Apparently this is a big problem in my area due to the hurricane last year but we have got the *worst* case of itty bitty kitchen ants I've ever seen and I cannot seem to get rid of them.

We've been very very careful to not leave food or dishes on the counter or in the sink and I've even resorted to bleaching the counter because even with a freshly washed countertop they still seem to smell the food that was there before and they swarm the counter looking for it. I don't want to keep bleaching though because obviously it isn't the healthiest thing to do and also I just know I'm going to ruin an outift doing that...just a matter of time. lol! The spray cleaner I use is Dr. Bronners pepperment soap, borax, vinegar and TTO and as soon as I see them I drown them in it but this chasing ants is getting really stinking old.

This evening I did the dishes as soon as we got up, sprayed and wiped the counters and swept and mopped the floors. Then I took the kids to the playground for a few. We came back and apparently they had smelled food smells on the dishrag because they were all over the rag and near it. I slammed my hand down on the counter out of frustration and they scurred out all over the place. Disgusting. I've just had it with these stinking ants. Is there any possible crunchy alternative to try before I get a hotel room for a couple days and bomb the hades out of this house??? I can't stand bugs of any kind and especially not in my kitchen. ARGH!!!!!

We are in military housing and I called our housing manager which is how I found out everyone has this problem. She also told me there is no money in the budget for pest control and that technically it's our problem anyway. She said when she had them she just kept spraying Raid every day and eventually that got rid of them. I can't exactly do that with kids in the house though. *sigh* Help?

Terro, works pretty darn good, not perfect, but better than spraying Raid all over your kitchen. Peppermint oil & water in a spray bottle helps a little too. If you can find the trail...chalk it...

We've had issues too, they think it's normal around here & it's making me crazy...and we don't live on post we live in town!!!! ARRRRGH!!!

Originally posted by huskrkid
Terro, works pretty darn good, not perfect, but better than spraying Raid all over your kitchen. Peppermint oil & water in a spray bottle helps a little too. If you can find the trail...chalk it...

We've had issues too, they think it's normal around here & it's making me crazy...and we don't live on post we live in town!!!! ARRRRGH!!!


We used that (Terro) last year (much much smaller invasion) with *awesome* results but this year it's doing nothing. :( Dh was wondering if maybe it's potency had worn off. It was the same bottle from last year.
How do you chalk the trail? They are coming up the corner, across under the lip of the counter and then up onto the counter.

Peppermint oil works for me. Although it gets a little overpowering after a while. Makes me understand why the ants leave. ;)

Originally posted by AvalonMom
Peppermint oil works for me. Although it gets a little overpowering after a while. Makes me understand why the ants leave. ;)

*runs to the cabinet to grab peppermint oil* I'll let ya know how it works! I'm assuming I just stick it in the corners like the Terro stuff?

I've been using this with very good results:

http://www.orangeguard.com

Oh yeah, I've used Concern too...much like orange guard (found it while looking for orange guard) from www.wormsway.com.

You just draw a line where they are coming in at or as close as you can find & it messes up their trail. It at least deters them for a while & perhaps you can regroup & find another solution.

They are making me crazy too. I see them all over outside & it just burns me up!

We are having the same problem. We also have the regular ants that bite and they are everywhere. We get them every year, it's one of the few things I DON'T like about living in the country. We lost all of our food AGAIN (I think it's the 5th time). I threw everything in the pantry away and scrubbed the shelves with dr.b's peppermint and every time I open the door there is more. Last night I poured peppermint eo's all over the shelves and they are still in there. I've tried the chalk line and they cross it. They do not like cayenne pepper so I usually put that in the corners of the pantry. If you can find where they are coming in from, caulk it closed or use vaseline or unpetroleum jelly (whatever you have on hand) to seal it until you can caulk it. I'm also going to try diatomaceous earth, I got some from the hfs and the co-op sells it.

Thanks for the links, I'm going to try that as well.

