How to get rid of ants

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#2996104 14-Nov-2022 17:43

networkn:
I was going to suggest burning your property to the ground with a flame thrower would definitely fix the problem. But I thought better of it.

Well, as long as some of the items you lost in the fire don't turn up again while the insurance assessors are still present it should be reasonably OK, shouldn't it?

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neb

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#2996106 14-Nov-2022 17:46

frankv:
We tracked down where they were in the wall cavity, ripped off the hardboard lining, and gave them a few good doses of fly spray.

You can get aerosol products that come with a long straw-type attachment so if you know exactly where ants are inside a wall you can hit them through a tiny hole without having to perform any controlled demolition.

tweake

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#2996109 14-Nov-2022 17:49

frankv:

Most of the stuff on the market therefore aims not to poison the ants directly, but to get them to take the poison back to the nest, where hopefully it will poison the queen and therefore wipe out the nest.

i think its the other way around.

most of the stuff on the market is boric based which tends to kill the ants that are out and about, so it takes a very long time to deplete the colony of workers enough to starve out the queen. the protein based, there's only a handful on the market, are the ones that target the colony. they take the protein back to the nest which is fed to queen and the babies.

MadEngineer

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#2996115 14-Nov-2022 18:11

You have to go all out and declare war.

Use lots of different product including bait stations that you keep topping up, even when you think the ants have all gone. Use bait around the sources that they come from and ant sand on the paths they travel outside.

Double pack any sweet product such as honey and their containers etc into resealable bags or storage boxes.

Cut away any flowering bushes around the outside of your house.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

Bung

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#2996129 14-Nov-2022 18:34

tweake:
i think its the other way around.

most of the stuff on the market is boric based which tends to kill the ants that are out and about, so it takes a very long time to deplete the colony of workers enough to starve out the queen. the protein based, there's only a handful on the market, are the ones that target the colony. they take the protein back to the nest which is fed to queen and the babies.

Boric based killing ants out and about is a sign that it is too strong. Sugar does get taken back to nest if the workers survive. Too strong and they'll become bait shy. The boron is a cumulative poison even a weak mix gets them in the end.

quickymart

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#2996184 14-Nov-2022 20:07

While I'd love to be able to tear out walls to track down this nest(s?), I rent this property and it's on the second floor, so I don't have the option of doing either, sadly.

Extemanant looks like it might be my best bet. Probably over the weekend I'll see about sourcing some (with the bait stations included) and if the Kiwicare stuff doesn't work, move onto that.

I can't leave chemicals out in the open (eg, borax) as I have children around who would touch it and could get sick from it - so some sort of sealed trap/bait station is probably my best bet.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, much appreciated.

andrew75

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#2996186 14-Nov-2022 20:17

Extermanant is the best. I found Kiwicare No etc all hopeless ants just ignored it. The are all over Extermanant

larknz

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#2996187 14-Nov-2022 20:19

quickymart:
While I'd love to be able to tear out walls to track down this nest(s?), I rent this property and it's on the second floor, so I don't have the option of doing either, sadly.

Extemanant looks like it might be my best bet. Probably over the weekend I'll see about sourcing some (with the bait stations included) and if the Kiwicare stuff doesn't work, move onto that.

I can't leave chemicals out in the open (eg, borax) as I have children around who would touch it and could get sick from it - so some sort of sealed trap/bait station is probably my best bet.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, much appreciated.

If you are renting then you should complain to the landlord.

Jase2985

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#2996189 14-Nov-2022 20:28

just use a bottlecap to house the bait

neb

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#2996324 14-Nov-2022 23:02

larknz: If you are renting then you should complain to the landlord.

In this case it's probably better to handle it yourself and maybe ask the landlord for a small rent rebate to cover your costs. Reason being that you have to arrange for the landlord to visit, they'll try various things that may or may not work, they'll have to do a return visit at later date to try something else, it's just something where it's far easier and less hassle to handle it yourself and square things up later.

eracode

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#2996336 15-Nov-2022 00:05

Jase2985:

Tasmex Exterm-An-Ant

Yep - this stuff could be made by Apple because it ‘just works’. Depending on the number of ants in any given location, one to three small pools of killer (say 2 cm in diameter) will see them gone within 24 hours. They take it back to the nest where it kills them and their mates.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Bung

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#2996353 15-Nov-2022 07:25

I'll be a contrarian and say that 24hrs is too fast for a nest to be destroyed and what you see is the visible ants have gone elsewhere. Most of the research suggests using a low concentration (1 - 2%) so ants keep feeding and up to 10 weeks to kill all.

At the beach we've got used to giving them no reason to be in the kitchen but outside if you look there are millions of them.

larknz

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#2996460 15-Nov-2022 09:57

neb:
larknz: If you are renting then you should complain to the landlord.

In this case it's probably better to handle it yourself and maybe ask the landlord for a small rent rebate to cover your costs. Reason being that you have to arrange for the landlord to visit, they'll try various things that may or may not work, they'll have to do a return visit at later date to try something else, it's just something where it's far easier and less hassle to handle it yourself and square things up later.

The landlord definitely needs to know and they will probably get professional exterminators involved.

MadEngineer

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#2996563 15-Nov-2022 12:34

… which will likely involve a pumped spray which is applied throughout your home as he walks around in a pressurised suit like someone coming to snatch E.T.

Eg https://www.jae.co.nz/services/pest-control

If you get that I hear it’ll result in all the cockroaches rapidly exiting from the depths of your walls and dropping dead everywhere if you have that problem too :)

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

MikeAqua

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#2996565 15-Nov-2022 12:44

MadEngineer: … which will likely involve a pumped spray which is applied throughout your home as he walks around in a pressurised suit like someone coming to snatch E.T.

Eg https://www.jae.co.nz/services/pest-control

If you get that I hear it’ll result in all the cockroaches rapidly exiting from the depths of your walls and dropping dead everywhere if you have that problem too :)

Yep. We get the house done each spring. Over the next couple of days, all the creepy crawlies come crawling out to die. Then no flies or mozzies all summer, even when the doors are open.

Mike

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