How to Get Rid of Ants in the House

Ants are tiny creatures and can enter homes and buildings through minute cracks and crevices. To minimize this, seal around windows and doors and all cable, pipe, and wire entry points. Regularly inspect foundations for tiny cracks through which ants can gain entry to your home.

And keeping things clean of crumbs and storing foods in sealed containers will deny ants the foods they seek and eliminate the principal reason they come indoors in the first place.

An ant infestation isn’t the worst pest problem in the world, since most species of ant commonly found in the home do no real damage. The good news is that out of more than 1,000 or so classified species of ants, only a few species are likely to take shelter in homes, and even fewer are likely to sting or cause damage. The vast majority of ant species are garden dwellers that do more good than harm – such as aerating soil or controlling damaging pests such as aphids.

But ants roaming around inside the home are annoying, and they can sometimes spread unwanted bacteria. Varieties commonly known as carpenter ants can cause damage by burrowing through wood structural elements of the home.

The key first step in removing ants from the home is to identify the trails used by worker ants to move to and from the nest. Any visible ants moving inside your home are seeking food, and once they find edible material, the worker ant carries it back to the nest. By doing so, the ant leaves a chemical path, or trail, for its fellow worker ants to follow to collect more food.

This behavior is what makes it possible to combat ants, since you can now fool the worker ants into bringing some form of poisoned food (ant bait) back to the nest.

• Use ant baits indoors. Avoid the temptation to simply use pesticides to spray visible ants marching along trails inside your home. Pesticide sprays can eliminate a few visible ants, but more will quickly replace them, and you’ll never make real progress to eliminating the infestation. Instead, use these worker ants as the ticket into the colony by placing ant killer for them to carry back to the hidden nest.

Ant baits are edible materials, usually sweet, sugary carbohydrates, mixed with substances that are toxic to ants but which have minimal toxicity to animals or humans. Some ant baits are primarily made from boric acid, a natural substance that is non-toxic to humans when used properly.

• Use spray pesticides outdoors. If you happen to follow ant trails and identify an outdoor nest for the colony, then it may make sense to apply a heavy dose of liquid pesticide that can soak down to reach the queen. Drenching the nest with an approved insecticide spray (following all label directions) can be effective. Make sure, however, to verify that this is the colony creating your indoor infestation problem. Many types of ants are helpful garden creatures that you have no reason to kill.

• Keep things clean. Sanitation is critical for the prevention and control of any pest. Like all living creatures, ants need water, food, and shelter for survival. Ants leave the shelter of their colony to find food and water. Don’t make it easy for them. Keep foods sealed, floors swept, and all surfaces cleaned. Be especially careful to keep things clean while you are targeting the nest, as this will make the sweet ant bait the only thing available to the ants. But don’t clean away the ant trails until you have eliminated the infestation, as these trails will allow the ants to find your bait and carry it back to the nest. Once you get rid of the ants, clean up the trail surfaces and keep them clean.

If you want to avoid synthetic chemicals of any kind, there are a variety of natural controls you can try for eliminating and discouraging ants. Most of these are more effective at repelling ants than killing existing colonies, but they are worth trying before you resort to purchased chemicals.

Some substances that often work to get rid of ants include: vinegar, borax, herbs and spices, essential oils, coffee grounds, and cucumber or citrus peels. (www.