Ants go away!

[lafonte98]

Hey everyone,

Last night I noticed a decent number of ants had got into my easy touch panel and were crawling everywhere. I took the panel off and got as much of them out as I could but I figure they'll just return. I put a couple bait traps near the equipment in hopes it will kill the colony. I also have issue with ants crawling up to pool side and dying, leaving piles of ants to sweep off the pool deck in a daily basis. I live in IL. Anyone have success with getting rid of these annoying insects? Tips or tricks for removal would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Greg.

 

[Chrissykr]

I am the ant killing commander. My husband is going to buy me a hat with a red light on top that says ant patrol.

I treat my everything in yard monthly with the stuff you throw down. Don't water it in all the way. It will eventually get washed into the ground but let the surface ants crawl over it for a bit. I also do my heavily infested areas with the stuff you hook up to your garden hose. I spray this into my flower beds and around shrubs and plants. I treat the exterior of my house monthly as well with the the home defense stuff. All doors and windows get sprayed with ant killer weekly and after a rain. I also put Terro down where ever I see an ant trail. Also, spray a band around all the pool electronics.

My neighbors don't treat their yards and I literally can see them throwing their suitcases over the fence. They were destroying my trees and all my shrubs. I move all my houseplants outside for the summer the first year I had to dump them all. Whenever I would water them I would find ants every where around my interior. They had moved into my houseplants as well.

When I moved in my landscaper told me I had a serious ant problem and we had terrible ants in the house year round. I have managed to get it under control and we have not seen an ant in the house for a long time.

 

[drharris]

I use perimeter bait, AMDRO. Any time I find an ant bed, I sprinkle that stuff directly on the bed too. Some will die, and the rest will relocate. If you stay on top of it, they will eventually find somewhere else to go. You can also get lawn granules or spray, and if you keep it all over the place it creates an inhospitable environment for them. Send them to a neighbor instead!

That said, even then I find lots of dead carpenter ant carcasses in my skimmer. I'm not too concerned about those, though. I'm guessing they live in my fence and come out for a drink at night.

 

[rccarps2]

I have had good luck with these. I use them on my paver patio when the ants are active in the spring around me.

I would imagine one would fit in the inside bottom of your easy touch panel.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JG77IUI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

RC

 

[Chrissykr]

I have had good luck with these. I use them on my paver patio when the ants are active in the spring around me.

I would imagine one would fit in the inside bottom of your easy touch panel.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JG77IUI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

RC

I use a lot of Terro as well. Don't buy the kind on stakes. They don't care for it. I don't know if it is the design of the product or what. I ended up dumping it out in little puddles around the patio. They took it once I did that.

 

[lafonte98]

I have had good luck with these. I use them on my paver patio when the ants are active in the spring around me.

I would imagine one would fit in the inside bottom of your easy touch panel.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JG77IUI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

RC

RC,

That is exactly what I just put down last night. : )

 

[lafonte98]

I am the ant killing commander. My husband is going to buy me a hat with a red light on top that says ant patrol.

I treat my everything in yard monthly with the stuff you throw down. Don't water it in all the way. It will eventually get washed into the ground but let the surface ants crawl over it for a bit. I also do my heavily infested areas with the stuff you hook up to your garden hose. I spray this into my flower beds and around shrubs and plants. I treat the exterior of my house monthly as well with the the home defense stuff. All doors and windows get sprayed with ant killer weekly and after a rain. I also put Terro down where ever I see an ant trail. Also, spray a band around all the pool electronics.

My neighbors don't treat their yards and I literally can see them throwing their suitcases over the fence. They were destroying my trees and all my shrubs. I move all my houseplants outside for the summer the first year I had to dump them all. Whenever I would water them I would find ants every where around my interior. They had moved into my houseplants as well.

When I moved in my landscaper told me I had a serious ant problem and we had terrible ants in the house year round. I have managed to get it under control and we have not seen an ant in the house for a long time.

Chrissy,

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to buy some Terro spray. Is T3400 what you use?

 

[lafonte98]

I use perimeter bait, AMDRO. Any time I find an ant bed, I sprinkle that stuff directly on the bed too. Some will die, and the rest will relocate. If you stay on top of it, they will eventually find somewhere else to go. You can also get lawn granules or spray, and if you keep it all over the place it creates an inhospitable environment for them. Send them to a neighbor instead!

That said, even then I find lots of dead carpenter ant carcasses in my skimmer. I'm not too concerned about those, though. I'm guessing they live in my fence and come out for a drink at night.

Never heard of Amdro. I assume you have had good luck with it?

