Getting Rid of Ants Yourself
Finding ants in your home can be a sign of infestation. This can be
very damaging and pose some health hazards. However, you can try to
eliminate the threat yourself before calling a professional pest control
agency and save some money. There are a few steps to go about if you
want to get rid of the ants yourself and obviously, the first step is
finding the source of the problem – the nest. It is also important to
note
 that
there is always a possibility of more than one nest and you will need to
find all of them out. In the case that you leave even just one nest
intact, the ants will just rebuild and the problem remains unsolved.
Finding the nests can be tricky but if you have watched ants as a kid,
you might have observed that they always travel in two lines. Those two
lines move in opposite directions like a highway and one line travels
from the nest to a food source while the other line carries the food
from the source to the nest.
After you have found and located all the nests, the next thing to do
is to drill several small holes near the ants' nest. Be very careful
when you drill the holes, as you do not want to damage the building
structure in the process. After the drilling, you may now proceed to the
actual termination process of pouring insecticide acid into those holes.
When the ants get into contact with the acid, they will be killed by it.
If you do not have insecticide, you can try using vinegar or boiling
water. They might not be as effective as insecticide acid but they work
pretty well. If you opt for water make sure to use boiling water and not
just hot water. Some ants will come together and form a huge ball or
raft that is able to float on the water when they sense increased water
levels in their nests.
You will also need to spray insecticide along the path used by the ants
as well. Ants might be social creatures but they do not follow each
other on purpose. Ants leave a pheromone trail as they venture away from
the colony to forage for food or when they are going to another colony
and putting insecticide on the trail will help to kill the escaping ants
or at least reduce the possible escapes routes for ants. If you do not
have insecticide, you may wash the pheromone trail away with soap and
water. If you feel that it is a bit difficult doing the pest control
yourself or just do not have time to do it, you can try baiting the ants
with cornmeal, wheat or rice flour. These are quite harmful to the ants
and they will eat them and carry them to their nests to spread further
damage. However, keep in mind that this is not a permanent solution.
Delaying pest control will only give the ants more time to damage
your property so if you cannot do the pest control yourself or just do
not have the time to do it seeking professional help is the best option. |
