# ants, Terro



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

That's a good thing.
The scouts are going back to the nest and telling everyone where the food source is.
The more that get to it the better chance the queens going to be killed.
Wait a few more days and I'll bet there going to be gone.
I never use the bait stations like that. I use the bottle but dabs of it directly on the floor to make it easier for them to get to.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

They seem to get into the stations easily. There are usually a bunch inside but it looks like they are bringing some out for the party. I had a few drops leak out onto the floor, too. That stuff dries like epoxy.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

The stuff in the bottle does not harden up like that.


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## msaeger (Mar 1, 2011)

Those work awesome! Maybe you have more than one colony? I put one of those out at night and shortly after there were a ton of ants streaming to and from it. Then the next day they were all gone.

I tried a few other kinds before the Terro and they didn't even attract any ants and some of them use peanut butter in them so the dog would try and eat them. 

Terro is the best!


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Pour little ants. All they want is food and water. 

Truth is...the provide a valuable function....the more ants you have, then you know your house is more dirty....they are only going after food....if no food, they go elsewhere.

No food source....no ants. If they are in the yard, they 'clean up' the dead wildlife.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Strange that I only seem to get them along this one wall in my powder room. No food source in there. Maybe water but I never see them near the sink or commode. That wall is shared with my neighbor townhouse so maybe the ants are theirs.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Going on 10 days I am not convinced by this Terro stuff yet. It seems to be great at attracting them, not so much at killing. Past years I have used some other brands (Ampro?) that seemed to work so I may go get a couple of those to add to the mix.


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## bucksone (Aug 7, 2007)

I'm having the same problem by my kitchen sink. I'm using the Terro liquid out of the bottle. I'm going on 2 1/2 weeks and they keep coming. I, too, would have thought the colony would have been killed by now.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

http://www.biconet.com/crawlers/infosheets/TerroAntMSDS.pdf
There's nothing in it that's going to hurt you unless you where to eat the whole bottle or block of it.
It kills by dehydrating them not poisoning them.
You do know one colony of ants could consist of thousands of ants?


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## eharri3 (Jul 31, 2013)

We have a 100-plus yr old home with a stone foundation and ants are a problem with ours and several of the other homes on the block. It's due to old, porous foundations with plenty of little nooks and crannies where they can get it. Last year I put a bunch of Terro and a few AMDRO stations out and activity in the house stopped within a couple days. This year I had everything out and set up right as the deep freeze was starting to let up and I haven't seen a single ant in the house since the weather has warmed up.

This is one of those things where I do a little overkill though. I will periodically do granules and outdoor bait stations on the permimeter and add bait stations inside the house where I have seen activity. We also have the exterminator do a once a year preventative spray around mid march and I will put a knock-down spray or dust insecticide around the perimeter every month or so from mid summer until fall. I find it more effective to do comprehensive indoor and outdoor treatment routines than to just put one or two bait stations down only where I've seen them. In some instances activity seems to just drop to zero without you seeing any more ants, and in others you will see a sharp increase in activity first before the stuff makes its way through the colony and kills it off.


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## taylorjm (Apr 11, 2013)

My buddy is an exterminator and he told me to just go get that ortho home defense spray and spray it at the base of the floor and baseboard in every room and along the bottom of the door frames. Then go in the basement and spray the same areas and into any exposed rafter bays along the perimeter of the house and around any basement windows. Then go outside and do the perimeter of the house and doors and windows. He basically does this every month for his customers and they never have issues with insects, and that's what I've been doing too. 

He said the stuff is 99.99999% water and the rest is insecticide and that you don't need much to kill a bug and don't worry about getting your carpet or wood floors wet because it's mostly water and will dry in a few minutes anyway, and a pet would have to drink a whole gallon before getting a stomach ache. It works and is worth the 10 minutes it takes every month or two.


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## nanuk (Aug 14, 2011)

taylorjm said:


> My buddy is an exterminator and he told me to just go get that ortho home defense spray and spray it at the base of the floor and baseboard in every room and along the bottom of the door frames. Then go in the basement and spray the same areas and into any exposed rafter bays along the perimeter of the house and around any basement windows. Then go outside and do the perimeter of the house and doors and windows. He basically does this every month for his customers and they never have issues with insects, and that's what I've been doing too.
> 
> He said the stuff is 99.99999% water and the rest is insecticide and that you don't need much to kill a bug and don't worry about getting your carpet or wood floors wet because it's mostly water and will dry in a few minutes anyway, and a pet would have to drink a whole gallon before getting a stomach ache. It works and is worth the 10 minutes it takes every month or two.


Your buddy is right that pyrethroids are harmless to mammals. Does your buddy also know that pyrethroids are some of the most toxic compounds known to science for the aquatic ecosystems? Going around and spraying pyrethroids every summer as a preventative measure is not the best advise, especially when it comes from a professional. And certainly not one to be given in a forum.

Then we get mad when chemicals are taken out of circulation for the home owner...


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## taylorjm (Apr 11, 2013)

Well, I guess if you don't want to use an insecticide to kill insects, you can always dance and skip around the house and sprinkle organic fairy dust while singing puff the magic dragon. I'm sure that will work too to get rid of the ants.


