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Home Repair - - If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Otherwise look here.
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Posted by on July 25, 2006, 10:38 pm
wrote:
.
>West Coast. It's long been my habit to keep cake, coffee cake, bread in
>the fridge. Most people I know, if they keep sweet stuff on hand, keep
>it in the fridge. Roaches are another concern. I rarely see ants in
>the house = perhaps three times in 8 years here? Trash pickup is twice
>a week, everywhere here. Nobody uses paper sacks for groceries, or
>keeps newspapers and paper sacks around because roaches roost in them.
>They even like the glue on envelopes = there were roaches in my mailbox
>last week :o)
>
>
>About the same frequency I had them in the house up north, but that
>seemed always to be spring. During one very dry spell = a real drought
>- I saw really strange insect behavior. Couldn't have an open drink
>outdoors or hornets and bees would be after it. Had breakfast at an
>outdoor cafe during the drought, and small bees of some kind kept coming
>at my eyes! Had to almost eat with my eyes closed. Wierd!
I'm betwewn Ft Myers and Naples. I don't have the roach thing here,
just ants. Whever I do see some "american cockroaches" AKA palmetto
bugs I toss a pack of Combat baits around and I won't see another one
for a year. I do have plenty of reptiles here that like bugs so ants
are the only real thing without a predator.
We don't mind the anoles and the occasional tree frog in the pool
cage.
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Posted by Kyle on July 25, 2006, 2:03 pm
Steve wrote:
> What is the best procuct for getting rid of ants? I see a bunch around my
> kitchen window and sink, and I kill them, and minutes later there are more.
> They are the really small ones.
> I think they are in the walls. Do they live in the ground, and just travel
> thru the wall to the kitchen?
>
> I do keep my kitchen very clean, so it's not like there are food crumbs
> laying around.
It sounds like you are describing /monomorium minimum/, or the Little
Black Ant. You cannot hope to beat them, you can only hope to hold the
line. I know from experience. (I'm convinced that the entirety of North
America is just one large ant colony...guess I saw the 50s movie "Them"
too much!) These ants are looking for food and water, and when they
find it, they will come, oh yes they will. They're no fire ants, but
they are persistent as hell.
Seriously, your best bet is as follows:
(1) keep food areas clean - do not leave dirty dishes in the sink, use
a trash can with a secure lid, put food like cereals and sugars into
sealable containers, wipe your counters as you go when you cook
(2) keep wet areas such as laundry, bathroom, etc. dry as much as
possible; use exhaust fans, wipe up wet footprints from the shower and
the like, and don't leave water laying in the wash tubs or wherever
your clothes washer empties
(3) if you have pets, do not leave food in the bowls; wash bowls after
the pet(s) is/are done; keep any small quantities of dry food in
sealable containers and large quantities stored away from the rest of
the food in the house
(4) use indoor-safe barrier sprays such as those recommended in other
posts to spray door and window sills in high risk areas, spray along
kickboards of counters in kitchen and pull out your stove and 'fridge
to spray behind them as well; depending upon the potency of the
product, you may have to do this as often as once every couple months
(5) keep the area against the house clear of plants and plant debris;
cut away any branches that touch the house, and rake away dead matter
such as leaves, pine needles and the like (mulch might be OK)
(6) use outdoor high-potency barrier sprays around doors and windows
and hit any foundation cracks or other gaps in the house's integrity;
put down a 1-2 foot wide barrier of granules that the ants won't want
to cross
As others have mentioned, do not attempt to attack the ants at their
nest(s) - the holes in the ground or if you accidentally unearth part
of the colony. These bad boys panic so quickly when attacked that the
colony will split at the point of attack and you'll now have two
colonies with two queens to deal with instead of just one.
Good luck!
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Page 7 of 7 << first < 1 2 3
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