ANTS There are less than 20 species of ants that invade our homes, however, those that do invade our homes can be a real problem.
Some, like the thief ant, the pharaoh ant and the argentine ant like to get into food, especially sweet stuff. These are all small ants, ranging in size up to ? inch long. You can combat these ants with a product called Uncle Albert?s Super Ant Bait or TERRO. Follow the instructions on the container for the best results. And don?t keep killing ants when you are using these products. The ants carry the Bait back to the nest to feed to the larvae. This normally eliminates the entire colony, sometimes within several weeks, while at other times it may take several months. The time necessary to completely eliminate a colony depends on the size of the colony, so be patient. Other ants such as the carpenter ant don?t bother food, but will burrow in the wood in your home. They don?t eat the wood, they just chew holes in it to make their home. Since they don?t eat the wood you will always find saw dust where they are working. By the way, termites do eat the wood, so there isn?t any saw dust when they invade your home. You can get rid of these ants using ?Uncle Albert?s Super Ant Bait? but, when you use this product, STOP KILLING THE ANTS! Let the product do it's job. TERRO has worked on their products and they are effective again, so I can once again recommend their use for ants. Diatomaceous Earth or Rotenone dust spread around areas where you see these ants will keep them under control too. In new construction, it?s a good idea to put D. E. in between all the studs in the outside walls of the house before installing the plaster board. You should drop some down into the cement block walls of the basement before the plate is installed. This stuff keeps killing bugs forever. DE is over a million years old and still kills insects. In older homes, it?s a good idea to put some DE on the plate in the basement, that?s the board at the top of the concrete block wall in the basement that I just spoke of above. You should also put some in the walls where the pipes are under the sinks in the kitchen or bathroom. Just pull the metal ring away from the wall and put it in with a plastic mustard bottle. Get an empty mustard squeeze bottle and pry the cone top off, then cut the plug off that seals the cone shut when you turn it down on the cap. Now wash, dry and fill the bottle with diatomaceous earth, hold it with the nozzle down for a second then aim it and squeeze sharply. Works great as a dispenser. Back to the job at hand. Under the kitchen cabinets, in the kick plate, you should drill some ? inch holes, apply the diatomaceous earth and then insert some fascia plugs. Fascia plugs can be purchased from a lumber company in various colors to match your kick plate. Ants that you find coming up in the cracks between your sidewalk and driveway slabs, can be controlled with pure chlorine bleach. Just pour it right in the cracks and be generous It?s cheap. If your problem is with ants building mounds in your yard, you can eliminate them with Tide laundry detergent, powder or liquid. The basic formula is two cups of Tide in one gallon of boiling water. Stir until detergent is suspended in the water and you have a milky liquid. Depending on the size of the mound, you may need to mix up to five gallons to do the job. While you are waiting for the mixture to cool, take a shovel and scoop up the mound soil down to the level of the surrounding soil. Throw each shovel of soil with the wind, as far as you can, this way the ants you scoop up cannot get back to the colony to re-establish it. Ants travel by laying a trail of pheromones to find their way back to the colony. When you throw them, they don?t have a trail to follow back to the colony. When the liquid is cool enough to handle, pour it in a circular movement from the outside diameter of the mound base to the inside, saturating the soil thoroughly. You can wet the area down, after you pour the mixture on, with an equal amount of water. Never use more water than mixture, you will dilute the mixture too much and it will not work. Next cover the area of the mound with a plastic lawn or garbage bag and hold it down with some stones or pieces of wood. Tomorrow, you can pick up the plastic bag, the colony is dead. If you don?t feel like going to all of this trouble and would rather spend some money to do it the easy way, buy a bottle of Hot Pepper Wax Brand Insect Repellent. Saturate the ant hill after you level it as per the instructions above, with a 32 to 1 mixture. The next day hose the area down well. You may need to repeat the process again two days later, to completely eliminate the colony. You can make a good killer ant bait as follows: 1 cup warm water ? cup sugar 2 teaspoons boric acid Some cotton Mix the boric acid and sugar, then dissolve them in warm water. Soak some cotton in the mixture and place it loosely in a screw top container. (a small baby food jars work great.) Put the lid on tightly and punch several ? inch entrance holes in the lid so the ants can reach the bait. The ants will take the bait home for food, thus killing the colony over several weeks time. A very good spray for ants around the outside of the house, is insecticidal soap. You can purchase this at any good Lawn & Garden store or Nursery. Just follow the instructions on the container, as to the mix, and spray. Remember, nature never lets you win the war, only some of the battles. When you realize that you have gotten rid of all of the ants, be prepared, new ants will move in shortly, maybe not this summer, but soon. Keeps life interesting doesn?t it? By the way, ants have three separate and distinct sections to their body, the head, the thorax and the abdomen. The thorax and abdomen are attached by a thin hair like waist. Termites on the other hand, have three sections that are not so separate. Their head, thorax and abdomen are all connected. There isn?t any hair like waist or neck. Most ants will either bite or sting you if you disturb them. Others just emit a foul smelling secretion when annoyed. They vary quite a lot in their habits, some are carnivorous, some are scavengers, while others eat plants. http://asktrapperjohn.com/topics.htm ------------------------------------ Send any questions regarding list management to: [email protected] To listen to the show archives go to link http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 Or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/JAWS/handyman/ Visit the archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ If you would like to join the JAWS Users List, then visit the following address for more information: http://www.jaws-users.com/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [email protected]! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