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## nanuk (Aug 14, 2011)

taylorjm said:


> Well, I guess if you don't want to use an insecticide to kill insects, you can always dance and skip around the house and sprinkle organic fairy dust while singing puff the magic dragon. I'm sure that will work too to get rid of the ants.


So this is what you managed to comprehend from my post? That I am a flower hippie that sprinkles fairy dust and wishes lions and gazelles to live in harmony?
:thumbup:


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## taylorjm (Apr 11, 2013)

I was going to throw tree hugger in there too. but yes, that's what I thought you were saying.


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## nanuk (Aug 14, 2011)

taylorjm said:


> I was going to throw tree hugger in there too. but yes, that's what I thought you were saying.



I am sure you can do better!
:no:


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## Zeo ershova (May 5, 2014)

Yes, you should try some other pest brands to keep your home ants and other pest free. If you are not getting any good results on ants with the products you are using now then I think you don’t have to waste time and precious money. All you need is to hire a profession pest control services to resolve this issue to *fight against ants*. I had gone this problem I used many products but they doest showed any effect, at last I hired profession pest control services from .........they help me to get out from ant problem and other pest issues.


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## mattlreese (May 7, 2014)

*I have the same problem*

I have the same issue, my ants seem to like the two basement bathrooms due to the water source I assume.

I have used those traps and I have changed them out every week. Still tons of ants. I also put some traps outside too. Hopefully this problem will go away, but for now I am just going to keep changing out the traps.


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## mikegp (Jul 17, 2011)

Have you guys tried boric acid? You just have to figure out whether to mix it with grease or sugar to get specific ants at specific times.


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## mikey48 (Dec 6, 2007)

I had sugar ants in my kitchen last year. I used terro in the small bottle, putting it on small pieces of cardboard. It took at least a month but they finally were gone. Was talking with my neighbor who is about 30 feet away. She had the same problem and they also disappeared at the same time mine did, with no effort from her. Thinking it was one big nest.


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## hidden1 (Feb 3, 2008)

I used boric acid on them outside and in a few days they were gone .
Does the dimethecous earth also work well?

Id like to make a combo/ potent mix with borax, boric acid and dimethecuous earth and kill many many things with a wet solution that then dries and in a few areas a dry application also .
Ive read adding a little powedered sugar to the mix will work great for ants too.


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## andrewjs18 (Dec 14, 2011)

I'm having the same problem as well.

I seem to be having the largest ant problem in my kitchen, my living room and in my bathroom on the 2nd floor.

I have some of the terro in the bag that you sprinkle around your house that I haven't had the time to use yet. maybe I'll work on that this weekend.

what do you guys recommend to use inside the house that is safe around my cats?


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## hidden1 (Feb 3, 2008)

the food grade Diatomaceous Earth is safe around pets ..Given to farm animals also.
It kills many insects including fleas .


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## andrewjs18 (Dec 14, 2011)

hidden1 said:


> the food grade Diatomaceous Earth is safe around pets ..Given to farm animals also.
> It kills many insects including fleas .


I had the wife order some last night.

thanks.


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## bucksone (Aug 7, 2007)

Can the liquid Terro go bad or lose effectiveness? I'm going on two months now and still have the ants by the kitchen sink. The Terro I'm using I bought last year for this problem, when it worked well and got rid of the ants.


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## zfreeman (Jun 10, 2014)

I used terro and then watched how they were getting in and out of my house and caulked it on the inside and outside. The terro definitely attracts them and I don't think is very effective at killing the queen but it can at least show you how they are getting in and out of your house.


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## bilug (Apr 16, 2014)

Simple Green kills ants on contact. Give your place a good cleaning. They will stay away.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

To finish my story... This small half bath is the only place in my house I had ants. I used the Terro for 4 weeks and the ants kept coming. It really attracted them and killed them in place. Each Terro container was filled with dead ants. But it never seemed to kill the nest. Fewer ants were coming but they were still coming. I replaced the Terro with Amdro and in a week zero ants. Next year (this seems to happen every spring in the same spot) I'll just start with the Amdro and see what happens.


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## Chris130 (Feb 3, 2014)

raylo32 said:


> To finish my story... This small half bath is the only place in my house I had ants. I used the Terro for 4 weeks and the ants kept coming. It really attracted them and killed them in place. Each Terro container was filled with dead ants. But it never seemed to kill the nest. Fewer ants were coming but they were still coming. I replaced the Terro with Amdro and in a week zero ants. Next year (this seems to happen every spring in the same spot) I'll just start with the Amdro and see what happens.


Can you please be more specific about the Amdro product you used? Perhaps post a link to it? 

I'm bracing myself for early/mid July when I have had in-house swarming these last two years (not too terribly bad, but still a nuisance), so I'm building up a list of go-to remedies in advance...

Many thanks!

Cheers, Chris


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Amdro bait stations from Lowes. With any of these baits it takes awhile for the ants to find them, even if you see them walk right by. They need to find them and go back to tell their buddies before they really become effective. In my case I put the new baits next to the Terro so the ants found them pretty quick.



Chris130 said:


> Can you please be more specific about the Amdro product you used? Perhaps post a link to it?
> 
> I'm bracing myself for early/mid July when I have had in-house swarming these last two years (not too terribly bad, but still a nuisance), so I'm building up a list of go-to remedies in advance...
> 
> ...


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