Ant Problem

Thandie

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Nov 27, 2007
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I have bit of an ant problem (the tiny ants) in my apartment and wanted to know if anyone had any tips (preferably without using a lot of chemicals) on how to get rid of the majority of them.
I use the spray when I see a lot of them, but more the next day, have those little ant houses around the house, and my place is spotless.
Nothing is really working.

Thanks
 

korejdk

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Dec 29, 2006
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Ground cinnamon ! Sprinkle it around the window sills and doors. Grounded chalk or peppermint oil works too.
 

reese_in_va

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Feb 22, 2007
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can you find out where they are going?
I am assuming they are not fire ants....try to locate there 'nest' and spray the larvae (inside nest) if you can.
Ants do not like cucumber peels at all. They will feed on almost anything. Find out what there attracted to and remove it.
Your place may be spotless Thandie, but what is next door or 2 doors down?
Ants can travel pretty good distances.
We use "shakti 25 ec" when ants get out of control, this whipes them out, but there cousins and family keep coming to there funerals. Good luck.
"Shakti" is available at NB or other vet shops.
 

Thandie

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Nov 27, 2007
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I have no neighbours...it is a solo apartment on my landlords property.
Alot of trees around and my apartment is elevated at least 100 feet off the ground. cant see a nest?
I see them marching in my kitchen and bedroom window.

Will try all the natural recommendations.

Yes cousins and family I think come to attend the funerals lol
 

GringoCArlos

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Ant and Cockroach bait

Originally posted by Texas Bill:

#12 04-08-2008, 05:53 PM
Texas Bill
Gold Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,920




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boric Acid issafe to use if used properly.
Mix 3 tbs with 1 tbs flour and 1/2 tbs of sugar. add enough water or milk tomake a paste. Roll this out between two sheets of wax paper andallow tobecome dry andflexible. spread a very small quantity of it, about the size of a dime, around inside your cabinets and under the sink. the roaches, ants, and other insects will eate it anddie. The ants take it back to their nest and feed it to the queen and she dies obliterating the colony Bear in mind that there are TWO types of ants, Sugar ants and protein ants. This mixture takes care of both the pesky, stinging varments. I have used this mixture for over 60 years with great success. Got the formula from my Grandmother andshe never had either ants or roaches in her house.

Texas Bill
 

Lambada

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A few drops of trementina (the stuff used to fill your hurricane lamp) put in the water used to wash floors, surfaces etc is also quite effective. And the 'everything for 10 pesos' store on 12 de Julio has Chinese chalk, but wash your hands after using because it has a strong insecticidal.
 
some good controls

Add borax to sugar. The oft quoted concentration is 50:50 but if you start with that, the ants will not likely be too fond of it. Start with a much lower concentration of borax ? maybe 10% and very gradually increase it to 30-40%. The objective is to have the ants take as much borax as possible into the nest and they?ll take it if it is sweet. Put it where you see the ants or on the ant trails.

How about red chili pepper paste or hot curry paste? Spray it or mix it into a paste and put it on their trails. Tough on your cat or dog though.


Peppermint sprayed around the edges of your house and ant entry points will deter ants as will growing peppermint and other mints in your foundation planting. I caution you against this as you?ll quickly be over-run with mint instead of ants. But spraying a mint extract or heavy mint tea might help; as long as it leaves a minty smell behind it is strong enough
 
J

John Evans

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I bought the chalk as suggested by mrs lambada - it worked without even using it - i keep the packet near to any outbreaks and they just seem to bugger off
 

reese_in_va

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Feb 22, 2007
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peppermint sounds like a good remedy, but where can one find the plants? I would be interested to buy some.
I have used Chinese chalk, worked good for a day or two then the ants found another way to blaze a trail.
Since we are in the campo ants are a problem 24/7. I use the Shakti sparingly, diluted with 3 times the water instructed/ recommended and attack the fire ant mounds outside, digging them up with a shovel and spraying the larvae and winged ants primarily.
I think what Thandie has is the other kind of ant. These, in my experience, don't bite-sting. they are a bit smaller than the regular African fire ant.
Another remedy is sprinkling talcum powder (talco) on the nest if you can find it.
BTW-Thandie...
my apartment is elevated at least 100 feet off the ground
I can't help myself :) these must be flying ants you have :cheeky:
 

Thandie

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Nov 27, 2007
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Great suggestions!

Reese...LOL no they dont fly and thank goodness they dont bite but my house seems to be the party spot LOL.

But I will fix those buggers!

