# Tiny Black ants



## RemodelMan (Oct 7, 2007)

The ants have made a nest somewhere along the foundation and burrowed into either your door sill, below the threshold or along a window well.
Otherwise, you have some holes in the basement walls, along the wood or concrete steps(_cracks_) or crawlspace.
Check your local plant center or home improvement center and buy a few containers of the ant powder, then sprinkle it liberally around any of the suspicious areas. 
I discovered the ants one afternoon at the base of my back door.


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## Rehabber (Dec 29, 2005)

*Boric acid is an effective ant poison mixed with an attractant (like honey or mint jelly) or maybe pudding if they seem to like that. Very low toxicity to pets, deadly to ants. You want to mix it in their food source so they will take it back to the nest eventually queen eats it and a final end to colony. Don't kill ants you see, cause you won't get the ones in the nest. *


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## End Grain (Nov 17, 2007)

Look outside the perimeter of your home for a pile of rocks, a large piece of wood, a low-growing plant, etc. that is directly up to your house. Ants can usually be found underneath such things. I know because we occasionally get them and they live under a pile of decorative river rocks our neighbor has in her yard along our wall (HOA development). Our pest control guy simply goes out and sprays the pile of rocks with a good dousing which lasts for several months. Inside, I use a clear ant spritz spray (non-aerosol) and we also have a cat. Ants are somewhat easier to kill on contact so try not to buy one of those all purpose crawling insect sprays that carries a higher dosage of chemical. You may also want to try the ant baits. I've found that alhough they take upwards of two weeks to work, they are reasonably effective.


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## RichyL (Nov 17, 2007)

Thanks for the advice, Im gonna look for the ants today or tommorrow. There is a lot of dead wood around my house and there is a crawl space below that they might be in.


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## bigtex (Aug 20, 2007)

*black ants*

Mix boric acid with shortening + a little flour. Roll into marble size balls and put them into cabinets, etc. Cats will not eat them but sure kills ants. When the balls are dried out replace them- also kills roaches.


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## RichyL (Nov 17, 2007)

Where do i get boric acid? and how much do i use? Do they take this back to thier colonies with them? Most of them are hanging out by my kitchen sink, I picked up a fork the other day that had ants on it and one of those #@$#@$#'s bit me! I feel like I am reliving a Tom and Jerry episode, your advice is greatly appreciated, I really dont wanna resort to acme TNT but i will if i must
Regards,


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## Rehabber (Dec 29, 2005)

Boric acid is available at any hardware or big box store, and most drug stores.


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## Dutch1962 (Oct 5, 2007)

Although boric acid is regarded as safe by most-it has NO antidote so I'd go lightly around it.Especially the 10 lbs you can apparently get at Lowes for 5$. Get a free inspection from a pest company. He may tell you what kind they are and in turn you'll have more info on what to do for them. Each ant species is different is some ways. So what may work for one little black ant may not for another who looks very simular. For a little more info..http://pestcemetery.com/?cat=5 You can do it yourself I'm sure but ID is the first key.
Good Luck


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## Lucky-13 (Nov 29, 2007)

Have you tried diatomaceous earth?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth#Pest_control


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## Rehabber (Dec 29, 2005)

Boric acid has about the same toxicity as *table salt*, hardly very toxic


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## End Grain (Nov 17, 2007)

Dutch1962 said:


> Although boric acid is regarded as safe by most-it has NO antidote so I'd go lightly around it.Especially the 10 lbs you can apparently get at Lowes for 5$. Get a free inspection from a pest company. He may tell you what kind they are and in turn you'll have more info on what to do for them. Each ant species is different is some ways. So what may work for one little black ant may not for another who looks very simular. For a little more info..http://pestcemetery.com/?cat=5 You can do it yourself I'm sure but ID is the first key.
> Good Luck


This past summer, one of my customers had an encounter with _crazy ants_, i.e. a hardy, frenetic and prolific type of ant. The exterminator advised that only very recently had an effective formula been developed to combat them. The other formulas had no appreciable effect on them. I never knew of _crazy ants_ before that day and I learned several new things as a result of my conversation with the tech.


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## ajh359 (Nov 22, 2007)

I had the same problem with ants around the sink, I found that putting baby power around so that they can come in cotract with it and It kills them.


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