INVASION of the............
By Sherry Smith
@morgoodie (2645)
United States
May 2, 2018 10:19am CST
ANTS!!!!! Yep, this morning my son informed me before I got out of bed that there was an invasion of ants in the kitchen. Every year without fail they invade my kitchen so I thoroughly clean the counters move everything off so we can kill the little buggers. I HATE them. They are the little black ants and it always seems like there are thousands of them.
So after I dropped my children off at school, I stopped to buy ant traps. Now they are lining my counter and I hope they take it back to their nest and kill the lot of them. I just hope I am not going to have to have a pest control company come and take care of them. I am not sure but they may be in the walls.
Do you have problems with ants? If so, how do you deal with them? Any natural deterrents I can use? Please share your thoughts!!
9 people like this
12 responses
@sprite1950 (30452)
• Corsham, England
4 May 18
Love the picture! We only seem to get them when the weather is humid over here (which isn't often) and usually only the little black ones. I know that the red type sting so I'm a little wary of those. I usually tip boiling water over them if the are outside but don't normally get them in the house.
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30452)
• Corsham, England
5 May 18
@morgoodie That's the problem with ants, they crawl everywhere even on the worktops so they could get into food. I doubt they carry any germs but the thought is a bit gross 
1 person likes this
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
4 May 18
Yeah these are the little black ones. I don't know why they bother me so much, but then again I don't like any bug in my house. I think they are just about gone now so I will have to clean the counters and put things back. Work, work, work. It never ends!!!
1 person likes this
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
11 May 18
@sprite1950 Yes I made sure I didn't put any food on my counters. Now they are gone so I can put everything back in its place. I guess you could think of it as extra protein. 
1 person likes this
I honestly don't remember what my husband used but I think it wasn't too strong because every now and then I have ants again.@nela13 (58669)
• Portugal
3 May 18
@morgoodie my husband found out the place they used to get tinto he house and blocked it but I think they found another way 
1 person likes this
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
2 May 18
I don't mind ants outside but I can't stand having any kind of bugs in the house. I know they don't really harm anything but it's just the thought of creepy crawlies in my house that bugs me.
1 person likes this
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
3 May 18
@nela13 I don't know where they are coming in from. It could be anywhere so I had my son spray around the house yesterday for added measures. They are dwindling but now they are moving to the floor because I have the traps along the counter. I can't wait for them to be gone. They make me itchy all over just thinking about them. 
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@cintol (11261)
• United States
2 May 18
I hear they are quite the problem here as well, haven't been here long enough to figure out the bug situation in this state yet. I hate ants, especially in my kitchen, if I hear of a good deterrent I will let you know. Hope the traps work. We did go to the Home Depot and get a bag of bug killer (ants included) its granules that you sprinkle around the outside of the home and it says you can use it inside but I probably won't. Maybe that would help you so they don't come in, unless they are in the walls
1 person likes this
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
2 May 18
I am going to have my son spray around the entire house and maybe around the kitchen window. I haven't tried the granules but I have seen them. I am hoping that the ants will take the bait into the wall with them if that is where they are really coming from and kill the colony if one exists. But they had to get into the walls from the outside so doing something outside should help too. Thanks for your tips.
1 person likes this
@cintol (11261)
• United States
2 May 18
@morgoodie I just hope you get rid of them, the granules work really well, they are killing them quickly outside
1 person likes this
@anamika161088 (11866)
• India
2 May 18
We face the same problem with the onset of summers. We get pesticides done in our home to get ants, cockroach and mosquitoes away from our home.
1 person likes this
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
2 May 18
I am hoping that I won't have to have a pest control company come in and do it. I don't want the added expense. Thanks for the tip.
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@anamika161088 (11866)
• India
2 May 18
@morgoodie You can try putting up turmeric powder. We used to do it earlier and it was effective.
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@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
2 May 18
@anamika161088 I will have to get some to try. I would rather do something that is natural versus having a bunch of chemicals on my counter. Thank you!!
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@thislittlepennyearns (62529)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
3 Jun 18
We have ants outside bed. Fire ants.
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@thislittlepennyearns (62529)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
3 Jun 18
@morgoodie. They come inside rarely
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@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
3 Jun 18
I am glad they are outside. I don't have fire ants which I am thankful for, but I still don't like dealing with any ants inside my house.
@things4gotten (476)
• United States
24 May 18
I used to have a problem with the tiny ants where I used to live. They would go after everything and drove me crazy because they would still show up no matter how much I cleaned everything. Nothing was safe, not even the cough drops in the storage closet or even my laptop. I tried everything from traps, to sprays, to natural remedies like bay leaves and they still came. I even found them around my outlets building a nest around something I had plugged in. It was a nightmare!
1 person likes this
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
26 May 18
@things4gotten That's good. I am glad too. At least until next year at the same time. They have been doing this for a few years now.
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
24 May 18
Wow that would drive me nuts as well. I think the traps have worked or they just went outside because the weather warmed up. I hope you don't experience that again!!!
@things4gotten (476)
• United States
25 May 18
@morgoodie one of the reasons I am glad I moved. Haven't had any major problems out here. I am glad you found something that worked!
1 person likes this
@kaka135 (14931)
• Malaysia
11 May 18
Yes, I feel like the ants are always staying in the same house as we do. They move in and out, and always invite other species of ants to stay here as well. I just wipe them off at this moment, and try to clean whenever possible. I don't want to use any pesticides as I have young kids at home. I tried to use garlic, vinegar as suggested, but they don't work for me.
I was away from my house for a few days and I thought the ants might have left my house, since there were no food for days. When we came back, and the kids started to drop some crumbs of biscuits on the floor, the ants quickly came out to carry the food. They must be really hungry.
1 person likes this
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
11 May 18
They probably live for days or weeks without food. Of course, they have their stash that will keep them for a long time too. I think they are gone for this year so I will be free of them until next Spring when they will invade my house again.
@popciclecold (38742)
• United States
24 May 18
I always keep out side sprayed. When they bite it hurts.
1 person likes this
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
24 May 18
I have sprayed the outside of the house and put traps down along my counters and they seem to have gone for the time being. Hopefully, for good.
@Marilynda1225 (82796)
• United States
2 May 18
Ants are a nuisance especially this time of year.
I'm dealing with wasps outside my back door
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@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
2 May 18
I'll trade you. I'll deal with the wasps and you can deal with my ants. 
No I really don't want to bother with either of them but at least the wasps are outside. Good luck with your wasp problem.
No I really don't want to bother with either of them but at least the wasps are outside. Good luck with your wasp problem.
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
2 May 18
Make sure all areas are clean so as not to attract. Spray around the outside.
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@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
2 May 18
I cleaned the whole counter tops so I could put the traps there. I hope they take the bait back to wherever they are so it will kill those ones too. I just hate the thought of them crawling around in my kitchen.
1 person likes this
@porwest (90935)
• United States
28 May 18
I am a former exterminator, so I still have access to certain pesticides since I keep my license up to date. There is a product by Advion called Dual Choice which works very well. It has both a protein and a sweet so no matter what stage of the brood the colony is in, they will take it to the nest and it kills them off from the inside.
1 person likes this
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
28 May 18
That would be very good since I really think they are in the walls. I might call an exterminator out next year when they decide to invade my territory again.
@morgoodie (2645)
• United States
2 May 18
Yay! I actually have peppermint oil. I will have to try this. I don't know if I have a spray bottle though but I can wipe the back splash with it maybe and see if that will work. Thanks for the tip.
