“There are crowds of ants rushing around the garden - how many Anteaters does it take to flood everything?” – this cry from the heart of the participants of our portal is ready to support hundreds of thousands of owners of suburban areas in our country. Ants can really cause a lot of damage to your garden; they can also enter the house. We have prepared 10 cards that explain the dangers of ants and how to get rid of them.
What ants can live on the site?
There are about 300 species of ants in the regions of Russia. And the everyday concept of “garden ants” combines several of them. In summer cottages, the black garden ant and the red forest ant are most often found, and the house ant and the yellow garden ant are less common.
Red forest ant
This is a large insect about a centimeter in length. Such ants build huge anthills with impressive underground tiers. Aphids are bred, distributed and protected. They eat flowers of fruit trees and shrubs.
Black garden ant
A small black or dark brown aphid with a body length of only 5 mm, but it is the largest “breeder” of aphids. They can completely destroy seeds in the ground.
Earthen or garden yellow
Also small, up to 0.5 mm long. It does not breed aphids, but feeds on the fruits of fruit trees and berries. They build underground anthills and damage tree roots.
Brownie, aka, pest, aka, pharaohs, aka, ship ant
Having settled on the site, it quickly seeps into the greenhouse, house or outbuildings. Tiny, up to 3 mm long. He eats everything he can get his hands on, from kitchen cupboard supplies to pet food.
Features of fighting ants in the house and apartment
Unlike garden plots, where ants can bring certain benefits, pests in the house must be immediately destroyed.
Usually house ants appear in apartments, another name is pharaoh or ship ants.
Measures must be taken as soon as the first insect is noticed. If you miss time, the ants will build a nest, and it will be much more difficult to get rid of them.
Another difference from garden ants that attack suburban areas in warm weather. House ants are able to enter homes all year round.
If for some reason time is lost, methods of controlling domestic ants are usually chosen taking into account the following factors:
- The degree of contamination of the room.
- The presence of children and animals in the house, people prone to allergies.
- The effectiveness of the product.
- Availability.
In conditions of limited space, not all methods can be combined. For example, bait traps and repellent traps will be useless in the same room.
Before treating your home for ants, experts recommend doing a general cleaning. After destroying the population, it is worth resorting to preventive measures to prevent the reappearance of pests.
Video: how to deal with ants in an apartment
https://youtube.com/watch?v=lDzv6p3oWzo
What damage do ants cause to the site, besides breeding aphids?
- Acidify the soil. It is a scientific fact that ants secrete a substance that interferes with the growth and development of plants.
- They damage the root system of plants. The extent of the damage depends on the population.
- They destroy fruits and ovaries with a high carbohydrate content (if the ant population in the area is large, insects begin to feed on sweet fruits and berries), buds and petals of roses and peonies.
- They spoil the seeds and roots of seedlings. If there are a lot of ants on the site, the underground floors of the anthills go wider and deeper, and the ants begin to feed on seeds and roots that are located not far from their home.
- They spread weeds (drag their seeds around the area).
- They steal food products from a person and drag them little by little into their anthill.
How to fight in the garden?
The extermination of females, males and eggs is carried out in a comprehensive manner. Ants love quiet places, so they colonize the soil where areas are cultivated less frequently. An important rule is to frequently dig up the soil or loosen it. Thus, there will be less chance of strengthening the ant house.
Trees are treated with a strong, saturated lime solution. This applies to the trunks, the exposed root system and the surrounding area. If you find one or more nests or small anthills, you need to destroy it. Using a shovel, dig the nest and adjacent soil deeper and fill it with lime. It is also recommended to cover the top with ash or ashes. The final stage is to re-dig the soil.
How and why do ants breed aphids?
Aphids have thin skin, they constantly evaporate moisture, and are forced to continuously suck sap from plants. And just as a cow produces milk, aphids produce honeydew, which ants simply adore. Therefore, they care for aphids as if they were their pet: they transfer them to new, young and succulent plants, protect them from ladybugs and other entomophages, and take them to their anthills for the winter.
Features of insects
Ants lasius flavus were brought to our country along with products from India and Europe back in the 19th century. They are fairly small yellow-colored insects: the body length of males is usually about 2-3 mm, females are larger in size - up to 6 mm.
Representatives of this species live in colonies. The number of one such family can be about a million individuals. The guardian and main individual of a large family is the queen. She is constantly in the nest and is exclusively engaged in the reproduction of offspring. Procuring food for the entire colony is the responsibility of worker ants. The servants also take care of the larvae and, in case of migration, arrange a new anthill and move the eggs.
On a note!
