# Ant Battle



## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

Wow, tried Terro bait, no,luck. It was a bit old, the liquid was brown. But i figured, it's just the sugar was old, so made my own, with water, granulated sugar, and borax. Still , ants did not take bait.

It has been about a month now- very TINY ants, allover the kitchen table. man, do I have t spend $$$ on Advion?

Thanks.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

How about grease eating thief ants?


https://www.thespruce.com/thief-and-grease-ants-2656363


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

The Terro hit a home run for me with tiny ants in my kitchen. I knew where they were coming in and placed my bait pads there.

I also found my old Terro was brown and it was early spring so went to a box store where they were more likely to have rotated their inventory. Found some nice and clear fresh stuff. But I learned i needed to refresh the bait every day as it became to tacky for them. Doesn't sound like you are getting any action though.

If zero interest check for other baits like the link Nik posted. If they are coming into your house there is something they are attracted to and you need to identify it.

Bud


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## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

I finally got rid of the ants (I hope) with Terro and patience.

I tried home-made bait with borax and sugar, etc, but those never seemed as effective.

In my case, the trick was to keep the bait out, even after it appeared they stopped taking it. Eventually they'd be back, at which point I usually swapped out the bait packets. Finally, they've stopped coming. It's been maybe 4-6 months, but I still keep a couple of bait packets out, just in case.

Get some new Terro. This is not a time to pinch pennies.


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## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

CaptTom said:


> I finally got rid of the ants (I hope) with Terro and patience.
> 
> I tried home-made bait with borax and sugar, etc, but those never seemed as effective.
> 
> In my case, the trick was to keep the bait out, even after it appeared they stopped taking it. Eventually they'd be back, at which point I usually swapped out the bait packets.


Bait packets? What are those? I thought terro made only the liquid in a bottle, to drop out drops.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Here's a pic of Raid ant baits. It contains Avermectin. I guess the arsenic ingredient, used previously, was being eaten by toddlers.


https://www.raid.com/en-us/products/raid-max-double-control-ant-baits/tabs/ingredients


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## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

Thanks, Nik. Good to know. Arsenic was used years ago, not just or ants, but moles, etc. 

Anyway, will buy some and try......


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Just a note, it took me a month of constantly adding fresh Terro bait to get the visitors down to zero. I don't know whether the queen was actually eliminated early and I was just seeing foragers returning from other directions, but I would keep some fresh bait out for a few weeks just to be sure.

And yes they have plastic bait holders that you clip off part and set them out. But I prefer the bait pads and applying my own Terro liquid.

Bud


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## keep_hope_alive (Jul 26, 2019)

Last year I had a long battle with these tiny "sugar ants". They found several routes up my foundation wall and porch stairs, got under the siding, and traveled around the entire house. They focused on food sources (obviously). House was made in 1925 and has plenty of entry points. I had to totally empty the kitchen and pantry and pitch anything they got into (small enough to follow threads on capped food like Peanut Butter). i had to eliminate all food sources and seal up anything sweet in ziploc bags. 

I started hitting all known entry points with Raid daily. I found their path inside and frequently hit the trails to try and cover their scent... it took a lot because the porous foundation wall held their scent really well. I had other ant killers in spray bottles and granules I kept using on the perimeter. 

Eventually i started putting a cup of sugar out in the yard. I figured they wanted it, so i'd just feed them like we do birds and squirrels. The distraction sugar gave them an easier food source while I kept treating the perimeter. Once the sugar was available, they started leaving the house alone.

The Terro baits weren't useful, I tried them first to no avail. They had plenty of other places to go and weren't interested even though they were near the trails. 

That was last year. This year I did a few things to prepare. We had a brutal cold winter (hit -50 deg F in northern IL) so that may have helped drop numbers a bit. 
1. I preemptively sprayed ant killer around the entire perimeter several times over a few weeks in spring. I made sure there were no ant trails so I was early. 
2. I bought several bug killer foggers and place them on each level. I decided to kill anything still inside and leave a film where we can't reach. 
3. We practice good behavior with sugary items. We clean syrup lids/caps after use and keep them away from windows. We don't let wrappers sit in area garbage cans or near windows. 
4. I keep re-applying ant/bug killer at the perimeter of the foundation and all windows. 
5. I did put some sugar in the yard this spring but haven't needed another distraction yet (and we've had the windows open (screens only) a lot this year.


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## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

papereater said:


> Bait packets? What are those? I thought terro made only the liquid in a bottle, to drop out drops.


They sell these things everywhere, even supermarkets and Walmart:










Despite my DIY preference, I found these easy and inexpensive enough that I gave up on home-brew concoctions and Terro drops.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

You'll never EVER get rid of ants. Selling ant bait is a better deal than law school. Laws might change, but ants are forever. Ah, if I could be the heir to an ant-bait selling fortune . . . . 

I concur with @Nik333's idea about grease ant baits. Other ants, including fire ants, I've heard won't take either sweet or grease ant baits.


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## ChuckTin (Nov 17, 2014)

For fire ants I spray the mounds with Wasp killer. Yes the colony will reappear on your property and then you'll need to do it again. But that's OK by me. I've been bitten enough by fire ants that I'm enjoying my war.


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