Flying ants

MawB I sympathise immensely. A number of years ago, in a previous house, we had the same issue. A boiling mass of the brutes coming out of the wall into the living room. It was horrific. It happened for two or three years until we had to get the outside wall under the window reharled after replacing double glazing. That stopped them. But while it happened it drove me to tears.

One year we watched the sparrows swooping across our garden, catching the flying ants.

This year the flying ants timed it until after the sparrows had had a feed.

Had a wonderful time a while ago watching the swallows doing the most fabulous aerobatics! They were feeding on the flying ants.

I saw dozens of them crawling out of the patio slabs one day last week - there was a mixture of flying ants and ordinary ones - all marching across the grass and down the front of the summerhouse. Didn't connect it with flying ant day till now. I did get some ant spray with my shopping but am reluctant to use it due to the cats eating grass round that area. Years ago we tried the boiling water trick which did work but not on the grass. Might have to resort to it again!

We had a lot of flying ants outside last week, though thank fully none indoors.
I think this year has been especially bad for ants. We’ve had a lot of nests in the grass and in planters.

Had a few yesterday but the main day was last week I had to retire to the house

It was last week here, two days after Tomasz Shcaffernacker (?) said was The Day. However I did see a few stragglers yesterday.

We have them in our compost bin, all coming on to the outside and taking off yesterday and today.

Buy ant traps you fill with a gel substance which they take down and it kills the colony. The powders and sprays only kill the ones that touch it. My mum had ants in her flat and the traps got rid of them.

PS Ruby cat was lying on the patio when all the ant activity began. She was eying them up as potential toys to pat.
I scooped her up quickly and took her indoors while treating all areas affected.

We had them yesterday too Maw, only not indoors.

I believe there is a day when one ant sends a memo round to the other nine hundred and ninety nine and say”right guys, today it is”.

In the garden they were crawling all over the lawn in mounds, and coming up between the patio slabs. In the air too. I had ant powder and sprinkled it liberally - we now have a green and white lawn!

The only other remedy is to pour boiling water on them but if you do it on grass, it burns it in patches and looks a mess until it regrows.