What Do You Do If Your House Has Ants?

When summer arrives, so do ants. In some parts of the country, they are active year-round. What should you do if you see ants around your house? To answer that question, you must first understand the different types of ants you're likely to encounter.

Black ants. These can be found almost anywhere in the world. They live in colonies, typically around plants or in sandy soil. They often start colonies inside cavity walls when houses are under construction.

Argentine and other small ants. These ants live in colonies that are generally located underground, but Argentine ants often enter homes looking for food.

Carpenter ants. Like dry wood termites, winged carpenter ants live in dry trees, tree stumps and wood piles. However, they can also get into wood shingles or wood framing that touches dirt. Colonies of carpenter ants can be extremely large and very destructive.

Signs of an Ant Infestation

If you only see a few ants, it may mean that scouts from an ant colony are looking for food in your house. That could indicate that they haven't moved inside yet. Carpenter ants can often be heard before they're seen. They make a crunching, rustling sound as they munch through wood, and they may leave small piles of sawdust in their wake.

How to Keep Ants Out

To keep most ants away, try putting a line of boric acid along the interior of the outside walls of your home, and across doorways and windowsills. Most ants won't cross that. Keep your food in sealed plastic containers and keep floors and counters free of crumbs. Don't leave pet food out.

To prevent a carpenter ant infestation, keep loose brush and woodpiles far away from the walls of your home, and remove any dead trees or stumps on your property.

What to Do Once Ants Move in

Try mixing boric acid with sugar and leaving it out. With luck, the foraging scouts will carry the mixture back to their nest and the queen will eat it and die, effectively destroying the colony. For carpenter ants, mix the boric acid and sugar with warm water and either leave it in a shallow bowl or pan, or soak cotton balls in the mixture and leave them near the location where you've heard ant activity.

While the boric acid and sugar method is relatively easy to use and environmentally friendly in low concentrations, it is unlikely to be effective on an established ant colony, regardless of the type of ant, simply because colonies are so large. In this case, the most effective way to eliminate the problem is to call in a professional pest control service. These service providers can find the colony and destroy it, even when the colony is inside a wall. With a program of treatments, it can keep your home free from re-infestation without the risk of making your pets or children sick.

Sources:

http://homemakersjournal.com/articles/how_to_control_ants_in_your_home.htm

www.pestcontrolzone.com/pestcontrolants/

http://ezinearticles.com/?Black-Ants-In-Your-Home&id=1894339

www.grinningplanet.com/2004/04-27/ant-control-ant-killer-article.htm

www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-carpenter-ants.htm