We have a problem with ants in the space between the roof tiles and the lambris.
We can't find the runs up and down the bricks outside, so they may be inside, but again, we can't find them.
There must be enormous nests inside the roof space and lots of dead ants drop onto the floor, bed and shower room floor every day.
The local professional insect killer firms say they don't deal with ants.
We have tried everything on the market including the smokers, but nothing has helped.
Any advice welcome - we may yet have to strip the lambris off and re-do the roof space - we would take advantage of the tax rebates for insulation at the same time, so not all gloomy!
I sincerely hope you find a result to this problem. Ants freak me out. I would spend all my time killing them, however I could. With such a serious problem I hope that there is a professional who can get rid of them and quickly.
Apparently they don't like anything chalky. We use ant powder which does the trick, as well as the gel. But, I was told a little trick to stop they coming in the doors etc... Draw a thick chalk line and they will not come over it. Weird I know, but I tried it and it worked and it is safe around food areas. But you must constantly wipe you surfaces. Only the smallest bit of food or drink will bring in the scouts and then the rest of them. I do sympathise, but the key is consistency. They will eventually get the message. I thought they were going to drive me out of my home and I was so down about it. Perseverence pays dividends.
I used to have an aversion to ants until we lived in Sri Lanka where ants of all sizes have house room despite any effort to get rid of them. My opinion of them changed when I witnessed a team dismantling and removing the corpse of an enormous cockroach. Their role in our society is keep the place clean. All that detritus - skin cells, toenail clippings, beard shavings - barely visible to the naked eye is whisked away to their magical kingdoms, saving us from wading knee deep in our own ordure. Up the ants, I say. Except the little, little black ones that give a nasty bite, but I don't think you get them in France.
Hi Sara...I used to get a problem with ants however...I found that if I used a flea powder...for cats and dogs containing natural Pyrethrum...and sprinkled it along their trails...this did the trick. I also buy those little plastic 'things'...containing ant killer gel...that the ants feed on...and take back to their nests very good...(you can buy them in Leclerks). I just leave them in corners near their runs.
They don't like cinnamon! And if you draw a line of chalk where they are comming in, they'll respect the line and not cross it. Even though, I'm not sure how effective that'll be in your case. I guess you could invite all the neighbourhood kids around and yell: "Chalk away!". Fun for the kids, problem solved and the bonus...a lovely colourful home :D
Got some in one of our barns at present. Because I can't do ladders at presnt, we're having the local man in who worries me because he must be around 80 but goes six metres up a ladder like a squirrel. We had termite damage when we bought although the termites were gone and had a whole downstairs floor to replace in January! Only time the builders could do it. We had the floor gone, open to a freeze cold cellar below and the weekend when they naturally did not work. Then the wet concrete when the floor was put in did nothing to warm us up. I would have welcomed ants rather than either of the other.
We were told when we bought our house that they do not have termites in Saone-et-Loire, but they forgot to mention the capricorns, who do an enormous amount of damage to woodwork, and we had those.
Their larvae leave holes the size of pencils in your beams!!
Thankyou Damaris but as the locals keep telling me its better to have Ants than Termites,I have sprayed with Insect Barrier and now just get piles of dead ants role on Autumn
We also have problems with ants but not as bad as yours by the sound of it. I agree that apart from getting a specialist in, any product that they take back to the nest to kill the rest is probably your only option. However, if there are enough of them tyo fry your phone line, then I would seriously consider getting a specialist in... If you let me know your location, I'm hzppy to look up numbers for you so you can at least get some quotes. :)
Keep bees. After a few hundred stings over a couple of years one becomes virtually immune to bee, wasp or ant stings and when mosquitos have a go there is none of the nasty swelling stuff after. Hey presto!
My main problem with the dreaded ants is that they bite me when I'm gardening. The bites almost always go septic and I need to put on antiseptic as well as some Apaisyl.I find that putting ice on the bites gives a lot of relief.
I also attract wasps and mosquitos.
Your problem is my idea of hell! It may be that the infestation is so bad that it needs the attention of a professional pest controller!
There's a gel called acto, fourmis gel appat which you dot around where they're coming out. They take it back to the nest and it kills them. It really works - on ordinary ants, not on flying ants which we also get plagued with. You can get it from any decent bati-brico
Nasty one, there are poisons that you spray on them. They go back to the nest and it kills other ants, etc. Same principle as killing wasps and termites. The problem is that you cannot do it where there is food or you'll do yourself no good. In a filed of a hectare there may well be into billions of them. Some battle...