Ants, Ants, Ants
The Ants go Marching One By One,” Barney’s Greatest Hits. Of course, they are followed by several thousand friends and proceed to have a flash mob in your kitchen. With the rainy season ahead, ants will be on the move looking for a new home, maybe deciding yours looks pretty good. If you are like a lot of my friends, this summer has already been a big year for ants.
When I owned an acre, I learned how to handle ants in an easy, inexpensive, non-toxic way. This tip I’ve shared with my friends, I will now share with you. This method works and is so non-toxic that it qualifies for use in organic fields. It uses easy-to- find articles and tools found in almost any home.
The poison key to this recipe is Boric Acid, available on Amazon for around $7. Boric Acid has about the same toxicity as common table salt—but don’t eat it by the spoon!
Here’s what you will need:
1. Several brand-new quart canning jars with lids. It’s important they never held food before—ants sense the difference. So, stick with me on this.
2. A quantity of old-fashioned Styrofoam packing peanuts—the new plant based type will not work.
3. A simple syrup (1% boric acid in 25% syrup by weight) as follows:
1. Cup sugar
2. Cups water
3. Teaspoons boric acid
Mix all ingredients and stir to dissolve. (Tip: mix the acid and sugar first and use warmed water. A drop of food coloring can make it easier to see.)
To make your baited traps, take the quart jar, lid on, and use a cordless drill to punch 6 to 10 1/8-inch holes around the edge and across the middle of the lid. If you don’t have a drill, use a nail. (See the photo.)
Next pack the Styrofoam peanuts into the jar. Pack them fairly tightly while allowing the naturally occurring space between them to create a path. They must touch the lid so ants can reach the trail head. Then fill the jar half full with syrup.
You can set the trap inside your home, but I recommend placing it outside, along one of the ant trails at your home’s foundation. Dribble a little syrup from your bottle across the trail. Leave a small puddle on top of the jar. Prop the jar against the house on a secure angle so that pets, bees, butterflies and kids cannot get at the syrup—only ants. Be sensible—don’t put it where kids or pets will play with it.
The ants will search for the source of the sugary water and, bingo, locate the baited bottle and get busy taking syrup back to their nest. Poisoning the queen and finishing off the entire nest may take a couple weeks. Refill the bottle if emptied. You may have to clean it out and replace the Styrofoam after a few weeks, especially if it is in the sun. Busy feasting on poison, the ants will leave your kitchen alone, which is the best feeling!
The ants just disappear—you are back to a peaceful home. Keep the materials. You may need to do it again next year. Say goodbye to toxic poisons and to the ants.
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