Can Ants Be Effectively Eliminated from Sugar Storage Containers?

[Borg]

Interesting ancient thread. I didn't see any references to my solution so I'll post it.

We had problems with ants but discovered that they never hung around the pepper. We sprinkle pepper along potential entry points and along the backsplash of our kitchen counter every spring when we first see them. I'm not sure if it messes with their scent trails or if they just don't like it but, they stop coming within a week or so. We had a few holes in the wall under the sink from an alarm company that I sealed also. I poured a bunch of pepper down those holes first. Our ant problem went from being a summer-long tragedy to a spring-time annoyance.

 

[BobG]

I remember that. He had ants coming into his place and he layed a path of sugar for them to follow. They were marching in and he marched them right back out again. Then in a fit of Feynman as usual, he made a circle of sugar and had them marching around it. I suggest that you follow suit and make a trail of sugar away from the sugar bowl. Just be careful not to make a path TO the sugar bowl.

I don't think a circle will work. I think within a day or two, the ants will be marching in a straight line across the circle.

Maybe you could lay index cards along the path to the sugar bowl. After the ants are marching in a staight line along the index cards, just turn the cards around to lead away from the sugar bowl.

 

[Evo]

In India we put some dried cloves(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove) in the sugar box and ants don't come inside it. Even I did not believe it earlier but after putting these mixed up in sugar really helped. Give it a try.

But then the sugar is ruined and has to be thrown away. Cloves taste like medicine. Small children are punished for growing teeth by having their mom's rub clove oil on their gums.

 

[Moonbear]

But then the sugar is ruined and has to be thrown away. Cloves taste like medicine. Small children are punished for growing teeth by having their mom's rub clove oil on their gums.

LOL! Yeah, I'd rather have ants in the sugar than cloves too.

I had ants getting into the kitchen when I moved in last year. I just followed them to see where they were coming from and found entry points around the back door frame where it wasn't properly sealed under the sill. A little caulk went a long way there. Though, even that wouldn't stop them if I had just the screen door closed, so this year, at the first sign of ants emerging above ground in the spring, I went on a full out assault mission. I sprayed all around the foundation and about 3 ft out from it, along every gutter downspout, and any other place I thought provided a ground to house path (supports for the deck, etc). I did that twice, because the first time a surprise storm decided to show up a few hours after I was done and washed it all away again.

Then, after doing the outdoor spraying, I surrounded the house with the outdoor baits (the ones with a spike to stick in the ground) and made sure one was on either side of each entry way, plus scattered in a perimeter around the house. And, finished that off by setting up baits inside near each of the doors around the places I saw them entering last year. I put an assortment of baits around...the solid baits, the liquid baits, different brands...I figure whatever is to the ants' taste, I should have something of interest to them. The baits are not meant to be very fast acting, but they let the ants carry it back to the colony before they die. I mainly wanted to ensure that if any broke the exterior perimeter and found a way inside, there was something waiting for them long before they got to the kitchen or the cat food dishes.

So far, so good. I haven't seen any ants indoors this year yet, and we're long past the spring season when they usually emerge and make pests of themselves.

Then again, we may have just had so much rain this year that they're all drowning. And, I also put in more landscaping that is away from the sprayed areas that seems to be encouraging salamanders, garter snakes and wolf spiders (ick ick ick) to thrive, and as long as they don't take a turn in the house, I've been leaving them to thrive in the yard on any ants they want to eat.

In this house, my cat also has her own bedroom with hardwood floors, so it's easy to clean. I put her food in there, so when it does attract any sort of bug, they are confined to a room that is not normally a place any other food is stored or prepared. I don't mind throwing out a dish of catfood if it gets infested with something, as long as I can easily wash it out and clean the floors and the bugs don't head for the kitchen or pantry.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I don't think a circle will work.

I wasn't suggesting that the op use a circle, just that Feynman had done so as an experiment. I suggested they leave a trail of sugar leading away from (not to) the sugar bowl.

 

[BobG]

I wish I had ants. And an erector set. I could build an ant elevator, a ferry that carried ants back and forth across a tub of water, a draw bridge (they'd probably just crawl right over the end and back down the bottom of the bridge, though). It'd be great.

 

[Evo]

I suggested they leave a trail of sugar leading away from (not to) the sugar bowl.

 

[EnumaElish]

I wish I had ants.

You can buy them here. (Or, you could request a few specimens from MIH?)

 

[Andre]

You can buy them here. (Or, you could request a few specimens from MIH?)

Splendid idea Why didn't I think of that. Ants for sale here, cheap.

 

[EnumaElish]

Splendid idea Why didn't I think of that. Ants for sale here, cheap.

I wonder how they transport them. Would the postal service accept them?

 

[Andre]

I wonder how they transport them. Would the postal service accept them?

It appears that Feynman did some research for that.

He had ants coming into his place and he layed a path of sugar for them to follow.

 

[EnumaElish]

He had ants coming into his place and he layed a path of sugar for them to follow.

I wished my aunt stopped coming to my place. She's crazy!

 

[BobG]

I wonder how they transport them. Would the postal service accept them?

I had an ant farm when I was a kid. We got our ants in the mail. They'd been frozen, or at least placed in a low temperature, before mailing, and it being winter, they were still pretty sluggish when I received them. It took a day or two in the ant farm before they really got to work.

I imagine if you ordered some in the summer, you'd have to place them in the freezer or refrigerator before dumping them in your ant farm or whatever you were going to use them for.

I doubt freezing them damages them much. I know you can freeze flies and it doesn't seem to have any long term effects. Build yourself a really lightweight plane from balsa wood and saran wrap and superglue the flies to the wings and you have a plane with powered flight.

Or a paper airplane with a lot wing area works well, too. You want a plane that can fly slow.

 

[moonman239]

Exterminating the ant hills usually will not kill all of the ants, and most of the time causes them to move.

Actually, you can exterminate them by buying ant bait. Ant bait is designed to act much like roach bait. The ants will see it as food and take it to their queen, who eats some and dies, and then the colony eats it and they die.

 

[BobG]

This way sounds fairly foolproof. All you need is a garden, some snails, and a cow in your backyard.



Actually, this is fairly similar to moonman's method.

 

[Pattonias]

For the love of God, if you find ants in your sugar, toss it and buy a new bag.

I think this is one of my new favorite PF quotes.