Ant bait recommendations?

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#2692948 14-Apr-2021 23:56

They say that you only see about 5% of the nest out foraging at a time so the reserve bench is huge. Two walls of our house at a beach have a 4 x5m patch of bare sand between them. When I'm poisoning ants all the little hollows in the sand fill with dead ants that are dropped out of the soffit vents. There's also a wardrobe floor upstairs that gets a layer of dead ants. I can see they're not thriving on it. But there's always more waiting to move in.

Fred99

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#2693264 15-Apr-2021 14:01

If you want to start serious chemical warfare, this might do the trick:

https://www.wetandforget.co.nz/products/ants-in-ya-pants or

https://www.flybusters.co.nz/shop/DIY-Pest-Control-Services/DIY_Ants/Vanquish+Pro+Ant+Bait+325g.html

These contain fipronil which isn't a very nice chemical.

I'm waiting for ant invasion at our place, most of our neighbours have problems - but they don't seem to have found a way in here - yet.

dafman

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#2693268 15-Apr-2021 14:12

esawers:

We recently gave up and called pest control, after 6 months of Kiwicare products, homemade, and ant sand not working.

My husband had sprayed an insect barrier spray around the perimetre of the house a few weeks earlier and the ants appeared to have disappeared by the time pest control came, but we got them in anyway.

They also did a barrier spray outside the house and on the fences, and then used Extermin-ant as bait traps in the house

I think we may have solved the problem ourselves, but we haven't seen an ant since.

Our experience exactly. We tried Kiwicare gel for about a year but it was hopeless. The ants loved it, but their numbers never reduced.

As we had a significant infestation, we called in a pest controller for a barrier spray and bait traps. I think we paid $400 which included unlimited call backs over a 12-month period.

That did the trick for about 2 years. We've started getting ant trails into the house again, but not as significant. I have started using Raid Max as a barrier spray and it seems to be working quite well.

elpenguino

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#2693274 15-Apr-2021 14:21

dafman:

I have started using Raid Max as a barrier spray and it seems to be working quite well.

Is there any point to using a barrier spray around your house when they already inhabit your wall linings?

Genuine question.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Bung

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#2693275 15-Apr-2021 14:27

Note the offers on the Flybusters site, pay for 4 Vanquish gun tubes and get 5th free = $280 or pay full price for 5 ($350) and get a free $10.50 mastic gun (probably <$5 at hardware store).

neb

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#2693281 15-Apr-2021 14:46

Fred99:
If you want to start serious chemical warfare, this might do the trick:

https://www.wetandforget.co.nz/products/ants-in-ya-pants or

https://www.flybusters.co.nz/shop/DIY-Pest-Control-Services/DIY_Ants/Vanquish+Pro+Ant+Bait+325g.html

These contain fipronil which isn't a very nice chemical.

The problem with all of those is that they're pretty damn pricey... I'm tempted to get the useless Kiwicare and mix in extra boric acid to try and increase its effectiveness so at least that doesn't go to waste. When I homebrewed it from boric acid + sugar it seemed to be quite effective, just messy to make and apply.

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neb

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#2693284 15-Apr-2021 14:49

elpenguino:
dafman:

I have started using Raid Max as a barrier spray and it seems to be working quite well.

Is there any point to using a barrier spray around your house when they already inhabit your wall linings?

Genuine question.

For that you need to get the poison into the wall linings. To do that, drill a 4mm hole in the least obtrusive position and get one of these, then fill the cavity from it. You may need to repeat if there's multiple cavities.

In terms of the useless Kiwicare product, perhaps everyone who's found it useless should give it one-star reviews in M10/Bunnings to force them to fix it.

Bung

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#2693286 15-Apr-2021 14:54

elpenguino:
Is there any point to using a barrier spray around your house when they already inhabit your wall linings?

Genuine question.

It depends on how complete you can cordon off the house from the garden.

