Getting serious with ants nests

[gadgetman]

Does anyone have any good tips for getting rid of ants nests? 

 

Spent a fortune on powder and sprays but the nests are still active. 

 

They're on flower beds and the lawn of the house I'm renting, so solutions which don't kill plants and grass is what I'm looking for. 

 

Just dosed the mounds again with hot water. Seems I have the entire world's population in the garden 

[octyal]

Boiling soapy water usually works best. You can also use boric acid, orange peel (?) or vinegar even. Failing that, jab a spade or a fork in there, they will soon move once disturbed

[sdenny]

I was talking years ago to a council pest control who were dealing with some wasps for me. I mentioned ants and was told that bendiocarb was the stuff to use, but the stuff that you or I could buy was not concentrated enough.

 

Fortunately for me, a packet of this (http://www.pestfix.co.uk/bayer-ficam-w-bendiocarb-wettable-powder-insecticide.asp) fell out of his van as he left....

 

However, as a general rule, i dont find the diy stuff too bad - the issue is that unlike wasps, typically there are multiple entrances, so it's difficult to get them all. If you can dig up and mix the powder in as you dig, it can work better

Edited 28 July, 2017 by sdenny

[john999boy]

Nippon liquid sachets work well for me.

[MickA]

I use the ordinary ant powder but I disturb them first which seems to work. Trouble is they come back every year same places, they get done again.

 

In other news I watched a slug get it this morning, good old salt.

[gadgetman]

Thanks all. 

 

Dosed each sandy soil spot identifying an entrance with 2 litres of boiling water nixed with a tea spoon of washing up liquid. 

 

Also done a few additional areas where there's no grass and it looks like they're working their way out. 

 

Dosed as well with some powder which I was able to cover all the exposed tunnel entrances. 

 

Hopefully that'll do the trick. 

[Aspman]

[VWD]

ANTS entering house can be deterred with talc( cheaper the better) ,as it contains boric acid, which they do not like. Ants in the garden not causing problems, I tend to leave alone ,as they will scavenge most  problems. Ants under paving slabs, I dose with a cheap talc. What might work is to dissolve cheapest talc in hot water and pour into nest entrances. In hottest Africa, where the ground was hot sand ( and dry) , if I got problems with a nest, I'd pour a cup of petrol down hole, wait a few minutes to let it vaporise, then drop in a match. BOOM- end of nest. But in UK -I’ve tried it and it won't work as ground is too wet.

.

[mac11irl]

Little baxturds ruined our house :( mostly as i got sick of them last year and ripped out all the skirting boards, had the wallsdosed by an exterminator, Filled all the holes in plaster work, powdered the room borders and replaced all the tiles and skirting boards...

 

 

Theyre still in the garden but nippon powder has kept them out.

All you can do is keep powder baiting them until they eventually draw enough into the central nest (ie the queen(s)) to kill themselves off

[mac11irl]

I have read that the mild winter and spring has meant a surge in populations as a lot more survived from previous seasons than usual

[Auric Goldfinger]

 

 

You could fatten this beast up on ants then eat it.....................

 

 

Edited 29 July, 2017 by Auric Goldfinger

[P6bJOHN]

Try this.

 

[VWD]

1 hour ago, mac11irl said:

Little baxturds ruined our house :( mostly as i got sick of them last year and ripped out all the skirting boards, had the wallsdosed by an exterminator, Filled all the holes in plaster work, powdered the room borders and replaced all the tiles and skirting boards...

 

 

Theyre still in the garden but nippon powder has kept them out.

All you can do is keep powder baiting them until they eventually draw enough into the central nest (ie the queen(s)) to kill themselves off

Advice I give is from FCO leaflet to UK diplomatic staff on tour to countries where ants are a problem- "dose the access sites with cheap Talc( cheapest stuff has highest level of Boracic Acid ) ,. Ants don't like this and will not cross it. Few years ago, in UK ,I had ant problems inside my house, PARTICULARLY LOUNGE. I lifted carpet on the wall side, and laid Talc. Eventually, I found the ingress point, which was dosed around the holewith cheap talc,from the inside- NO MORE ant ingress. You DO NOT NEED expensive & dangerous chemicals- Talc contains the ingredient that ants don't like= BORAX.

Edited 29 July, 2017 by VWD

[sdenny]

1 hour ago, P6bJOHN said:

Try this.

 

"No Ants were hurt in the name of Art"