There are yellow ants in the vegetable garden and in the garden. However, with the arrival of cold weather, they quickly move into human habitation, penetrating there through the ventilation shaft, through cracks in the foundation and walls, as well as on people’s shoes and clothes.
The lifespan of the yellow earth ant (lasius flavus) is relatively short: the lifespan of foragers is up to 2 months, and that of queens is about six months. However, this time is quite enough to give life to a huge number of insects. Therefore, when the first signs of the presence of yellow pests appear, it is necessary to take active action in a timely manner.
What is the best ant repellent?
Boric acid. Based on it, many baits are made with which the ants treat the queen, and thus the colony of ants not only moves to another place, but dies.
In the doses used for ant baits, boric acid is absolutely harmless to humans, animals and plants. Most good and expensive ant repellents from the store are made based on it.
In second place in terms of effectiveness is ammonia, but not ammonia, but ammonium chloride NH4Cl. It is harmless for people and a nitrogen fertilizer for plants. Sold in radio and electrical goods stores.
Ants' appearance and feeding preferences
You may encounter brown, yellow or golden ants up to 3 millimeters in length. Remember that garden and large individuals will never take root in housing. Even if they accidentally ran into it, they will try to leave this area as soon as possible. Therefore, you can either release them into the wild yourself, or wait for their death, which will happen a few days later. At the very least, do not rush to disinfect by looking for a product like Dichlorvos.
House ants are not picky eaters and will pick up everything that comes their way: vegetables, fruits, bread crumbs, leftover fish and meat, cereals, but they give preference to sweets - if you spilled sugar, be sure that every last grain will be found. in the nest. Even the scraps that have accumulated in the trash can are used.
Important: ants cannot survive without free access to water
But they say you can kill ants with yeast?
This is also a very good way:
- Finely chop the briquette of raw yeast,
- put sugar in them “volume by volume”,
- pour warm, but not hot water,
- mix,
- place saucers with this treat near the “ant points”.
The ants will be happy, grateful and will quickly drag the treat inside their nest, to other sweet supplies. And then the yeast will begin to ferment and destroy all the ant food. After this local humanitarian catastrophe, the colony will die out.
Reasons for the appearance of ants in the apartment
It has been noted that ants appear more often in apartments where children live. This is due to the fact that kids regularly leave food and drinks in the wrong places, spill sweet tea or juice
The appearance of insects in an apartment is not always a sign of untidiness by the homeowner. There are several reasons that lead to the formation of a nest:
- location of a high-rise building in close proximity to garbage containers or a landfill;
- active control of pests by neighbors, forcing insects to look for new housing;
- non-observance of basic hygiene rules by neighbors, which provokes the proliferation of pests;
- rare dry and wet cleaning of the home;
- constant presence of leftover food on the table;
- no lid on the trash can;
- rare emptying and washing of the trash can;
- presence of cracks under the front door.
Some people do not always wash their dishes immediately after lunch or dinner, leaving them in the sink. This can also cause insects to appear as they feed on leftover food.
Is it possible to get rid of ants in your summer cottage with a soda solution?
No. But their numbers can be reduced. The ants will most likely leave this place, but will settle in another. But try it if you want: pour 2 tablespoons of baking soda into a regular 1.5 liter plastic bottle, fill it to the top with hot water, and shake until the soda dissolves. Pour the entire bottle into the “ant point” and cover it with sand on top. You can simply sprinkle the ant areas with soda, or soda mixed with mustard powder. Upon contact with soda, the ants die.
Possible harm
Mustard can bring not only invaluable help to the garden plot, but also harm. Despite the fact that there are few disadvantages, every summer resident needs to know about them.
First of all, this concerns attracting increased interest from birds. Feathered lovers of the mustard delicacy can cause serious damage to the harvest of major garden crops.
It is strongly not recommended to use mustard as a fertilizer and pest control in areas where cruciferous plants are planted. There is a high risk of crop disease, as well as contamination of neighboring crops.
It is also important to remember that if the plants are severely damaged or if there are a large number of pests, the use of mustard alone may not be effective enough. More powerful support may be required, for example in the form of insecticides
Paradox! It is strictly unacceptable to plant mustard as a predecessor to cabbage. However, experienced gardeners strongly recommend using the seasoning as a means of protecting against pests.
Proper use of mustard powder and mustard crops can limit the use of chemicals. According to numerous reviews from experienced gardeners, mustard is the most effective crop care product.
How to drive ants out of a greenhouse?