Assuming they're not finding food in the house they're trekking out into the garden. Our lot seem to go up the Banksia trees next-door. If I barrier spray around the outside of the house they move to other routes like hitting the ground under the house and exiting through the grass by the deck or going down the insides of the downpipes. In summer they were using the ropes holding the shade sails. Childish but satisfying to pluck the rope and send 1000s flying.

dafman

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#2693288 15-Apr-2021 15:03

elpenguino:

dafman:

I have started using Raid Max as a barrier spray and it seems to be working quite well.

Is there any point to using a barrier spray around your house when they already inhabit your wall linings?

Genuine question.

My understanding is that they head out to forage for food, then return.

When we had the significant invasion (living in ceiling cavity) a few years back, the pest controller only treated the house exterior - barrier spray around perimeter of house, plus baits on external walls, and that eventually totally killed off our internal nests.

neb

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#2693535 15-Apr-2021 23:21

One thing about the Kiwicare ant food, although it doesn't affect them they sure do love eating it, so I've augmented the stuff I've got with boric acid to see how it goes. I'll report back...

dafman

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#2693553 16-Apr-2021 08:12

neb: One thing about the Kiwicare ant food, although it doesn't affect them they sure do love eating it, so I've augmented the stuff I've got with boric acid to see how it goes. I'll report back...

I guess if Kiwicare Ant killer did what it claimed on the tin, the company wouldn't be as profitable as they currently are!

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#2693573 16-Apr-2021 09:05

dafman:
neb: One thing about the Kiwicare ant food, although it doesn't affect them they sure do love eating it, so I've augmented the stuff I've got with boric acid to see how it goes. I'll report back...

I guess if Kiwicare Ant killer did what it claimed on the tin, the company wouldn't be as profitable as they currently are!

They are profitable because at both of the country's largest hardware retailers, there are almost no other brands on the pest control shelves. With a business model like that they could almost sell spray bottles of water and get away with it.

Fred99

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#2693581 16-Apr-2021 09:35

neb:

The problem with all of those is that they're pretty damn pricey... I'm tempted to get the useless Kiwicare and mix in extra boric acid to try and increase its effectiveness so at least that doesn't go to waste. When I homebrewed it from boric acid + sugar it seemed to be quite effective, just messy to make and apply.

They're pricey because it's very expensive to get a new pesticide formulation registered, even one using an active ingredient like Fipronil that's already used in other products.

OTOH you can buy borax etc at a hardware shop, repurposing something that's widely used and generally regarded as safe doesn't present the same problems in getting a product registered. Classic example is proprietary "Oxalis Killer" - which consists of nothing but repackaged baking soda.

Fipronil is very effective when used in wasp baits "Vespex", there are strict controls on sale and use because it's potentially harmful (to other species) if not used correctly. I suspect it's very effective for some (but perhaps not all) ant species too - so long as it's formulated correctly and used according to instructions on the product label.

elpenguino

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#2693680 16-Apr-2021 10:55

neb: One thing about the Kiwicare ant food, although it doesn't affect them they sure do love eating it, so I've augmented the stuff I've got with boric acid to see how it goes. I'll report back...

Is borax the same ?

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/glitz-green-1kg-borax_p4460527

It's the only result from a search for boric acid on their site.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Fred99

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#2693747 16-Apr-2021 11:32

elpenguino:

neb: One thing about the Kiwicare ant food, although it doesn't affect them they sure do love eating it, so I've augmented the stuff I've got with boric acid to see how it goes. I'll report back...

Is borax the same ?

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/glitz-green-1kg-borax_p4460527

It's the only result from a search for boric acid on their site.

No - but Borax is also used for ant baits. You could probably buy boric acid on TM if you can't find anybody stocking it in small quantities locally.

Large quantities of borax are imported for fertiliser companies, large quantities of boric acid imported for timber treatment - if you want to buy the stuff in 25kg sacks or 1 tonne bags.

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