 

[lafonte98]

I use a lot of Terro as well. Don't buy the kind on stakes. They don't care for it. I don't know if it is the design of the product or what. I ended up dumping it out in little puddles around the patio. They took it once I did that.

Good to know. I'll do the same.

 

[pooldv]

I spray Home Defense around the perimeter of the pool/deck, equipment pad, etc. It seems to keep the bugs away pretty well without mass killing.

 

[drharris]

Never heard of Amdro. I assume you have had good luck with it?

It's in most hardware stores, and Amazon too (https://www.amazon.com/Amdro-Block-Home-Perimeter-Granules/dp/B000QDEQ7E). It works very well down in the south with fire ants. I had my last house pretty much ant free before we moved. Now I'm working on the new house/yard which will probably never fully go away since we border a forest now. But I use it around the perimeter of our house, and the perimeter of our pool area along the fence (more around my equipment shed). Then I use it directly on any ant beds I see (even small ones), and they die out within a few days. If you stay on top of it, they will find another place to go!

That said, while it works great down here, I cannot say if it works up that way or not.

 

[Chrissykr]

For the granules and garden hose stuff I use whatever Home Depot or Lowes has on sale. For general spraying I use Hot Shot, it usually has 25% more for free and runs about $2.89 a can at Wally. They claim it keeps working for 12 weeks but I find it wears off. I buy it on the grocery side. The stuff in lawn and garden is more expensive. Terro buy on the Lawn and Garden side. The grocery side carries one but it has less tubes in it for the same price.

Using all this stuff actually breaks my heart as I have always gardened organically but living in the south I find organic just doesn't work and for me the ant problem can get out of control really quickly. There is nothing worse than combating ants all winter long inside your home. They literally crawl over your computer screen and up and down you all the time or your kids calling you at work and telling you their guinea pig cages are infested. . I just had my handyman come and caulk my whole interior and exterior last week hoping to add another layer of defense.

I have done a lot of research on ants and trying to find the trail and getting them to eat the Terro is one of the best ways to start. They are most active at night so I go out with my flashlight and check my troublesome areas if I start seeing activity.

 

[Chrissykr]

I use granules like this monthly. No particular brand whatever is on sale

https://www.amazon.com/Spectracide-Triazicide-Insect-Granules-HG-53960/dp/B000HM68HK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495726971&sr=8-1&keywords=lawn+ant+killer+granules

I put it down at the end of a rain or run my irrigation for five minutes so it doesn't completely dissolve.

I also throw the granules down then activate it with this (again no particular brand whatever is on sale) around my flower beds and around shrubs/trees.

https://www.amazon.com/Ortho-Hose-End-Including-Mosquitoes-Vegetables/dp/B00BLXZJW4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1495727096&sr=8-4&keywords=lawn+ant+killer+hose+spray

This gets down around in the mulch and also kills aphids, mites etc. I have read ants in flower beds are farming aphids so I am killing a few birds with one stone.

 

[mwalling]

Never heard of Amdro. I assume you have had good luck with it?

It is the best solution I've found for fire ants. Our state Extension offices recommends it for fire ants.

 

[chiefwej]

?............ so I am killing a few birds with one stone.

There's a bit of irony in that quote.

 

[Chrissykr]

There's a bit of irony in that quote.

I know....I try not to think of the collateral damage using all this stuff.

 

[FMG355]

Check out doyourownpestcontrol.com. You need gel and granule bait for ants. Gel is sugar based and the granule is protein based. Not sure why but sometimes they are looking for one or another. Ants bring back the bait to the colony. Once the Queens dies the colony dies. Sprays are not the best for getting rid of Ants.

 

[wjr75]

"Bifen I/T" would take care of the issue also. You buy as a concentrate and spray it it in a hose end sprayer. Can get it on amazon.

 

[lafonte98]

Thanks for all of the advice everyone! I also read good reviews about Advion Ant gel. Has anyone had luck with that? I think a gel combined with a spray is the way to get rid of these pests.

 

[Chrissykr]

Check out doyourownpestcontrol.com. You need gel and granule bait for ants. Gel is sugar based and the granule is protein based. Not sure why but sometimes they are looking for one or another. Ants bring back the bait to the colony. Once the Queens dies the colony dies. Sprays are not the best for getting rid of Ants.

I agree with everything you said. There are two kinds of ants, sweet eating and grease eating. The sweet eating love the Terro. The grease eating will sometimes take the Terro if you mix it with PB. It also depends on the time of the year. Their tastebuds change throughout the season and they won't eat anything you put out in some periods.

I am spraying around my exterior doors and windows to kill whatever walks over it as they are entering my home.We used to find 10-20 dead ants on our interior window sills every week.