This is a difficult task; The greenhouse is usually inhabited by brownies, also known as Pharaoh's ants, the most tenacious and cunning. To solve it, you need:
- Find the entrances to the ant nest (track the ants along the paths). The entrance will be under the heating pipe or irrigation system, at the frame rack, etc.
- Take a piece of natural felt (ideal) or any moisture-absorbing fabric (good) the size of a small plate.
- Put on a respirator, safety glasses and drip ammonia from the bottle onto the felt or cloth to completely wet them.
- Place it at the entrance to the anthill, cover the top with a piece of polyethylene. Keep windows and doors to the greenhouse open.
- If necessary, repeat treatment after two weeks.
Agrotechnical measures
It may be a little unusual, but the number of colonies will decrease significantly if you kill the aphids. By the way, you don’t need to completely get rid of ants. New, more adapted pests will take their place. Aphids are the main “herd” that supplies “sweet milk” - honeydew to the voracious ant larvae.
The duration of maturation of the egg lasts 35 days, larvae - 7 days and pupae - 23 days. The lifespan of the larvae is 7 days and they enter the pupal stage, which stops eating.
These 7 days are the weakest link of the ant colony. They intensively supply food to the larvae. If you feed the larvae poisoned food during this period, the colony may not be revived.
So, to successfully remove ants from a site, you can perform the following procedures with large colonies:
In late autumn and early spring, be sure to clear the trunks and skeletal branches of garden crops with a thick solution of freshly slaked lime with the addition of any toxic substance. With this technique you will destroy the ants dragging their precious cargo from the trees to the anthill for overwintering.
Around the bushes, stepping back from the base, sprinkle ash thickly in a ring, you can mix it with lime. Lime is poisonous to ants.
Approximately in the middle of the trunk (40-80 cm), secure the fishing belts, treating them with insecticidal agents. To prevent ants from crawling over the barrier, lubricate the bole around the perimeter with special slow-drying glue (buy in a store).
They will not be able to overcome the adhesive barrier and will die along with their expensive burden. Hunting belts can also be used in the spring and summer (October and March), periodically replacing them with fresh ones.
Simultaneously with the hunting belts, for 8 days in a row, having dug up the ant colony to a depth of 3-8 cm, poison them in the evening (when the ants return home), pouring hot boiling water over the stirred up anthills, preferably a hot decoction of tomato tops (literally boiling).
You can dig it up and fill it with a mixture of ash and lime or ash and salt, or treat it with a mixture of ash and soda.
A good result is obtained if you fill the anthill with a mixture of water and kerosene (100-200 ml per 10 liters of water), digging it deeper.
Daily treatment for 8 days will destroy the larvae, some adult ants, possibly the “queen,” eggs, and pupae. Such treatments must be carried out systematically throughout the year, and the ants will leave the inhospitable dacha.
Ants love peace and settle in places where the soil is not subject to frequent turning, that is, it is not dug up, stones, weeds, etc. are not removed. If you are farming without digging, then surface treatment of the top 10 cm of soil is required. Look under a stone or cardboard or board that has been lying there for a long time and you will see a bunch of ant eggs with nannies right on the surface of the earth.
Plantings around the perimeter of the dacha, individual beds, under the canopy of trees and, especially, between berry bushes of tansy, parsley, mint, valerian, wormwood, lavender, and garlic can serve as preventive preventative measures against the colonization of ants.
From personal experience: garlic in the inter-rows of strawberries/strawberries and between berry bushes freed the berry patches from ants and at the same time from some fungal diseases.
conclusions
The main thing in the fight against ants on the site is consistency (they will return and you will have to start all over again), integrity (there should be only one owner on the site) and an understanding of how the ant family works. We do not recommend practicing methods that simply drive ants away from the site. It is important to destroy the queen, and then the ant colony will come to an end. The FORUMHOUSE consultant, an agronomist with the nickname Sodmaster, also thinks the same.
Sodmaster
Destruction of ants is of no use if the queen is alive, which in a short time can give birth to a new retinue. The queen does not feed herself; she is fed by worker ants. Now, if you add poison to what they feed her and kill the queen, then the worker ants will scatter or die, deprived of leadership and a national idea. Gel and poisoned baits work precisely on this principle. Ordinary boric acid with sugar syrup does not kill immediately - the ant manages to bring the “delicacy” to the queen, who, having got drunk, dies in agony.
There are quite a few ways to fight ants, and each case has its own. All of them are discussed in our forum thread “How to get rid of ants-2”. Find out how to get rid of ants in your home. Read our article about how ants can be not only enemies, but also helpers for the gardener. Watch a video about how to set up a light garden in which even pests will not particularly bother the plants.
