Pharaoh Ants Die!

[drhall762]

Didn't know where to put this. Pharaoh ants apparently is the proper name for what we always called sugar ants. Actually they aren't too much bigger than grains of sugar. Anyway, I have had a terrible time with them during the warmer months. Sealed everything I could, keep the counters and floors clean and yet they march in to try and find goodies. I have set out ant traps, sprayed poison, you name it but they keep coming.

At least until a few nights ago. I read that if you mix 1 cup warm water with 1/2 a cup of sugar and 3 tsp of Borax, (Yep. The 20 Mule Team stuff from the wash room.) dissolve it all well and soak cotton balls in it. Place the cotton balls in the ant paths and the claim was they would be gone in 3-5 weeks. I can tell you after 2 nights the little suckers are down to just a few and I expect as soon as the Queen gets a bit of the mix that will be the end.

I don't know if it works on any other type of ants but it has sure put a damper on these little guys.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Good little bit of something to know.

[slim1836]

Copied and saved for future reference, thanks.

Slim

[Lead Fred]

Go to a hardware store and get ant barrier. You spray it around your foundation, its keeps them outside.
I do mine every 3 years, no ants in over 10 years

[tim338]

I own a pest control business and it's going to take more than a few days for the bait you made to work. Many ant baits have borate for the active ingredient and in my experience it's slow acting. I would suggest getting a bait with indoxacarb or fipronal for the active ingredient. Pharoah ants are really picky on the type of baits they will accept so they might have abandoned the bait all together. I would suggest Advion ant gel or Maxforce Quantum as I have had luck with either for Pharoah ants. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[JWFilips]

Been using that formula for years on them as well as carpenter ants When you see them drinking it up you can jump for joy because they carry it back to the nest and deposit their new found treasure in the colonies food banks…that is all it takes. A week usually.

I boil it to make it like thick syrup and put dabs of it around the top of my foundation wall ( this way no birds or mammals can get it)

[montana_charlie]

I don't know if it works on any other type of ants but it has sure put a damper on these little guys.
Borax works on other types of insect, too.

A product called Roach Pruf is an innocuous powder that you sprinkle under and behind appliances and furniture.
It is Borax and another ingredient (a mild abrasive) that I can't recall at the moment.

It's harmless to kids and pets, but it knocks the devil out of roach populations.

[HB0708]

Borax works on other types of insect, too.

A product called Roach Pruf is an innocuous powder that you sprinkle under and behind appliances and furniture.
It is Borax and another ingredient (a mild abrasive) that I can't recall at the moment.

It's harmless to kids and pets, but it knocks the devil out of roach populations.

Diatomaceous earth could be the other ingredient. It will disable the ants, roaches, other things with exoskeletons by getting in their joints and messing things up.

We sprinkle borax around the inside perimeter of our garage and sweep up tons of bugs about every other week.

[bayjoe]

I put fire place ashes on the dens and the ants go away.

[deep creek]

Ido pest control to. for about any thing that crawls or flys i use 7.5 bifenthrin. they absorb it and it is over period!iuse it mainly on carpenter ants ,spiders and termites. after it dries its safe.a note on carpenter ants they love railroad ties.

[Beagle333]

This kills the heck out of Pharoahs. They'll show up really heavy after you first put it on an active entry site and then they'll be gone in 24 hours. You can find it at WalMart for about 6 bucks too.

http://www.amazon.com/ABAMECTIN-Abamectin-child-resistant-Plastic-killing/dp/B014LVJJPU/ref=sr_1_54?ie=UTF8&qid=1458529273&sr=8-54&keywords=ant+bait

[randyrat]

If those are pharaoh ants quit trying to spray them with poison, if you do, you need a non repellent spray, they can detect most sprays and BUD out with multiple queens, then you have them all over the place. Read up on it..You may be dealing with Thief ants, very similar. Find a non repellent spray or baits.

[smokeywolf]

The only time we've had pharaoh ants come in is if someone leaves a bag of potato chips open. Apparently they like the oil.

I think we live on an ant hill. We have an annual war with what I believe are carpenter ants. We started doing the cotton ball soaked in boric acid and sugar water a couple of years ago. Takes a week or two, but seems to make a significant difference.

Got to buy some diatomaceous earth to sprinkle around the vegetable garden beds.

[1bluehorse]

I just spray Tempo around everything, house, porch, shop, barns, you name it. No bugs.

[tim338]

Tempo is a great product I use it quite a bit.



I just spray Tempo around everything, house, porch, shop, barns, you name it. No bugs.

[leftiye]

We tried the borax/sugar water in cotton balls. Appears to have werked.

[mold maker]

I've had a problem with them in the past, but never like this early warm weather. They have suddenly appeared everywhere with a vengeance. I'd like to make silver stream casting of every nest around. But they're coming up through cracks in patios drives and walks. They find tiny cracks in the foundation and windows.
I keep a clean home with no scraps or crumbs but they're searching every nook and cranny.
I've put out many poison feed stations and they flock to them, but they still keep coming.
I'm ready to put out jelly toast and trap protein sandwiches.

[RogerDat]

Terro ant bait is a commercial product, borax based. Liquid about the consistency of glue, you pour a small puddle on squares of cardboard 1/2 inch size. Set them on the trail. Pretty soon they swarm it, take it back and as someone mentioned earlier poison the whole food supply in the colony. Have to keep putting it out for about a week or maybe a bit longer. I think the ants die back but another queen is born so colony population starts to rebound. Have to hit them over more than one generation to completely clear that colony out. I know Home Depot has it, Wal-Mart too I think. Stuff works for any ants attracted to the sweet that will collect it and take it back to colony to stash.

Don't be surprised if a different nearby ant colony starts to "explore" the territory now without an existing colony to defend it. Ants naturally expand territory until they run into opposition or unfavorable conditions. Have in my lazy patio time watched two colonies fight it out, two streams of warriors meeting in combat that spreads out into a patch of ants. Gradually the patch moves closer to one of the colonies and eventually they are overrun. Can take hours. Who knew our grilling and chilling spot on the patio was such valuable ant territory.

[nagantguy]

My only interesting ant story; in South America there are these very large ants, look like a Carpenter ant from prehistoric times, huge! The Marines we took over from called them .50 Cal ants. I was a duty one dark and humidity night and I saw a line of very large moths and a tiny lizard just floating along the ground, went over for a closer look and saw these .50 Cal ants returning from a raiding party carrying bugs and lizards 3 and 4 times their size, the line want beyond the parameter of the fence in my duty area, one more reason not to ever fall asleep or be unattentavie on duty.