How to Kill Ants & Destroy Anthills
Ant infestations do not require an expensive exterminator or commercial pesticides. There are several substances that are benign to us and our pets, but that are lethal to ants. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Boric acid
- Liquid soap
- Diatomaceous earth
- Sugar
- Bleach
- Pipe tobacco
- Coffee grounds and predator bugs (optional)
Instructions
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The Anthill
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1
Pour boiling water onto the anthill. The aim is to kill the queen. Include dish soap in the water, which is toxic to ants.
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2
Soak pipe tobacco in warm water overnight. Strain out the tobacco and pour the liquid over the anthill. The ants will die from nicotine overdose.
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3
Get rid of mealy bugs on outdoor plants. They leave a honeydew substance that attracts ants. Eliminate mealy bugs by piling coffee grounds around the base of the plants where you see their cottony pouches and by purchasing predator bugs at your local garden store, such as praying mantises and ladybugs.
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4
Combine sugar and boric acid in a 10:1 ratio and drop bits of the paste around the anthill. The ants will carry the poison back to the hill to share with others. If pets may eat the boric acid, do not use this approach. Place this bait mixture in the cracks that ants come through so pets can't reach it.
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5
Find a second anthill. Shovel part of that hill onto the first, and vice versa. The ants from different hills will attack each other.
Ant Prevention
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6
Use baby powder around window frames, other entranceways, and along the ant trails. Those substances both repel and kill ants. Also, because they are repelled from their own trails, they get can lost and die from dehydration and starvation.
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7
Wipe the entire floor clean with a bleach solution. The aim is to get rid of the ant trails and force the ants to get lost and/or to starve from not being able to find their way to the food.
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8
Place diatomaceous earth around openings where ants get through. DE is harmless to mammals but is like razors to insects, cutting their rigid bodies and leaking out moisture so they dry up.
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