Worm Invasion

[Red Arrow]

Bees like the clover.

[heironymouspasparagus]

What I said before...


Boric acid will deal with the ants better than the spray.  Plus won't kill your bees.  Borax laundry additive will do it.  Check the web for recipes.  Will usually take a little bit of time - from a day or two up to a week, but it works well.  They take it back to the nest and feed it to the queen, etc., etc.  Spray won't get rid of them.

Terra is one product in the store if you want to spend more money.

Also, get the food off the counter tops.  Keep anything wood away from the house - several feet at least.

[Hoss]

What I said before...


Boric acid will deal with the ants better than the spray.  Plus won't kill your bees.  Borax laundry additive will do it.  Check the web for recipes.  Will usually take a little bit of time - from a day or two up to a week, but it works well.  They take it back to the nest and feed it to the queen, etc., etc.  Spray won't get rid of them.

Terra is one product in the store if you want to spend more money.

Also, get the food off the counter tops.  Keep anything wood away from the house - several feet at least.

I use Terra EXCLUSIVELY... especially indoors, but I purchased three of their outdoor stake baits.  Premise is the same with theirs.  It's a liquid bait that they ants just devour.  Problem is, it never seems to be enough.  I tried borates twice with some success, but usually after the rain washed it away, the next rain brought them back.  We'll see if the outdoor application of Terra makes a difference.  I usually do not notice them indoors until after a good soaking rain.

[heironymouspasparagus]

It's a never ending battle.

[custosnox]

We have tried boric acid.  It has only culled the heard, so to speak.  IfWhen they return I'll see about looking into Terra.  However, the plus side to spraying is that it that it is more effective against spiders.  I don't care if they spun gold webs and ate all the ants, spiders don't belong in my house.

[Hoss]

We have tried boric acid.  It has only culled the heard, so to speak.  IfWhen they return I'll see about looking into Terra.  However, the plus side to spraying is that it that it is more effective against spiders.  I don't care if they spun gold webs and ate all the ants, spiders don't belong in my house.

It's actually spelled 'Terro'.  I noticed the box last night and figured I'd better correct that.  It's difficult to miss.  It comes in a orange and blue box.  You can get the home baits, which are plastic traps you cut a notch out in the bottom.  It also comes in straight gel/liquid you can put down in corners.  Or if needed, they come in three packs of outside stations that have a liquid pack and two stakes each.

In the past I've purchased from WallyWorld, but this last round I picked them up while doing some repair stuff and needed to go to Lowe's.  I'm sure any of the big box hardware stores (or even places like Sutherland's) has them.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Terro is  a boric acid product, and seems to work pretty well.  When that ant hill is gone, a new one will appear, so it goes on and on.

Yeah, indoors is my zone, outdoors is spider zone.  I am merciless with them inside, but will move them around outdoors to keep from killing them.  Except brown recluse (mostly inside anyway) and black widow.  They are all gonna die if I can get them - anywhere.

[AngieB]

There are several videos on Youtube showing ants going to town on Terro. They love it!

[sauerkraut]

My neighbor has a big problem with mosquotoes, He said he dumped out his little swimmimg pool and found it full of the things, he even has been getting the things inside his house. I don't have any problem with mosquotoes, I told him to check his attic vents for a torn screen, they are getting inside the home somehow. I hope the mosquotoes don't come over to my digs.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Someone has stagnant water sitting around somewhere.  They gotta have that to breed.

Kid's swimming pool is classic.  Mix 1 cup bleach with 1 gallon water and pour it in the pool.

[BKDotCom]

Kid's swimming pool is classic.  Mix 1 cup bleach with 1 gallon water and pour it in the pool.

Stupid question:  why mix it with 1 gallon of water before mixing it with the 300 gallons of water that's in the pool?

[heironymouspasparagus]

In case you splash it on your hands/clothes while taking it out to the pool.  Protects from sloppiness.  Water in pool couldn't care less.
And 1 cup might not be enough.  Just wait a day and see.  So many of those little pools are green from algae that it may take a couple doses.  Which will also be hurting the plastic.  Catch 22.

Or empty them when kid is done for day and refill tomorrow (or 5 days and a mosquito life later), not leaving water sitting around.

[custosnox]

I make regular checks around the house to dump out anything with standing water, including buckets, totes and birdbaths.  It doesn't take much to start a problem.  I read somwhere that the larvea found in the water in an old tire can number in the thousands.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Yep, they can.  And your neighbors have it too.  I have one guy with a tire next door and I occasionally throw some spectracide in it just to be safe.  Now, if I could just get him to lose the tire...

1/2 inch of water the size of a sheet of paper can get a bunch of skeeters going.

[AngieB]

It gives me great pleasure when I find a bucket of water teeming with mosquito larvae to dump it out and kill all those little effers.