Ants in the Pantry
By GreenMoo
@GreenMoo (11833)
April 30, 2013 5:41pm CST
We've got ants in the kitchen again, and whilst I wait for the measures we've put into place to take effect, I'm fighting a losing battle to keep them out of jars. It astonishes me how they can get through a well fitting lid into a glass jar.
I found myself sieving them out of some cordial earlier. Yuk! but the honey was too grim so I ditched it.
If you found ants had got inside foodstuffs in your kitchen, would you automatically throw that item out? What items would you keep? Would cost make a difference, or it being homemade? I'd be far more likely to try and fish invaders out of something i'd made myself. i'd hate to throw all that hard work away!
1 person likes this
7 responses
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
30 Apr 13
Ewww I hate ants, they make my skin crawl, there is a product called borax which is very effective in getting rid of them indoors, outside I will boil a kettle up and pour it on them. Any food that has had any bugs on it, I won't take the risk, it gets put in the compost bin.
@BarBaraPrz (47662)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
30 Apr 13
I'd be straining them out of my cordial, too, if I had some...
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
1 May 13
I'd see if the ants were edible, if they were, they'd be in trouble.
Peppermint oil around the outside of your house before they invade is good. REminds me, I need to buy some. Otherwise, I'll have the same problem. Already got a mouse problem because my cat is going on 22 yrs old.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
1 May 13
21 for a cat is how old in our years? He's too old to be hunting. He still tries, but they're too fast for him now. No, I'm not mad at him, he did well until he hit 19 years old.
Small red ants weresupposedly used to make the first bug juice. Not sure if you have that in England. Now, it's mostly a strange combination of juices served at camps.
@GreenMoo (11833)
•
1 May 13
Don't be too hard on the cat. I've got five who are all superb hunters, but we still get the odd mouse!
Apparently the larger ants taste nutty. The little ones that occasionally slip through my defences are too small for me ever to have tasted them. Extra protein though!
1 person likes this
@artemeis (4194)
• China
1 May 13
I rarely have such incidents with ants and it is probably to do with how we have been observing the way we keep our food. Not forgetting, how to keep ants away from our food tables and kitchen cabinets.
Sweet stuffs are usually kept sealed and spillages will be cleaned. In my uncle's house because he owns a farm, he will place sauce trays of salt beneath the dinning table's legs to avoid ants from climbing onto the table. Also, since there are live chickens around I observe that ants rarely are around.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
1 May 13
For me it depends on how many ants are in the item. 1 ant, just fish it out.. dozens, toss the item!
@emily7339 (1337)
• Malaysia
1 May 13
I cannot tolerate seeing my food colonized by those little creatures. I will discard them anyway...
@missjahn (4574)
• Philippines
1 May 13
i really hate when ants used to parade on your foods. if ever, i will not throw the foods, i will try to oust the ants away. it is very annoying when what you want to do is to have some for you to eat and then you just cannot do it unless you like to eat the food with ants in it. i found ants in the dishes, sugar containers, etc. so i say to myself, i guess these ants are hungry as well, but not here for we are hungry too 
