Do you try to control/eliminate outside ants?

[Riverwolf]

I have not seen an ant inside this house in maybe 2 years.
That in itself is unusual here in western Oregon.
EVERY place I have lived in this valley has ants, and lots of them.
Outside is a whole other story.
Mostly the tiny "sugar" ants. By the millions.
Been here 3 years and used to use diff products to no real avail.
Now I mostly just watch them and squish them once in a while...

[seannx]

Every so often here in NorCal, usually in very dry or very wet weather, those little ants will come inside and start to explore for food. That’s one reason we never leave sweet food or fruits in the sink or on a counter. Otherwise, if the scouts find something, the numbers are quickly overwhelming, and killing them doesn’t make much difference. More just keep coming.

My Colómbian mother-in-law, a very helpful, loving, and resourceful person, showed me how placing a generous amount of either ground cinnamon or clove across their entry point into the house would stop them in their tracks. It works every time, smells great, and is non toxic to humans. While I don’t know for sure, I think it works by disrupting the pheromones and chemical scents they use for communication.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

I have not seen an ant inside this house in maybe 2 years.
That in itself is unusual here in western Oregon.
EVERY place I have lived in this valley has ants, and lots of them.
Outside is a whole other story.
Mostly the tiny "sugar" ants. By the millions.
Been here 3 years and used to use diff products to no real avail.
Now I mostly just watch them and squish them once in a while...

The little ones aren't that bad . . .

[ghostnote]

Outside, they can do what they want. All of our water comes from a well on the property, so we don't use any chemicals outside. No lawn fertilizer, nothing. (although I will fertilize my container garden once or twice a season) Inside, they are doomed - if there's an invasion, I'll spray something the first day, then leave ant traps out for awhile. This works well so far.

[Acousticado]

I don’t have an ant problem, but here are some natural ideas to try that I came across on the interweb...

Ant Control

It's hard to escape ants in spring.

And that's not a bad thing: Ants are important. They help decompose soil, can keep other insect populations down, and assist in the pollination process.

But when they get into your home, that can be a big problem. While they don't spread disease, sugar ants will gather around bits of food left lying around, and others -- like carpenter ants -- can cause structural damage to wooden homes.

Here are five natural ways to keep ants out of your home.

USE MINT

You can deter ants from entering your homes by growing mint outside your door or by spraying entryways with a mixture of peppermint essential oil and water. This may help keep other insects away as well, like fruit flies.

TRY VINEGAR

Ants don't like the smell of vinegar and wiping down surfaces with a 50-50 mixture of water and vinegar will help keep them away. As a bonus, this also works as a good cleaner.

One thing to keep in mind: Vinegar isn't safe to use on all surfaces, especially natural stone countertops. If that's what you have in your home, you may want to consider using ...

CITRUS AND TEA TREE OILS

Ants follow a scent trail, and spraying a mixture of citrus and/or tea tree oil around will eliminate throw them off track. Citrus oil also contains d-limonene, which is toxic to ants. But here's something to keep in mind: d-limonene is also toxic to cats, so you may want to consider something else if your home has feline occupants.

CLEAN FREQUENTLY

Ants love sticky surfaces and crumbs, so make sure to keep surfaces clean.

Once you've spotted one ant in your home, it's a good sign to start cleaning. Other tips include:

Storing produce in the fridge.
Throwing out overripe fruits and veggies right away.
Taking out the garbage regularly.

TRY CORNMEAL

There are a few articles on the web suggesting that cornmeal will kill ants because they can't digest it. Try sprinkling it near entry points or any areas ants may be congregating.

[Chipotle]

I once stopped an ant invasion into the house by finding their entry point and pouring salt over it. Probably a lot like the cinnamon or clove trick; something that's disruptive or displeasing to them that they won't cross.

Outside, I don't worry too much... except for the ones that had built a nest under a flagstone in my porch area and caused it to sink a half-inch with their excavation. That nest got the little poison granules they carry down into the hill with them....

