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Follow These Tips For Keeping Ants Under Control

Household ants can be a big problem. They often come and go over the course of the year. They may swarm indoors when food is left out, and you may see an abundance of ants after a rainy spell. Keeping tiny ants out of your house is extremely difficult because they can get in through the tiniest cracks due to their small size. Here are some tips that help with ant control.

Have Professional Treatments To Eradicate The Nest

Many types of ants live outdoors rather than inside your house. They may come in to feed when you put out pet food or leave food on the counter. When that happens, you'll see lines of ants marching from the food to their point of entry. Spraying those ants with poison or swatting them with a shoe won't put a dent in your ant problem because there are other ants in the colony that will take their place.

The best way to get rid of ants is to locate the colony and wipe them out at the source. A pest control company can do this by observing ants and following them to the nest or by using baits that the ants carry back to other ants.

Seal Gaps Under The Door

Although it might be impossible to block entry points completely, there are several things you can do to keep ants outdoors. Close gaps around your doors and windows, especially in the kitchen where food will attract the ants. Also, check pipes underneath the sink to see if there are gaps where the pipe goes through the wall or floor. If you feed your pets outdoors, use ant-proof bowls and set them away from your door so ants won't gather so close to your home and wander through cracks.

Think Twice About Using Pesticide Sprays

If you want to treat your home for ants, consider letting a pest control company do it and avoid using over-the-counter sprays you buy at the grocery store. These expose your family to dangerous chemicals, and they aren't that effective. Even if they kill the ants you see, that is a mere fraction of the size of the ant problem you have to contend with.

Also, be cautious about using products that are supposed to repel ants if your exterminator places ant bait around your home. You don't want to keep ants away from the bait or they won't carry it back to the nest like you need them to do.

Clean Up After Ant Trails

When ants find food, they put down a scent trail so other ants can follow the trail to the food. When you see a line of ants marching indoors, you can scrub the area with a vinegar solution or household cleaner to get rid of the scent so that other ants won't follow the trail. Just be careful about using vinegar on stone flooring or countertops. Be sure to match the cleaner to the surface you're using it on.

Dealing with ants is frustrating. Ants can ruin your food, and they can bite your pets and family. Keeping food sealed so they aren't attracted to your kitchen and plugging gaps so they can't get inside helps prevent ants, but once you have a bad ant problem, you may need a company like Be There Pest Control to help to get it under control by wiping out the entire nest.