the last 7 days we've been suddenly plagued with ANTS... only in the kitchen. we're really used to the many and various critters here - scorpions, wasps & hornets, mossies, mice, flies, moths and the rest.
You know summer's started when the dog starts pointing them out - various different cries for different peskies - annoying flies = whimper, emergency hornets = bark (he was stung once) crazy mouse in the house = yelping...
but ants - really? what to do? we have ant houses all over the shop now, and i suppose my question really is 'are they doing us any harm'
i know i'm allergic to their bite - but if they're crawling all over the kitchen is it a big health problem or just an annoyance? i spray them with kitchen cleaner which kills them - 'til reinforcements arrive...
We make a sort of mote for the cat bowls. Set your pet's bowl inside a bit larger bowl with water in it. It doesn't have to be deep. Apparently ants can't swim, but cockroaches can, but putting a bit of dish soap in the 'mote' does the trick to keep those buggers away though.
All current insecticides when applied correctly are harmless to humans and domestic animals.
Bizarrely home made remedies don't carry the same guarantee.
I state "applied correctly", removing food sources, covering aquariums, time before re-entering the room, safety clothing.
You can check any product and its toxicity by reading the Fiche de Securité or Safety Data Sheet, alterntively, all "Biocides" are listed on www.simmbad.fr key in the product name or chemical compound and you'll get a plethora of information.
Make your own (safe) ant killer. Mix equal parts Baking Soda to powdered sugar (grind sugar down using a pestle & mortar) Now add a little water to make a paste and place in areas of infestation. Tah Da! Dead ants.
Maize flour (farine de maïs) works wonders. The ants eat it, can't digest it and die. However, the flour is not harmful to any other creatures around, nor apparently to any birds who might eat ants as they're dying.
I heard this evening that cucumber skin will keep ants away, but haven't tried this myself.
There are many stories of ants getting into electrical sockets and causing house fires by short circuiting the electrics, more commonly with homes left empty for several months at a time with the electricity still on. Bless them, they'll think twice about leaving the electrics on...and hiding in sockets!
OK, Ants generally* have one queen The older ants collect food for the nest and travel long distances. The younger ants deliver food for the queen and stay relatively (sic) close to the nest. Ants (and wasps, bees, hornets) communicate with each others and the queen via their antennae on a daily basis.
Crawling insect powder or "diatomaceous earth" as close to the nest as possible will be taken into the nest and communicated with the queen and she will die chemically or biologically respectively. regarding all of the above, killing the queen will kill the colony.
Regarding pathogens, yes they will transmit germs they walk through, but food is normally carried back to the nest, unlike cockroaches who are seriously unhealthy!
Causing damage, some do, some don't.
* "Generally" ; The largest single colony of ants known is the Pharaoh ants', which runs non stop from the southern coast of Spain, all along the Med coast, southern France into the top of Italy.
