Hi I have tried the following from Internet advice for ants but wonder am I not mixing correctly as have not attracted or killed one single ant

Outside tried Borax powder mixed with sugar and water. Soaked mixture onto cotton wool and put in ant containers. No joy at all. Is Borax the same as Boric acid as could only get Borax

Then tried treacle (assume same as mollasses) mixed with yeast and sugar. Put on cardboard inside. I found it dried hard after a few hours so could not be eaten I assume then by ants or could it work hardened over?Didnt get touched by ants even though I thought they would smell it a mile away.

Would like a remedy that isnt poison that could use indoors safely as have kids. Main problem inside the house and cant see any outside at all despite interanl infestation getting worse. We think now they are underneath the floors as they are in every room. Do they live in walls or is it only soil? Also thinking of concreting our floors as there are hundreds shooting up the floorboards and cant seem to find the nest. Someone said to me that concrete wouldnt help as they can find a way through it. Is this true and if so how can we seal up our house from underneath invasion. Thanks for any advice as we are panicing now. Need a soluton as only just moved to this house and clearly infested for years.

I was wondering about similar questions, GM. I just dug these two references off the website, as I have a few ants inside and gobs outdoors.



I also saw this remedy listed but I was a bit confused.



Why would it be necessary to keep boric acid baits out of the reach of children? They used to wash babies' eyes with that stuff when I was little.

And I'm not sure where I got the idea that corn meal is a treatment for ant beds. I'm sober as a panel of judges. Did I get it wrong?

_________________
Silencio ranas, que va a cantar el sapo

When they talk about molasses for the tea and whatnot, are they talking about liquid molasses or the dried stuff like I put in the potting soil?

_________________
Silencio ranas, que va a cantar el sapo

I use boric acid that I get at Home Depot...it is safe for my dogs, and my grandchildren - toddlers, all..don't seem to be harmed by it at all, and this has worked as well as anything I have tried with ants. It is better than any poison pest control I ever used in the past.

For ants, diatomaceous earth is effective and not harmful to use inside the house. Spread it where you can on horizontal surfaces where the ant trails are. If your kids or pets lick it up it won't hurt them. It may take a few days but they will either die or disappear. I've used it before and it worked. If you have ants that badly, you probably have water damaged wood and the ants are doing their job cleaning it up. I'd worry more about the damage to your house.

Using boric acid outside is not recommended because once boron is in your soil it is there to stay. Too much can throw off the chemistry.
With all due respect to other forum contributors, the information I have on boric acid all says that it is not to be used around children. The bottle of boric acid (technical use) I have here on my desk says in LARGE letters:

POISON
Keep out of reach of children.

A little research told me that several companies wage a public relations battle for boric acid. It is used in many phases and products used by people regularly, including eye washes and to deter flammability in cotton batting. So why the warning in big letters? The danger lies in its being inhaled or getting into the eyes in too high an amount. I found it interesting that it is known to react violently to potassium...we have that in our bodies, right? Being reasonable and given those parameters I can see why the danger information is on this bottle.

Yes, you did see that cornmeal will kill off FIRE ANT mounds. Don't know if it will kill off other kinds of ants as I generally don't want to kill them off since they are beneficial.

If you are really at your wit's end and close to Dallas, call Rid-All pest control for help! Patrick Bosco really knows his stuff.
Kathe

I have used 2 remedies:

1) Gardenville Soil Conditioner. It is orange oil mixed with molasses. 1 Quart costs $12.00, and you mix 4 oz into a gallon. It kills the ants/larvae on contact and is good for your plants. Go to garden-ville.com for list a retailers.

2) Greenlight fire ant bait. Got it at Walmart, it is certified for organic farming. It killed a fire ant mound that was 3'x2' in about 5 days. If the active ingredient is spinosoid* it is organic.

You can see more information at the Texas A&M website http://fireant.tamu.edu

There's also some info at Austin's Grow Green homepage: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/growgreen/