Oh, I forgot to mention that my house smells like a peppermint bomb exploded here. LOL

Originally posted by Shannon
Oh, I forgot to mention that my house smells like a peppermint bomb exploded here. LOL

OMG I know! I pepperminted last night and just sprinkled dots of it *everywhere* on the counter and this morning I woke up and way back in my bedroom at the other end of the house it even smelled strong of peppermint. lol! Of course we still have ants. Less this morning but they are there. *sigh*

We had those tiny ants a couple of years ago. I didn't have any of the orange oil bug stuff on hand, so I just poured Citra-solv where they were coming in. We never saw them again.

Edited to add: To kill the ones that are already in your house, mix borax, sugar and water and put it where they will find it. That should work for the tiny ants, but if they don't go for sugar, use peanut butter instead of sugar and water.

Diatomacious earth is great to keep cats and other animals out of your garden .. it also kills slugs .. its great .. * nods*

I also put whole bay leaves and cinnamon sticks in our pantry and cabinets. Bugs do not like those smells ( supposedly ) but i have yet to see any bugs.. not even flour bugs

I also use the Borax, Sugar and water trick.. Also if you are going to use that try going out side too and finding all the hills near the house that you can and put some on them. The ants will carry the Borax laced sugar water into the colony and it will kill them all.

Also my grandmother recommended laying down a line of Borax anywhere where kids or animals cant get to it to kill bugs. but with kids i wouldn't recommend it. If you have an under crawl space instead of a basement then you might want to put a mix of diatomacious earth and borax to kill and or deter any other animals or bugs

Diatomacious earth is great to keep cats and other animals out of your garden .. it also kills slugs .. its great .. * nods*

I also put whole bay leaves and cinnamon sticks in our pantry and cabinets. Bugs do not like those smells ( supposedly ) but i have yet to see any bugs.. not even flour bugs

I also use the Borax, Sugar and water trick.. Also if you are going to use that try going out side too and finding all the hills near the house that you can and put some on them. The ants will carry the Borax laced sugar water into the colony and it will kill them all.

Also my grandmother recommended laying down a line of Borax anywhere where kids or animals cant get to it to kill bugs. but with kids i wouldn't recommend it. If you have an under crawl space instead of a basement then you might want to put a mix of diatomacious earth and borax to kill and or deter any other animals or bugs

Is there a particular ratio for the borax and sugar mix or do you just toss some together?

Originally posted by twiceblessed
Is there a particular ratio for the borax and sugar mix or do you just toss some together?

I was just going to ask the same thing.

I was going to order that orange gaurd for outside, but I think borox and sugar would be cheaper and I wouldn't have to pay shipping. LOL

i usually use about 50/50 ratio of sugar and borax and then add hot water and shake it up in an old juice jug .. until everything disolves then pour it over ant hills .. the more syrupy the mixture is the more the ants will sworm it

We live in SE Michigan .. Right now we are being invaded by huge black ants. They are getting on my nerves. I tried bait traps. Didn't work. I have bought a spray to spray the perimeter of the house and it seems to have helped. Another thing I did was find where they are coming in and sprinkle cinnamon everywhere. I have found a few but they have drastically died down since yesterday.
I was reading and it said that you can deter them from one spot but they will find another it's best to eliminate the nest with a dessicant or another poision. I don't have that so I have just bought myself some time for now. I plan to go to Home Depot and get some poision.

Good Luck. They say that Powder on the perimeter of the house is better than liquid. Just food for thought.

in my family lol.

Ok Im from houston, tx aka bug country and we had what we call 'sugar ants' in the kitchen and the bathrooms.

NO food in the bathrooms..i assumed it must be the soap and shampoo.

ok forward to when we moved to Santa Fe, NM where we now reside.

The dumb ants followed us!! I swear.

Ok here's the funny thing..
Everytime Id take a bath Id look in the bathtub and surrounding area for the ants. WHY? Because if they were in the tub while I ran the water Id be compelled to SAVE them.. lol sounds silly but I jus couldnt help myself.

Now we are living in an apartment waiting for my parents house (my son and I live w/them) to be built and NO ants..finally after what hmm 8 years of sugar ants off and on lol.

Im still the one that if someone finds a bug ..any bug Im like no dont kill it Ill get it and throw it outside.

except once there was a black widdow and my dad had to kill it =/

no help jus a lil story.

;cool: crunchy ladies, i envy you as Im only a wannabe.