I saw a rat in the fruit tree right outside my window YIKES!
I pray to God the rats here dont fly and this one decides to fly into my kitchen window. lol

No but seriously (and dont make fun of me LOL) has anyone ever had a rat JUMP through the slits in their windows ?
 

leekiv

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Mar 5, 2007
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Nope not me but..................

I had this older lady tell me that she uses lemon juice around the baseboards etc to get rid of ants. i had a few in my basement so I squeezed a bunch of lemons,( as she said "has to be real none of the plastic lemons you kids use now":cheeky:). lol First I am far from a kid but she was like 95 so maybe I am, and second I only use real lemon. Anyway poured the juice into a sqeeze bottle and started spraying. Smells great and have not seen a ant in over 4 weeks. ;)
 

Lambada

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What exactly is Chinese Chalk?

The insecticidal agent is cypermethrin - see this thread

http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67620-ants-should-i-buy-anteater-2.html#post568007

I saw a rat in the fruit tree right outside my window YIKES! I pray to God the rats here dont fly and this one decides to fly into my kitchen window. lol

No but seriously (and dont make fun of me LOL) has anyone ever had a rat JUMP through the slits in their windows ?

Tut! Is this Rambo's daughter speaking? :laugh: Could easily have been a rat in the fruit tree or could possibly have been a fruit bat - murci?lago - (they do fly, ;) frequently they fly circuits so you get accustomed to ducking every minute or so, if your galleria is on their flight path).

Rats will slither through anywhere they want to go, rather than jump but yes they can jump. But if you have a dog inside they'll only do it once. Dominican street dogs are brilliant ratters. Thandie, once you move, assuming you're not paralysed with fear :cheeky:, the rat will take off pronto. They're not into socialising with humans.
 

DrChrisHE

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Jul 23, 2006
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I bought the chalk as suggested by mrs lambada - it worked without even using it - i keep the packet near to any outbreaks and they just seem to bugger off

We do this in drawers: keep packets of cinnamon and whole cloves. If you like the scent (I do) it freshens AND repels those pests.

For quick, relatively non-toxic knock down of counter swarms I keep a bottle of white distilled vinegar mixed with water, some cinnamon oil and GSE (grapefruit seed extract) in a spray bottle. If I do the whole stampede line, they don't come back for the funerals because the lingering GSE and cinnamon apparently tastes and smells bad to them.
 

Thandie

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The insecticidal agent is cypermethrin - see this thread

http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67620-ants-should-i-buy-anteater-2.html#post568007



Tut! Is this Rambo's daughter speaking? :laugh: Could easily have been a rat in the fruit tree or could possibly have been a fruit bat - murci?lago - (they do fly, ;) frequently they fly circuits so you get accustomed to ducking every minute or so, if your galleria is on their flight path).

Rats will slither through anywhere they want to go, rather than jump but yes they can jump. But if you have a dog inside they'll only do it once. Dominican street dogs are brilliant ratters. Thandie, once you move, assuming you're not paralysed with fear :cheeky:, the rat will take off pronto. They're not into socialising with humans.


Oh lord help me! Lambada I should not have asked but thanks for telling me the truth. Yes Rambo's daughter is a chicken when it comes to little animals that are not cats or dogs. lol
The Dominicans I know all laugh at me.
My policy is if they dont pay 1/2 the rent they are not welcome in my house. lol
I guess I will be closing all my windows cause I will never be able to sleep with visions of flying fruit rats coming to say hello to me.
Oh goodness! lol
I need a gun.
 

reese_in_va

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Feb 22, 2007
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Thandie if your that scared of these little critters maybe you can have a heavy duty screen put in your window? No sense in having the breeze cut off......you can get 1/4" X 1/4" mesh at the ferreteria.
 

Lambada

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Bats are not flying rats. If anything they are flying mice :cheeky: (heard of the Strauss operetta Die Fledermaus?). They are not out to get you, they will not dive bomb you to bite you. I seem to recall BushBaby picked up a bat from the garden in our old house in PP town centre- it had wing damage. We occasionally get a disoriented bat flying circuits inside our new house - even the dogs ignore them. They will eventually find their way out after their radar kicks in.

Rats will not be seeking you out either. Some people have them as pets.
How To Overcome a Fear of Rats | eHow.com

We've come a long way from ants! If you're worried about the lesser spotted Siberian mongoose..........;) don't be. We don't have them here. :)
 

bennymack

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Apr 12, 2006
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Can't find the nests? Unscrew your electrical outlets inside and outside. We found nests in several. Also we had friends whose computer crashed because it was infested with ants.

Good luck!
 

Thandie

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Nov 27, 2007
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Electrical outlets and in computers? Hahaha, never would have thought of that. Those little buggers will hide anywhere.