As the temperature falls, ants are more likely to show up in your home. Ants in winter often hibernate, but when they do not, they find human constructed buildings a perfect place to be. Here are some tips on preventing ants from entering your home and dealing with them if they do.
Keeping Ants Out
Blocking every possible way alone in won’t stop ants. Ants are tiny, determined creatures who can slip through gaps in your walls. However, you can make their lives more difficult by properly caulking windows, doors, and cracks. This will have the bonus side effect of lowering your energy bills.
Use Natural Deterrents
If you can’t block the way they get in, then spray lemon juice or a half and half solution of vinegar and water across their entryways. They don’t like the smell and it messes up the pheremone trails ants leave. This has the advantage of being harmless to children and pets (although dogs may not like the smell any more than ants do). Ants also generally dislike the smell of peppermint oil, capsaicin (hot pepper), coffee and baby powder.
Keep the House Clean
Ants come into your house for warmth and food. You can’t do much about warmth, but you can definitely reduce the amount of available food. Cover food sources properly, clean your counter and dining room table. Take the trash out every day.
Getting Ants Out
If ants are in your house or get in anyway, there are several ways to get rid of them.
Follow worker ants to locate a nest that might be within the building or immediately outside. Once you find the nest, spray the location with boric acid or dish soap. Bear in mind that boric acid is a toxin, so you will want to keep pets and small children away from the site.
Deter Them From Specific Places
Use the natural deterrents mentioned to chase ants away from food or out of the kitchen. If you’re in a real hurry, dish soap also works as a repellent, and you probably have it handy. You can also spray boric acid on worker columns.
If none of these tips on ants work, then it’s time to find a good ant control company, like Preventive Pest Control, that can deal with your ant problem for you.
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Top photo: Florida harvester ant teamwork! (Pogonomyrmex badius) by Bob Peterson, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 / resized from original