Ants in the house

I'm usually overrun with ants, but have had nothing since i put down a Nippon ant thingy.
They take it back to their nests, apparently, and it works from the source.

No ants so far, that is.

I put out fly papers one year, when I still had a conservatory and quite by chance left one flat on the sill, by the door. The next day I found loads of ants stuck to it. I felt rather bad about it. I didn't get any more ants after that.

I get some in the kitchen each year. They come in round the kitchen window. I put cotton wool balls soaked in peppermint oil on the window sill and also some garlic which they don’t like. Worry a bit about the peppermint as the smell is supposed to be dangerous to dogs but the dog is ok and they seem to have stopped coming in.

Nippon definitely the best. There are different types, but the syrup they bring back to their nest has worked for me.

Yes, I had the same in my bedroom, they were even in my bedside table drawer. I found Nippon was much better than the powder. Hope you manage to get rid of them.

I am having problems at the moment. Not loads of them but I cannot find out where they are coming from. I have used Nippon ant powder with limited success but this weekend I have sprayed with peppermint oil, a smell they really hate. I haven't seen any today but if that doesn't work I will have a go at some of the previous GN's suggestions. I think ants are fascinating but not in my sitting room, thanks.

At a certain point the flying ants appear.
Like clockwork,i had them teaming on my kitchen window last year i thinl it's to do with their mating season.
I'm hoping the Nippon will have already done its job by then, because its vile.

I used Stevia or Canderel. The ants love it and take it back to their nest and die. Cruel but who wants ants everywhere? I lived on a giant anthill and the flying ants were horrid.

I loathe flying ant time yuk yuk yuk. When we had them coming in we were baffled for ages but eventually discovered they were coming in where the outside tap pipe exited the kitchen wall, which was under the sink. Does that make sense it sounds very convoluted. Anyway we resealed around that pipe, but what did help was disrupting their scent trail. We observed where some were running and spread some of DH's aftershave on it. Don't tell DH but I didn't like that one, it was overpowering even if it was expensive and I much prefer the one I replaced it with for him 😂

I have earwigs to contend with, too.
I paid for a pest control company last year, and they said that they're in the very fabric of the building now, having come due to old, damp wood amd laid eggs, made nests, ad esatblished themselves.

They are almost impossible to keep on top of.
If anyone has any tips, I'd be most grateful.
Tjey are huge!!!

Oh lordy, I hate earwigs almost as much as I hate ants (in the house I mean) No real solution to offer I'm afraid. When we bought our house just before we married and DH moved in, the front step had loads of long grass growing out of it and earwigs appeared in the lobby behind said front door, on the walls and ceiling 😱😱. Killing off the grass seemed to help the most, but they hadn't established to your extent. I'd suggest a flamethrower but I expect that's too extreme!!!

I haven’t seen an earwig for years. Lived in a caravan full of them in the 70’s. And spent a whole morning at work with an itch on my leg only to find I had one in my tights. Much as they freak me out I read that they are devoted mothers so I now try not to dislike them so much.

Yuck I had them once entering my utility room and somehow getting in the dish washer resulting in dead ant bodies in the filter. I looked for nests outside and got rid of those and then put ant powder down all along the skirting boards. Do also look at the outside of the house as well as another time they climbed up the brick work and got in through a small crack in the mortar by a window and into the kitchen - I could see a column of them marching up.

I spray Deathlac, available from Amazon and spray it around the outside steps front and back doors. I also use a Nippon ant traps in the kitchen where they visit. Works a treat as they always arrive with the hot weather.

I can't believe the timing of this post - it's spooky! I've just killed a lone ant - the first ever - on the windowsill in my kitchen. It's the only one I've ever had 13 years in our bungalow. The thing is I positioned our new food waste bin there a few weeks ago. Does anyone know if it's possible that lone ants go out on the hunt for new food sources? This one won't get it's message back to the nest but I have removed the food waste bin and considering putting it in our plastic recycler as another waste of time and I'll thought out policy. We don't generate that much food waste anyway

Tessa1234

I spray Deathlac, available from Amazon and spray it around the outside steps front and back doors. I also use a Nippon ant traps in the kitchen where they visit. Works a treat as they always arrive with the hot weather.

I have nanoshrimps as pets, and deathlac completely ruined the tank, and killed the shrimp - not just immediately, but over a period of many weeks after using it.

I'm afraid to use it anywhere in the vicinity of my flat, now, even outside.

Diatomaceous earth.
I buy food grade.
Not expensive and not toxic.

I had lots few weeks ago, things were everywhere all along worktops, up and down fridge.
bought a tube of Nippon.
at night I put where I’d seen them run , did that a couple of times and not seen any inside last three weeks or so
Was quite surprised but it definitely worked, if runs on floor don’t put where any pets could lick it.

The only thing that works for me is the Ant Bait traps I keep one down all the time in my kitchen and conservatory and never had ants again. Tried everything else and they just kept coming back

I had a breakdown many years ago after 9 weeks of ant infestation in my kitchen. The only reliable way I found to deal with them is Rentokil they come 4 times a years over the ant season and spray outside between slabs etc. Expensive yes but my sanity is worth it.

I posted on 31st May that I was going to try peppermint oil. I can gleefully report that I have not had a single ant since spraying it pretty much everywhere in my sitting room. As it has been around 6 weeks I intend giving it another spray today in case the little blighters are just biding their time.

Hopikins

I had a breakdown many years ago after 9 weeks of ant infestation in my kitchen. The only reliable way I found to deal with them is Rentokil they come 4 times a years over the ant season and spray outside between slabs etc. Expensive yes but my sanity is worth it.

I don't think I could cope with anything that could be described as an infestation. The ants in 2's and 3's have been enough for me but dowsing with peppermint oil seems to have done the trick.

They don’t like disinfectant like pineoclean. Just wipe along their pathway.

Indorex spray- spray a line across doorway floors and window sills. Works really well