Nah, just refused to do any work (well, not much) today so brain has had a few hours off. And you see the result? Mayhem. But I'm off to bed to cuddle a cat, or two. Say night night to your little house guest for me.
You're on form tonight
Ah, so a very pleas-ant little critter. Wonder where he hails from: Dutch Lesser Antilles. Antwerp, Mount Pleasant, Antigua.
He's a loveable sort though :D
How very ant-isocial of him Stuart.
Tell me about it.......we've got one that insists on eating with us, takes our money, etc etc.......
I was going to suggest this. It's quite harmless to animals and by far the cheapest solution if the problem is big. Ideal for gardeners, where you can make little piles underneath slate or bricks dotted around your paths. I found borax_ boric acid, in my local hardwear shop, "acide borique". It was 2 euro75. make a half and half mixture. If you have no icing sugar, you can electric blend it safely, with ordinary sugar, into a fine powder, it's safe after rinsing.
Thankyou everyone for the replys ,still living with the little Bliters role on Autumn
Hya Sarah, poor you!!!!!
I honestly can't think of anything worse, ants are my biggest phobia, even worse than snakes, and that's saying something!
We luckily don't have a problem with them at the moment, touch wood coz they make my skin crawl, but in the past i've used the stuff they take back to their nests and also i've found the sprays that they won't cross over very effective.
I wish you luck !!!!!!
Excellent idea! LIKE it! :)
Spread boric acid around the edge of the floor to create a barrier.
Hi Sara,
when dealing with the kitchen, or areas that your pets, or family use, try cinnamon. Yes, canelle. It doesn't kill the ants outright, but they will avoid going near the stuff. Beekeepers use it in the hives, because it doesn't harm the bees, taint the honey, yet it can stop pesky ants from coming in and taking all the honey.
Like I said, it won't kill the colony of ants, but at least they'll leave yer kitchen alone.
i know a lady who leaves a jar-lid of sugar in her garden, to stop them coming in the house. I'm not sure if it works or not, but she swears by it.
Joan, I also keep bees, and got worse with every sting. Last summer I did go to the hospital, and was told not to EVER get stung by a bee again. One half of our income is from bees, and so, faced with the choice to separate from OH, or die, I took a bee from the floor of our home, three days later, and stung myself in the knee. Yes, swelling, but no death.
since then, the reactions are becoming less and less. I sting myself regurlarly for arthritis on my knee.
turns out, in many cases, the person is just hypersensitive, and throws a high amount of histamine at everything, even plant stings. My arms were like michelin man's in Australia, because of mosquito bites, lol.
LIKE!
Funnily enough I do - and if your into natural remedies like us you can use bay leaves - rodents and insects apparently detest the stuff and it doesn't cause you or your animals any discomfort or irritation. Just looks kind of rustic if you have lots of dried bay leaves hanging around. We were lucky as we had an enormous Laurel that needed pruning and so we had to find uses for all the cuttings.
Sorry to say Brian probably not the best suggestion. Before we kept bees I was never bothered with any biting insects. After being stung (no pun intended) a few times - each one became worse. The last time I was stung it was touch and go whether I should go to hospital. Now I keep away from the bees and have problems with other bites and stings too !
Mine usually go straight into the composter so will definitely sprinkle outside the kitchen door which seems to be the main ant autoroute into the house and see what happens. Great tip as I glug a jug daily.
Easy and useful tip!
Instead of throwing the coffee grounds from your coffee making machine or cafetières when you're done, slosh them around your doorways etc... the ants don't like it at all. We don't have a problem with ants since we've been doing this but our neighbours (who don't go the coffee road) do.
We used to have a problem every year with ants coming into the kitchen. Tried flour, cinnamon and all sorts of things to dissuade them from coming in but to no avail. Then read about feeding them instead - after all , all they are looking for is food. Just put some sugar down somewhere outside near to where they are and they'll happily munch on that and stay out of the house. if you can make a trail of it to a compost heap, even better. Works brilliantly and no need to kill them at all or use nasty chemicals which will harm everything including you.
Try putting a couple of drops of the gel in as many locations as you can, they will find it eventually, just one drop if taken back to the queen will kill the lot supposedly, worked for me anyway and I have a nest that was 8 meters long by about 30cm in diameter!