# Ants! not in my pants but in the house



## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Hi

Yesterday afternoon I noticed one or two flying ants on the inside of the kitchen window ... I got rid of those but more were there after a few minutes ...at this stage I was not really concerned because this year there seems to have been one or two days where lots of ants nests were sending out lots of winged ones on their mating flight. 

Then I realised that all the doors were closed and there were more flyers on the windows... I then went into the hall to see ants swaming out of the cupboard under the stairs and across the carpet in a procession towards the light ... now I don't mind ants outside, they are amazing creatures... but inside my house no way ...so I Dysoned the millions  I could see and sprayed creepy crawly spray into the crevice that they were coming from. 

This morning there were still a few non flying ants about so vacuumed again and re did the creepy crawly spraying.... now waiting to see if they are gone for good. 


Has anyone else here had a inside the house nest this year ? Is this years weather to blame? ...and if you did how did you deal with them?


Mike


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## Telbell (May 1, 2005)

Yes Mike can empathise. We had some in our dining room and kitchen and did a temporary job with the white powder stuff.

A few weeks later we had our kitchen gutted for new units- included a new floor-workmen discovered ants nest under floorboards. Dealt with again with combination of boiling water and powder stuff. Messy but they've certainly reduced in number.

Had a nest on lawn too and wife....poured boiling water on them- got rid of ants but didn't do lawn much good :roll:

Seems it's been a good year for ants:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...weather-brings-armies-ants-British-homes.html

oops-just seen it's last years article- must be hanging around then? :lol: :lol:


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## Spiritofherald (May 18, 2012)

Speak to your local Environmental Health officer as they can usually get rid of many pests far more effectively than we can, and there is no charge for some types of pest.


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## iconnor (Nov 27, 2007)

I had this problem a couple of years ago. After hoovering up all that I could find, I pulled back the carpets if the area (corner of dining room) and sprayed all the floor and skirting with the ant lacquer killer. No problems since.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

We used to get them every year about this time in hot humid weather. They came up through the floor in the conservatory until we changed the carpet and I squeezed silicone along every join and gap. 

Not seen them since.

Ray.


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

we get millions in the house every year and its a on going battle to get rid of them.Just keep spraying with a slow killing spray ,that way the sprayed ants will go back to the nest and kill the other ants at source.
It takes a bit of will power not to kill them.
Oh the joys of living in Spain.
I wont bother you with the Gekos, scorpions, Bombay Bombers ,Snakes or black widow spiders.


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Ant's not here but in Kenya..

When we came back from our dive the staff would leave us scones covered with strawberry jam and cream and a nice flask of coffee.. if there was any scone left or jam on the uncovered plate the ants would come to clean it all up, they changed from brown to red as they ate the jam..

In the next chalet my mate had a line of ants that went up the veranda post across the ceiling wall inter-junction and disappeared in the roof space, they were trying to get a bit of broken off Gecko tail into their nest.
About 50 of them picked up the tail and started to take it up the veranda leg across the roof wall inter-junction to the hole and then as some had to let go to get it in the hole the few that were left dropped it.. They all then went back down to it, picked it up and started all over again, and again, and again.. Ants are gormless.. :roll: 

Oh and the Gecko's were nose to tail inside the Chalet at the ceiling wall inter juntion, all round the room, and I wont say about the snake that came up the hole where the shower water went through when my mates wife was having a shower, we all thought she was getting murdered with her scream..


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## Easyriders (May 16, 2011)

Our garden is totally taken over by ants, every stone we turn over has an ant's nest under it! I now put elastic band round the cuffs of trousers and long-sleeved Tshirt when I do the weeding.

We also get plagued by flying ants several times a year, they particularly love our silver car, sometimes it just turns brown! Oddly, they don't bother with the white MH.

We don't, thank goodness, get them in the house, though my friend does in the summer if she leaves a single breadcrumb or an uncovered sugar bowl on the worktop.

We did have a big ant problem on our patio a couple of years ago. We bought several ant traps from Wilkinson's, and set them round the edges of the patio. We renew them every Spring. The idea is that the ants take the poison back to the nests. Despite millions of ants in the garden, we never see them on the patio.

Might be worth trying in the house?

Now, does anybody have the answer to midges!?


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## Gary1944 (Feb 21, 2009)

Hi, I know there are many commercial products out there, but some years ago we had the marching line of ants in a property we were renting in Menorca. Didn't have any of the aforementioned ant killers etc, so tried washing up liquid. IT WORKED. Put an arc of liquid around the point they came in and those that touched it died, and none crossed over the liquid. I have used the same trick over the years, and it has done the same job without being restricted to Fairy Liquid!

I know it seems a strange product to use, but we all have some in the cupboard, whereas not many have the proprietary powders etc to hand. It also isn't dangerous to our health so might be a good stand by for others.

All the best, Gary


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

we had them constantly in Israel

and just learnt to live with them

especially the giant ones, never encroached on the living space, just marched up and down the wall

brilliant outside cleared up all the grasses that could twist into mucus membranes, especially in the babies who were crawling about

fantastic things

give me them any time rather than flies or bluebottles

Aldra


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

Easyriders said:


> Our garden is totally taken over by ants, every stone we turn over has an ant's nest under it! I now put elastic band round the cuffs of trousers and long-sleeved Tshirt when I do the weeding.
> 
> We also get plagued by flying ants several times a year, they particularly love our silver car, sometimes it just turns brown! Oddly, they don't bother with the white MH.
> 
> ...


We use a Mossie Trap from Lidl's its solar powered and works a treat inside and out.
We have had Ants in the porch -thousands of them. The flying ants were bad to as they went in the air to mate. I bought powder and ant traps from B&Q and they have worked -no ants at all for a week.


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Hi

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions ...we are now into day 3 now and there is no sign of any more ants so I hope that's it. I finally used a spray can of insecticide ( Raid ) that has a long plastic nozzle fitted to it that let me spray right under the skirting and directly into where they were coming from...and it is supposed to be residual. So now all we have to do is put back all the junk that we keep under the stairs.... but at least it will be tidy in there and we have thrown away some of the "must keep" pieces that went in there years ago :lol: 


Mike


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