[Big-E]

We get ants in the back garden where they nest under the stone patio, surfacing daily to go about their business. They rarely venture inside the house and on the occasions that they do, I usually manage to track them, find the entry point and block it up. It's quite fascinating each August when, for one hour in the year, they leave the nest "en-masse" to swarm and colonize someone else's garden/yard. I guess I've got too much time on my hands and should get out more

[catdaddy]

Where I live fire ants are ubiquitous. For those fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with this particular invasive species, they are notoriously aggressive in defense of their mounds (nests), have been a scourge to native wildlife- killing the young of ground nesting birds, mammals and reptiles, and deliver a venomous sting that leaves the victim with pustules that itch like the devil and can persist for days before resolving unless they become infected or the victim is allergic to the venom in which case you have a medical emergency.

My wife and I attempt to control the location of the fire ant mounds on our property by using a product called Amdro. There are more effective ant killing products, but Amdro is less toxic to other insects, pets and people so we prefer to use it. Generally, with treatment we can at least get the ants to abandon mounds that are close to our home and move to a more remote part of our 4 acre property where we're less likely to encounter them. But without a doubt the best results we've had in controlling them was when a pair of 9- banded armadillos made a home under our shed a few years ago. They cleaned out almost all of our fire ant mounds in just a few months. Unfortunately, they've subsequently moved on since then, but we're always hoping they'll swing back for a second stay as it didn't take very long for the fire ants to return.

[Bob Womack]

We have pets so treating indoors isn't too hot, but they also go out in the back yard where the invasion is worst. My wife uses a 50/50 mixture of sugar and Boraxo, that laundry booster power made of borax, and sprinkles the mixture along the foundation whee they enter. Gone! Until a rain, when a new application is needed.

Bob

[Methos1979]

Outdoors - no. We've roughly a quadrillion (estimated) tiny sugar ants that live in our back yard which is very sandy soil. They never come in the house so I pay them no attention.

However, I do wage an annual war with carpenter ants. The past few years I've gone professional and paid ridiculous money, relatively speaking. This year I just bought the chemical they use themselves. Just applied it today. Takes a few weeks but kill them all off.

The hardest thing is not killing them when you see them in the house. You need to let them go back to the nest as apparently they 'clean each other off' and that's what passes the insecticide along and kills them all.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by catdaddy

Where I live fire ants are ubiquitous. For those fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with this particular invasive species, they are notoriously aggressive in defense of their mounds (nests)...

I lived for a few years in the far SE corner of Colorado. We had fire ants. Once while working the oil fields I stopped to unlock a gate across the gravel road. Taking the time to light a cigarette, soon I felt a mild "sting" on my leg. Then another, then another... Looking down my entire leg was covered in fire ants including up both pant legs. Stripping naked and collapsing into the truck, I thought I was gonna die. I did get pretty sick.

[TBman]

We have an exterminator that comes around and sprays our foundation for ants and sprays powder under our deck to keep carpenter bees away. They're on retainer so if a problem suddenly appears they're out here in a day or two. Sometimes they will spray the ant holes in our service walk.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Outdoors - no. We've roughly a quadrillion (estimated) tiny sugar ants that live in our back yard which is very sandy soil. They never come in the house so I pay them no attention.

However, I do wage an annual war with carpenter ants. The past few years I've gone professional and paid ridiculous money, relatively speaking. This year I just bought the chemical they use themselves. Just applied it today. Takes a few weeks but kill them all off.

The hardest thing is not killing them when you see them in the house. You need to let them go back to the nest as apparently they 'clean each off' and that's what passes the insecticide along and kills them all.

Years ago we had a carpenter ant infestation in our master bedroom. We hired an exterminator, yet they kept re-appearing. They had nested somewhere but couldn't be found. My wife's cousin had married a guy that was with an exterminator company down in Florida.
I told him the problem and he asked - is your closet door near the infestation hollow? I said yes. He said, have the exterminator come back, take the door off drill, a hole in the top and spray inside the door.

That solved that.

[KevWind]

Outside no,,,, Far to many dead tree stumps Fortunately inside has not been an issue , maybe because of the stumps, ?????????

[KenL]

Back in Nebraska I would get the occasional invasion of sugar ants. I would spray the outside foundation of that part of the house with Sevin, the kind that you hook up to the end of the hose.

It worked immediately.