lawn once, so I pushed a stick in the raised mound they had made a couple of times and they left.

[Realfood Mary]

at the moment about 6 red ant nests have appeared on my lawn. the only reason it bothers me is that we like to run about in the garden in the summer and dont want to get bitten - also have one child who freaks out at the sight of them.
now i dont want to be horrid but i usually squeeze lemon juice over them and they retire to another garden but this time they are sticking it out and have stayed put...advice anyone please?

Peppermint! Ants hate the smell of essential oil of peppermint and if you plant peppermint in the garden they will all run away. Squeezing peppermint on them might hurt them though. They breathe through their shells I think, and it might burn them when they are trying to breathe.

[screamingcarrot]

I have a dilemma. in recent weeks we seem to have huge numbers of ants scuttling about in our kitchen. we have tried to dissuade them by keeping the kitchen extra clean and not leaving crumbs or anything sweet lying around..but it seems to be getting worse.

my omni boyfriend squishes them . i used to carry them outside and put them on the grass but if i keep this up its going to turn into a full time job!

i dont want to murder them by poisoning them or by crushing them as they are just trying to get by and survive like everyone else..

any suggestions? is there a natural ant repellant that might keep them away without killing them?

[rujoon]

Well, I m gonna give u a suggestion which u may find totally insane and may think I m a lunatic ..
But this method I have tried on ants b4 it did work once, they went away for a while but later they did came back, however this may be because I did not do it with sincereity.
Anyway, the method is: To TALK to the ants and ask them to kindly leave ur house. U have to treat them as if u r talking kindly to a human being. Discuss the situation u r facing with them and give them a few days to find a new home, tell them to convey the message to their queen. My batch of ants went away shortly after I talk to them within the time I gave them to move out and it really works.

Lets hope u wun find me a lunatic..hehehe

[lolamako]

to get rid of ants, sprinkle cinnammon around where thier at(i.e pet food, pantry etc). I swear it works wonders.

[caribbeanvegan]

I've recently moved into my own apartment and have noticed some uninvited guests invading my home....little black ants! The little buggers have already caused me to throw out my brown sugar, my black stap molasses and the last of my whole wheat flour.

So any suggestions as to how to get them to avoid my apartment.

I've cleaned out all my cabinets and put everything that isn't totally sealed solid in the fridge. But is there anything non-harmful chemical based that I can use to keep them at bay?

[Seaside]

Ants won't walk across petroleum jelly. If you can find where they are coming in, and put a good sized blob in front of it they won't cross it. It will keep them from invading hummingbird feeders full of sugar syrup, so it ought to keep them out of your apartment. Peppermint oil is supposed to work well too.

[caribbeanvegan]

Intersting, thank you. I have never heard of that. Unfortunatley they are coming in EVERYWHERE!!! I have them in every room, coming from every window, door and crevise. But I will certainly give your suggestion a try...

THANKS!

[luvzsunshine]

When I came home today there were ants all over the outside of my apartment, inside my apartment and all over my dog's food. What can I do to get rid of them??

[veganwitch]

Kindly ask them to leave the premises

If that fails, find out where they are getting in and try to block up openings. There are natural things you can put across line of entry that are supposed to deter them, but now I forget what they are. I seem to remember lemon juice and black pepper. Not together. Sorry, I am being no help whatsoever!

We have ant problems too. For the most part we just coexist. My husband escorts them outside on a regular basis. They don't get into our food though....we seem to have an understanding.

[Xenius13]

There are natural things you can put across line of entry that are supposed to deter them, but now I forget what they are. I seem to remember lemon juice and black pepper.

Ground cinnamon works quite well. Just sprinkle it on the floor where they are trying to come in.

Also, have you tried putting dog's food in a dish the ants can't climb into?

[Maisiepaisie]

Just read through this thread to get some ideas for ant repellent but what about the ants already inside? I've been trying to scoop them up and into a jar but they keep escaping. I don't want to kill them but what can I do? There's loads in the living room

[abrennan]

In the past I have blocked holes and cracks and cockroaches and ants not finding their favourite holes have gone somewhere else.

[Maisiepaisie]

I've put paprika down and later I will buy some peppermint oil and something to seal the hole. Maybe I will just leave the ones that are already in as they don't really do any harm do they? Anyone know how long they live?

[Nest]

I find eucalyptus oil to be a very effecive deterrant - ants can't stand the smell. They just go back out the way they came in.

