Have you noticed ants crawling across your kitchen floor? Up the counter into your leftovers? Invading your sugar bowl?
It is not unusual for these pesky little insects to bug you during winter.
The question is how do I stop ants in winter? Ants live in colonies. If you have ants in your home during the winter this could signal that they have decided to move to warmer pastures!
This being, of course, nearer to your house, in your home, or even in the walls or roof. If they have gotten into the walls or roof, it can cause significant structural damage to your house or even your foundations.
Let me state the obvious, the best way to stop ants is by prevention. Easier said than done? Here are some top tips to help you prevent and eliminate ant infestation in your home.
Stop Ants in Winter
The first step in the elimination of an ant infestation is to identify the access points and trails used by these small individuals.
Once ants have found a source of food and carry that food back to their nest they leave a chemical trail behind. Much like Hansel and Gretel leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to find their way back. This trail is to identify the route for other worker ants to follow and easily find the food source.
Identify and eliminate what food source is attracting the ants. Keep the kitchen clean, seal up food, don’t leave those dirty dishes out, clean counter surfaces.
However, let’s get into more detail and try these home remedies and say “adieu” to these pesky ants.
Chalk It Up
One of the more well-known home remedies to keep ants at bay is the use of chalk. You can either use powdered chalk mixed with water or buy chalk sticks.
Spray chalk solution in areas of high ant movement. At entrances, on counters, and window sills. Alternatively, you can use chalk sticks and draw chalk lines on these surfaces.
Why chalk you ask? Chalk contains a chemical compound that includes calcium carbonate. Ants sense the surface they walk on through their feet. Calcium carbonate attaches itself to the ants’ feet. This causes them to lose the feeling they need to navigate the surface. It is this feeling that makes ants avoid the chalk, they would rather find a way around it.
Your local hardware store will very likely have “Ant chalks” available. This type of chalk stick contains cypermethrin which is a component of pesticides. This is also an ingredient in many insect sprays. Cypermethrin messes with the nervous system of ants and just like other chalk remedies, ants will go out of their way to avoid this chalk.
Ordinary chalk, however, will only disrupt ant trails briefly. They will be confused by the scent but will eventually figure out very quickly that it will not harm them. They will then continue their journey over the chalk lines heading for your sugar bowl!
Oranges Do Help
Oranges are a great deterrent to ants. They keep them away from paying you a visit or two.
How? The oil produced by orange peels contains an extract, d-limonene, which is toxic to ants. So, don’t throw your old orange peels away, turn them into an insecticide.
Mix a paste by finely chopping orange peel and adding one cup of warm water. Paint this paste onto all entrances that ants use. After you have sprayed let it dry a little and wipe the surface down with a damp cloth.
Another remedy incorporating oranges is to put peels in a jar cover with water and leave for 3 to 5 days. Then drain the water, pour into a spray bottle, and use as needed.
Alternatively, you can spread orange peels on your counters or where ants enter your home. Oranges are a natural way to discourage ants from entering. Don’t let those orange peels go to waste!
Lemons Too
Lemons are the same as oranges, it is a citrus fruit after all. The smell of lemons is disliked by ants, and the lemon peels also contain the extract, d-limonene.
As in oranges, lemon peels can be placed where the ants enter your home. This will deter ants from visiting. You can also spray lemon juice at these same entrances.
Another way is to add lemon juice to the water you use to wash floors.
Avoid Ants, Use Pepper
Ants hate pepper. Sprinkle a line of pepper at the places from where ants enter your home. Ants hate cayenne pepper or black pepper. As stated above you can also make a mixture of water and pepper and spray it in affected areas.
This is not a permanent solution but it will deter ants from returning. Make sure to first wipe the area you are spraying or sprinkling for the best effect.
To get rid of an ant colony, follow these steps. Make a solution of water and cayenne pepper. Follow the ants to the entrance of their colony and pour this solution into the entrance hole. Cayenne pepper solution has a twofold purpose. Apart from killing the ants it also taints it and deters other ants from colonizing this area again.
Table or Coarse Salt
Using fine table salt, coarse sea salt or even Epsom salts is one of the greatest and cheapest ways to deter ants from entering your home. Merely sprinkle salt at the places where ants enter.
Alternatively, as before making up a solution of salt and water. Stir until all the salt is dissolved. Pour into a spray bottle and use as necessary.
Spraying this salt solution directly on the ants will dehydrate them and ultimately kill them. This is why ants will not cross any salt lines or areas that have been sprayed with a salt solution.
White Vinegar Spray
Ants abhor white vinegar. Mix a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water. To make it a bit easier on the nose add some drops of essential oil. Pour into a spray bottle and shake well.
This solution can be stored and be ready for when you need it. When you spy that dreaded line of intruding ants marching into your home, simply whip out the spray bottle and spray that ant entrance. Alternatively, you can spray affected areas like doorways and windowsills, once a day. Repeat this once daily.
If you can source the nest or the entrance to the nest, you can take the same mixture and pour a liter or two down the hole.
This solution may not kill the irksome little ants but has an added advantage of making your house smell nice. This is of course if you have added the essential oil! Otherwise, you are likely to make your home smell like the local fish and chip shop.
Cinnamon and Cloves
Cinnamon and cloves are a very old method to deter most insect invasions, it was used long before pesticides were even thought of.
This is a simple nontoxic trick. Place cinnamon and/or cloves in a neat line in doorways and windowsills or any other area where you see ants entering the home.
Cinnamon and cloves have compounds that irritate the antennae and legs of ants. Thus, they will avoid any contact and not cross the line.
This is an excellent method of waging war on the invading ants. It will make your home smell fresh and clean too!
Smell the Mint
Mint is an excellent natural insect repellent! It will help you do away with your ant problem.
Ants dislike the smell of mint and will avoid any contact with it. Look here on how to make a solution of mint essential oil to help you with your ant invasion. Pour into a spray bottle and use as necessary. Repeat this action twice a day.
You can even plant mint near your entrances or in window pots. Again, it has a two-fold use. One, to keep pesky ants at bay, and two, a herb close by to use in the kitchen when needed.
Calling the Professionals
A DIY approach can work in some instances, for some small ant infestations. But, more often than not, calling a professional exterminator is best. This is because of the danger, the size, and sometimes the repeated ant infestation.
Locating ant nests is the first step in eradicating an ant infestation. A professional will not just work on the identified ants but is trained to find the source and habitat of the infestation.
Contracting a licensed exterminator is the best way to treat this problem. They will also give you advice on how to prevent future infestations if needed.
Put an End to Ant Invasions
Keeping your home clean certainly helps deter or eliminate ant invasions. It is all about reducing or containing food sources. But, in winter the problem can be more difficult to handle.
Ant colonies are normally established out in the yard. But, when the winter arrives, ants tend to slow down and go into a form of hibernation. They will therefore be attracted toward warmer areas and this is when they form satellite colonies. These can be in your walls and in your floors, keeping them safe from the cold.
The discussed traditional methods above, may not always be successful. Why not give yourself and your family peace of mind from these and other pests. Contract a professional exterminator who uses safe and controlled methods.
Visit our website for more information on how we can help stop ants in your house and in fact, with any other pest problem!