Get Rid Of Ants In Your House The Natural Way

Learn how to get rid of ants in your house the natural way. Check out the article we found over at Everyday Roots.

Ants are critical to the environment in too many ways to count, but they quickly become pests when they invade your home seeking food, shelter, or both. Nobody wants an ant invasion, and often times will reach for intense chemicals to eradicate them as quickly as possible. Pest control is one aspect of daily living in which people accept some of the scariest chemicals into their homes, numb to warnings stamped on the packaging-“Don’t inhale!” “Don’t touch!” “Call poison control if you make any direct contact with this substance!” “Potentially harmful!” “Actually what we mean is it will kill you!” Well, you get the point. If something needs detailed instructions plus a hotline number for 24 hour emergency assistance (human or animal) or chemical emergency assistance, I don’t want it in my house. What you have to think is-if this is going to obliterate the pests (in this case, ants) won’t it be harmful to anyone and everything else? Yes. It will. But what nature brought forth is can also turn away, so read on about how to get rid of ants naturally.

1. Bust Out The Vinegar, Baby

Ants communicate with each other using sounds, touch, and-the golden ticket here-pheromones. The pheromones are chemical signals. Scent trails, in essence. Ants perceive smells with their antennae, and can determine direction and intensity of scents. If a forager ant finds food, it marks a trail leading back to the colony, which the other ants than follow to the source of the food. Each time the trail is traveled, the smell is intensified. By using white vinegar by all of their entrances and any paths that you know of, you are disrupting their scent trails and making it harder for them to creep back to the food source they’ve been invading.

You will need…

– 1 part white vinegar
– 1 part water
– A clean cloth

Directions

Mix together white vinegar and water, and spray/wipe down all of the entrances you know or suspect they may be getting in by, and spray/wipe down all counters or surfaces by food sources.

2. The Ant Honey Pot

How to get rid of ants…are you focusing too much on the “get rid of” part? Have you done everything you can to exterminate the ants, but it’s just not working? If eliminating them isn’t doing the trick, try diversion. No, you don’t want to attract the ants to your house, but if a colony has set up camp, diversion can sometimes be the way to go. Once they’ve decided the honey pot you lay out is better than that hard to reach food you’ve locked up, it’s easier to lay something to deter them from coming back in. After you’ve got their scent trails cleaned up, food sealed tightly, and some kind of deterrent by the entrances, they aren’t nearly as apt to coming marching in again. Even if they try, they’re going to find you’ve made it a lot harder by then!

You will need…

– A small paper bowl
– A few tablespoons of honey OR a 1-1 mixture of sugar and water

Directions

Place a little paper bowl with the honey outside, a little ways from your house but not so far that the ants won’t find it. Once they find the sweet stuff, they will happily go to that, rather than try to battle their way into your house. You can also mix some sugar and water and spray it on the ground if you find the honey ineffective. Once they have discovered the pot, move it a little bit at a time further and further away from the house, refilling and refreshing it as needed.

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Read full article: 5 Ways to Get Rid of Ants Naturally Without Killing Them