Re: HELP! The ants are drinking my coffee!

Oohh, I know what you're going through. My mom's old house was like that. It seemed there was no end to the suckers. Here are some tips that might help.

- Try getting one of those jars that seals with a rubber ring & a clamp kind of part that pulls the lid down tight. See if that keeps them out of your sugar.

- Mercola says Aspartame works: "Already aware of aspartame's origins as a toxic chemical, a health-conscious consumer with an ant problem emptied one packet of Aspartame in the corner of each of her bathrooms two years ago. The "sweet" solution worked brilliantly, as she's seen no signs of carpenter ants crawling around for the past year." Another one of those things that isn't good if you have pets around.

- Try to track down the nest(s) to get at the root of the problem. This website says:

"The most effective ant control results from the destruction of the queens and the nest itself. If the nest is found by tracking workers, or through a survey, eliminating that nest is fairly simple, particularly if it is located, as it often is, outdoors, or in the soil beneath a cracked floor. It is simply a matter of mechanically destroying the nest."

"Some infestations may require an intensive survey program using nontoxic baits to determine likely nesting sites. Good baits are jelly, honey, peanut butter, bacon grease, or raw liver. The baits (or a combination of baits) should be placed on small pieces of cardboard, aluminum foil, masking tape, or plastic pill bottle lids throughout the building and periodically checked for feeding ants. Active sites should be noted on a survey diagram. Baits that haven't had any feeding activity in 24 hours should be moved. Over a period of days the survey diagram will pinpoint areas of activity. In addition, trails of ants feeding on the bait can sometimes be followed back to the nest site."

Lots more info on that page.


http://greensmiths.com/ants.htm