[emmy]

i wasn't sure where to post this...please feel free to move it if there is an appropriate section!

we have ants coming into the house, and no amount of coersion with sugar etc outside is stopping them!
is there an ethical way of "getting rid of them" without actually killing them or needing to do anything that may harm them?
it's not really a huge problem as yet but obviously we don't want to be overrun!!

thanks for any suggestions in advance!!

[Lorrs]

Fill a spray bottle with 50/50 water and vinegar then spray the surfaces, they don't like it and should go elsewhere.

[cedarblue]

if you can find the holes outside or inside where they are running into or out from, drop some peppermint essential oil or other strong smelling one around the hole, they dont like oils much either, or wipe around with a cloth with oils on.

[herbwormwood]

It depends on what sort of ant you have and how many. If the ants are small and brownish black and there are just a few I would be inclined to ignore them.
Make sure there is no food lying around, as this encourages them, regularly clean floors and woodwork with water which has had eucalyptus oil in as they dislike this.
Stop up all gaps to stop them getting in.
They are more active at this time of year (well, usually summer but we seem to be in the summer already in UK) and go dormant in winter. Hot dry weather suits them.
If you see them swarming (don't ask...you'll recognise a swarm if you see one!) you proably have a nest somewhere near.
The only sure way to get rid of them if they have a nest in your house is to move or destroy the nest.
Here's a page from your council on ants...
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/envheal...llery/ants.htm
If the nest is outside just observe the precutions above and all will be well. No need to disturb them. Some ants are protected by law because they eat pests.

[Risker]

Not sure how accurate this is but I've heard that ants won't cross a line of salt.

[Purple]

I tried paprika. The ants wouldn't cross it but they kept finding a way around, up the wall and under the counter and around

My landlord's just gone and bought some ant killing stuff, I'm currently sat here in tears


I want to move out.

[emmy]

neither vinegar or paprika worked for us.
they're fewer in numbers now so we've given up and got a bit attached to the select few friends. we've named them Colin, and Colin....and Colin...
i think peppermint oil sounds like the next attempt!

(ps thanks for moving my post, i imagined this wouldn't be a unique problem!)

[Maisiepaisie]

Peppermint oil really does work very effectively. I used it last year and most of the ants left. I let the rest of them stay until they died as they don't do any harm that I can see. This year I decided to take preventative measures before they set up residence. I dripped peppermint oil across the doorways and outside edge of the house. Although I've seen them outside, none have ventured into the house.

[Holly78]

Apologies if this isn't in the right place - I put it here because there was a thread along similar lines about a wasps' nest.

About a week ago I came home and found a load of ants in my hallway. It was my fault - I left a pear in a bag - which my rats (unbeknownst to me) starting eating, hid and then left. Obviously that must have attracted the ants.

However the pear etc has been thrown out and I have cleaned the carpet and all around the door etc with disinfectant but the ants keep coming in. They can get in under the front door so my only real option is to discourage them somehow. Last night there were some in the kitchen and I really don't want them getting into the kitchen cupboards. Any ideas how I can get them to out and stay out?!

[Marrers]

Not sure if you have tried any of the ideas in this article?

I haven't tried it myself but heard that putting a food source (like a blob of jam) on their route, where they come in, would keep them from going any further - then you just keep moving the food source further and further away til the ants are well away from where they were causing the problems.

[Crafterga]

I put peppermint oil around where they were coming in and it stopped them immediately! I advised a friend with an ant problem to try this...she had no peppermint oil so she used toothpaste! A bit more messy, but she reckons it worked!

[Holly78]

Thanks both - and to whoever moved my thread! Lots of tips here and I will definitely give the peppermint oil a try.

[journey]

On the warms days, I've been getting a few small ants in the kitchen, more and more each day it's really warm, despite cleaning well after I saw them, using a vinegar wash.

Any natural solutions? I've heard rosemary oil works? anything else?

[twinkle]

First of all, find out where they're coming from

I found a multi-pronged solution works best...

Try to make a line of stuff they don't like where they're coming in - I've used paprika and mint (maybe cinnamon as well - basically anything I heard they didn't like) across my door threshold where they were coming in.

Pick up any ants that are already inside on a piece of paper and take them outside, and get rid of any ants near where they're coming in, as they follow trails of other ants. Then get a plant mister, or something else with a fine spray, and spray vinegar over the area so they can't follow the existing trails.

Hopefully this will work.

[Frank]

Peppermint oil works for me.

They will not cross the line I lay down.

Citronella works well for flying insects too.