Folk remedies
Traditional methods of fighting ants are quite effective. They are easy to use and do not require special skills or knowledge. At the same time, they are completely safe and will not cause any harm to garden crops or pets.
Sweet traps
The easiest way to prepare and use. You need to fill a glass, bowl or half a plastic bottle with clean water, then add a little honey or simple white sugar. It is important to adhere to the proportions: take 2 tbsp for 250 ml of water. l. honey/sugar.
The water must be warm, otherwise the sugar may not dissolve completely. It is also recommended to add a little yeast, which enhances the effectiveness of the product.
The prepared trap is placed in the area where the ants live - near the nest or place where pests were often seen. Insects begin to crawl onto the attractive sweet syrup and simply drown in the liquid.
Chamomile
Ready-made dry chamomile herb is sold freely, but you can also harvest it yourself. Crush dried flowers or pour out the grass from a bag, and place it in pest habitats or where they are found.
You can use chamomile both to kill insects in the garden and in the house. This method is completely safe for humans, pets and garden plants.
The use of pyrethrum, a special type of chamomile, shows the greatest effectiveness in fighting ants.
Garlic
Most often, garlic is used in the fight against house or garden ants. If there are pests in the house, you need to rub the places where they move with garlic juice. A persistent and strong odor appears that repels pests.
If ants were found in the garden, near the nest or in places where insects move, cut garlic cloves are laid out. This method is labor-intensive and time-consuming, but brings good results.
Yeast
You will need to take simple dry yeast, which is diluted in warm water. Then a little white sugar is added. After all the components have dissolved, small containers are taken and lubricated from the inside with the resulting composition.
Traps are placed near the insect habitat and left there. Pests will crawl onto the bait. Traps need to be updated periodically.
To enhance the effect of the composition, kvass starter and wine wort are used as additional ingredients.
Boric acid
A method is used to destroy ants in the house and garden. You will need to take honey (sugar), water with boric acid. All ingredients are mixed well. The finished product is applied in drops to the places where insects move.
Powdered boric acid tends to be poorly soluble in liquid. Therefore, instead of preparing a solution, boron balls are often made. For this:
- Mix boric acid with bait (for example, minced meat, egg, boiled potatoes, honey, etc.).
- To enhance effectiveness, add glycerin to the composition. It will keep the bait moist and will not allow it to dry out prematurely.
- Form small balls and place them in areas where pests live or move.
You need to wear gloves when working with boric acid. If ants are present in your home, it is important to take precautions to avoid harming your pets.
Plants that repel ants
To prevent ants from appearing in the garden, it is recommended to plant certain types of plants that have a strong and pungent aroma. These crops repel pests with their smell. It is recommended to plant plants such as parsley, onions and garlic and marigolds.
You can plant garlic in strawberry beds. Near the gooseberry and currant bushes it is worth placing beds with chamomile or calendula.
The listed plants also attract ladybugs to the garden, whose diet is based on aphids. Ladybugs eat aphids, which attract ants. Since the ants simply have nothing to eat, they will quickly leave the area.
Boiling water
This is a fairly popular method of fighting insects and it is not considered humane, since the nest is filled with a large amount of boiling water. This method allows you to effectively get rid of ants, but at the same time the microflora of the treated area is also severely damaged.
There is another way to use boiling water - preparing sweet bait. First, a syrup (sugar) is made, which is soaked into a foam sponge, and placed in areas with large concentrations of pests.
Over time, the bait will be literally “covered” with ants. Then it is transferred to a container and filled with boiling water. The procedure is repeated several times. This significantly reduces the number of pests.
Moving an anthill
This is one of the most effective methods. Using a shovel, the entire anthill is dug up and moved outside the site. You need to work very carefully, as insects can attack and bite hard.
The soil remaining under the nest must also be disposed of. The soil is simply transferred outside the site, since it may still contain a large number of larvae. Soon they will hatch and pest control will have to start all over again.
The place where the nest was is poured with boiling water. This procedure is carried out several times.
It is important that there is a queen in the anthill, since all the other individuals will follow her.
Mustard powder and red pepper
Ants do not tolerate red pepper with mustard powder. These seasonings have a very strong and pungent aroma. They are sprinkled generously on the nest and places where pests often appear. The effect will be very fast. After about a day, the ants leave their home and go in search of a new one.
Anise seeds, valerian and laurel extracts
Anise seeds are pre-crushed and mixed with sunflower oil (strictly unrefined). The resulting composition is used to treat areas where pests often appear.
The mixture has a sharp and persistent aroma, so the ants go in search of more suitable habitats.
