How To Get Rid Of Ants In The Apartment Once And For All

Entomologists can talk about ants in hours: how amazing these creatures are, whose colonies form a superorganism that operates like an individual. Ants start wars, capture prisoners and clearly define the social roles - hunters, scouts, warriors, stuards. And they are even capable of changing their “professions”. The purpose of their lives is serving the queen. And it’s all right, but very often the insects live in our homes, which is kind of uncomfortable for us.

Welcome to Big Progress, 00:27 - and today we are going to tell you about all the means to get the ants out once and for all. Causes of ants coming to an apartment If you see ants in an apartment, most often these are red ants, also called pharaoh ants. People used to think, that this kind have spread around the world from Egypt, hence the name. However, later it was found out, that their homeland had been in India. Still the name was not changed. These insects come to humans` dwellings looking for food.

Unlike the forest ants, 00:55 - they don’t build their own nests, but just settle in secluded places. Most often it is under the sink or behind the trash can. Then they start raiding to the places where bread is stored. It would be wrong to say that only the old residential buildings suffer from ant invasions. On the contrary, this happens more often in new houses, because people often bring ants with all their stuff when moving to a new place.

01:18 - Effective ways to get rid of ants in an apartment There are several means to remove ants once and for all: from folk remedies to calling an exterminator. Today we are going to tell about the effectiveness of some of them. Pour boiling water upon the insects Efficiency: low This is the least expensive way. First, you need to track down where the ants live. It will require you to play entomologist and follow the insects where they crawl. When you find a colony, you need to pour boiling water upon the insects. This, in theory, should kill them.

The main thing is to kill the queen, because it is she who gives birth to new pests. Boric acid Efficiency: Medium This popular method has stood the test of time. You may find the substance in the most of insecticides. It is truly deadly for ants. Boric acid is cheap, and you can easily buy it at any pharmacy. A bottle or a pack of powder will cost just a few dollar. Then you need to prepare the bait: for example, minced meat or bread with honey. Then treat it with the chemical. In theory, the ants will eat the bait, and then drag the remains to the place they live, and so cause mass poisoning. Professional remedies Efficiency: high, but depends on circumstances Household chemicals may be a good mean to get rid of ants in an apartment. However, people do not know how to use it. The problem with all these means is that insects develop resistance, and so the effectiveness of chemicals decreases.

02:40 - Calling an exterminator Efficiency: high Most often, ants live in the kitchen, close to food. Therefore, it will be enough to order the processing of only this room. Residents are asked to remove all dishes from open areas. Then the specialists dilute the solution and process all the walls, baseboards, floor, and places under the sink. Before calling them, you may track where the ants are crawling to and so find their colony, so that the specialists do not scour the entire apartment searching for it.

03:10 - After processing, you should not do cleaning for two or three days. Then you can wash everything up. There will be no need to leave the apartment. The chemicals are safe for pets, since they contain the same ingredients as anti-flea remedies Sometimes, the gel is used instead of liquid. It is applied to several areas along the baseboards and in the places where the pests accumulate. Then the ants bring it to the colony on their legs, infect each other and die. Frequently asked questions How to understand there are ants in the apartment? Even a lonely ant is a bad sign. Don’t think, that it just got lost. This is a scout sent by its army to look for food.

03:46 - We are not supporters of killing living beings, but you should know that this one is better to slap on. Be vigilant for a few days after the first ant appears, because new scouts may come. And if they manage to leave, they will return with all the army and settle at your place. However, the colony can come to live with you even if you have destroyed the scout. Ants leave a trail of pheromones behind them, which can show a path for others. What harm do ants do? Theoretically, ants spread infections. On their bodies scientists have found microorganisms that can cause tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and polio. However, this does not happen often. Another thing is that the ants bite. The red ones, to be honest, do not do this often. But the strength of the bite is comparable to a mosquito bite. Most often, ants do not cause any problems, except for that they live in dirty places and then crawl over food.

That’s disgusting! 04:39 - What scares ants away? People like telling stories about various household things having a property to scare away ants. But all this is unlikely to help get rid of them forever. Among the remedies against ants in an apartment, there are baking soda, vinegar, coffee, black pepper and other spices. The idea is that since ants communicate using pheromones, you may use strong odors to deal with the insects. But these methods are unreliable. Only insecticides can exterminate ants with 100% probability Where do ants come from? You can accidentally bring them from the street or when transporting old stuff.

In addition, the ants move through the ventilation. If the insects live in your neighbors’ place, then they will sooner or later visit you as well. Therefore, the exterminators often put a piece of cheesecloth soaked in insecticides on the ventilation grates. .