the chosen one

got a bad ant infestation in my kitchen, there not after anything it seems at the moment, there just coming from everywhere, there in the draws, cups, plates, dishes, everywhere! just being a general nuisance! cleaned the whole kitchen literally to make sure that they weren't going after any of the leftovers from food, tea etc but there still coming! anyone have a similar problem and what did they do to resolve it?

EddScott

We had a problem a couple of years ago - was like the cartoon with a long line from end of the dining room to the other.

The council should have a pest control unit who you pay £30 to get shot of them. We've got one or two now but its not an issue.

RichWalk

I got my esteemed friend Lord Wode in, he covered the entire kitchen in lemon curd, worked a treat on the ants, now have rather large wasp problem to combat

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

If you can get hold of some creosote, put a thin strip between the base of the house and the path/garden it stands on, all the way round.


After 3 days, no more ants.

Alcazar
PS: don't ask me why, but it DOES work.

the chosen one

yeah but the main problem isn't along the walls of the house its primarily within the kitchen, which is a real annoyance! especially is the mornings when you wake up to a couple of ants in your cornflakes! not a nice thing to swallow! might try the pest control idea. any other suggestions?

jjones

you can get an ant "trap" from b&w. it is a petri dish with some poison in. place it near the "ant run" watch the little bleeders you will soon spot the ant equivalent of the m40. place trap here and leave. the walk through it and then die later on, spreading ant aids to the rest in the colony. cheap and effective.

Tracey

We are having a problem at the moment too, they seem to be in the front room and kitchen. I just need to source where they are coming in though.

Ray_li

Same prolem in the kitchen at the mo but cant find where its coming from. Not loads but about 10 a day. did have loads the first day. Been going on for 3 days now.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Chosen one and Ray Li:

Mine were living in ther inner walls of the house, but the creosote still got rid of them. Try it and see.

Alcazar

scoobymoo

Had the same problem bought some nippon poison from BandQ and put it all over the place both in and outside the house. Its like sugar water and the ants love it (mine did anyway looked like a rugby scrum when they were feeding) they take it back to the colony and it kills the whole lot of them. Did not seem to be working at 1st but after a week they had disappeared.

speedking

Thought creosote was illegal now and therefore unobtainable.

Secto Ant Lacquer does a similar job. Spray an invisible barrier that the ants will not cross.

MattW

If you have lawns, check that they haven't nested in the soil. Especially where the grass may be long. I killed 8 nests in my back lawn last week, including a particularly nasty red ant nest.

They seem to be everywhere this year.

Goochie

I came back from Switzerland to find my kitchen full of them, another vote for Nippon ant killer here!

Powere for around the outside of the house and under floors/carpets etc and the "sugar water" tubed stuff for ant traps. Worked a treat.

For fast removal, Hoover them up but make sure you dump the bag in the bin immediatly afterwards, inside a platic bag containing Nippon powder

scoobybitch

we've always used something called deathlac in the house, it sticks to their feet and they take it back into the nest & kills them all off. If its outside we just find the nest and get a blowtorch.

Scoobydick

Or release a couple of anteaters in the kitchen.

the chosen one

yeah enjoyed destroying the ones outside, i used the good old lynx effect and a good old zippo lol, killing the b*stards inside is alot more harder though!

Stiff

Must be an epidemic! Got them in my kitchen too. Don`t see too many of them but found a little mound of fine gravel coming out of a gap between units. Hoover it, then next day it`s there again. Off to B+Q then.

the chosen one

wahoo they're gone!!!, burned the lil buggers alive lol

skoobidude

Hi mate

Had the same problem a few weeks back. Although we only found 2 or 3 on the worktop every day for about a week. By coincidence we had ordered a new kitchen which was delivered a week after spotting the first lot of ants. I took the old one out myself hoping to find a nest. Found nothing though.
Phone the local council and they will forward you a local pest control company. We paid £50. Sounds a lot but they have been 3 times for that. They found loads in the garden and patio area. They spray down a special chemical. The few that we had appear in the kitchen eventually disappeared! Li'l besteds!

Nick

ajm

Most of the time the ants will have originated from outside, depite it looking like there are alot in one place inside. The scouts leave a pheramone trail so their buddies can follow. This means that they can and will congregate some distance away from the nest, giving you only 2 effective strategies to defeat your formic foe:-

1) Locate the nest and destroy - liberal dusting of ant powder
2) Locate the path they are using to get in and intercept - e.g. dust powder around the threshold to doors, under window sills etc

People have said they have had success with ant traps, but personally I have found them to be ineffective.

Top tip.... come August when the ants come to fly make a note of where all the ants are emerging from. It will be very obvious as the soldiers will be seething around and the winged ants will be leaving en mass. Dust the little gits well to prevent as many flying (and inevitable procreating) as possible, then do the same spots again about now (May) next year. This way you will obliterate most of the colony for next season.

I had a patio literally full of ants and managed to get rid of most of them over a couple of years using this strategy.

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

Another vote for Nippon here too.. but also last weekend had a nest in the kids sandpit.. so I got the blow torch out.. soon sorted that out!