You can replace anise seeds with other crops - for example, bay leaf or valerian extract, oregano is also suitable.
Smoked meats
Various smoked products are the most effective remedy against various insects, as well as ants. They have a pungent aroma that repels pests. As a result, they leave their homes.
To get rid of ants, the remains of smoked products (for example, a fish head) are laid out where they were noticed.
You can also use simple sawdust, previously well soaked in smoking liquid. Then they are laid out around the perimeter of the site and near the ant nest.
Shag and tobacco dust
Not only the anthill, but also places where insects accumulate, are generously sprinkled with tobacco dust (tobacco dust is also suitable as a replacement).
The main disadvantage of the method is that the smell that repels ants tends to evaporate quickly. After rain, the product will lose its effectiveness. Therefore, periodically you need to re-add shag dust until the ants completely leave their habitat.
Semolina and other cereals
Ants will happily feast on various cereals. Most of all they love corn and wheat grits, semolina and millet. However, pests are simply not able to digest them properly. And as a result, after feasting on cereals, they die.
The nests and habitats of ants are sprinkled with a large amount of any cereal and over time all the pests die.
Lime
To prevent ants from destroying trees in the garden, it is recommended to use bleach or ordinary lime. The nests are generously sprinkled with quicklime and watered with water.
As a result, the soil becomes unsuitable for ants to live and live. Pests leave their home very quickly.
Salt
Salt is a natural preservative that can destroy various living organisms. In this case, the soil becomes completely unsuitable for pests.
Take simple table salt, which is generously sprinkled on the anthill, as well as on the pest paths. If insects have been noticed in the house, it is advisable to treat the cracks between the tiles with salt, as they often live there.
Glue traps
You can purchase ready-made traps or make them yourself using double-sided tape. On one side it is attached to any base, and on the other, as close to the center as possible, a tasty bait is placed (for example, a few drops of jam or aromatic honey).
Trying to get to the treat, the insects will simply stick to the adhesive base. Such a trap is placed as close as possible to the pest habitat or next to an anthill.
Using the same principle, they are installed on trees and fishing belts. To prevent ants from spoiling the crop, a trap is attached to the tree trunk. It’s easy to make a catch belt yourself using a backing made of any material (for example, cardboard, polyethylene or fabric) and garden glue.
Water traps
Ants are simply not able to overcome various water obstacles. Even a small and not deep groove becomes a serious problem for them. To force ants to leave their home, you can dig a groove around the nest no more than 2 cm wide.
To equip the trap, it is better to use a thin tube, which is cut and placed in the trench. Then it is filled with water. But you must always ensure that liquid remains inside the tube, otherwise the trap will be useless.
Diesel fuel, kerosene, carbolic acid
The nest can be watered with diesel fuel or kerosene (you cannot set it on fire!) and the insects will soon leave their home.
If carbolic acid is used, you must adhere to the correct dosage - 2 tbsp. l. means, 10 tbsp. l. kerosene, 10 liters of clean water and laundry soap. The resulting composition is poured into the anthill.
To prevent pests from attacking berry bushes and fruit trees, foam sponges or rags pre-soaked in kerosene (diesel oil) are laid out next to them. Hunting belts on trees using kerosene (diesel fuel) are set up in the same way.
Soap solution
The safest and easiest way to get rid of ants in the garden is to use a soap solution. To prepare it, dissolve 0.1 liter of any liquid soap in 10 liters of water. In the evening, plants on which aphids have been spotted are treated.
After the liquid dries, a hard crust remains, which does not allow pests to breathe. If all the aphids, which are the source of food for the ants, are destroyed, they will soon leave their habitats, as they will be deprived of food.
Ammonia
This product helps get rid of insects without harming plants, humans and pets. To prepare the composition, take boiled water (8 l) and add ammonia (1 tbsp).
The solution is left for 20 minutes to infuse well. After this, it can be used to treat areas where ants often appear. To spray the composition, take a spray bottle, from which the nest is also treated.
This remedy can be used, including during flowering or fruiting.
Vinegar
Vinegar is one of the most effective means of fighting ants. It is mixed with water in equal quantities. The resulting solution is sprayed in the areas where the ants live.
If pests are noticed in the house, all cracks are carefully treated, including the seams of the cladding, windows, sinks, and countertops. Vinegar has a strong and pungent aroma that makes ants leave their homes.
Soda and powdered sugar
To prepare the bait, take powdered sugar and baking soda in equal quantities. Add a couple of drops of any essential oil with a strong aroma.
The bait is placed in the ants' habitat and next to the nest. Baking soda disrupts the digestion of insects, which leads to their death.
