What's bugging us? (Pun intended)

[Kimberly54]

Hi all,

Summer is upon us!  What do you all do about bugs in your house?

Don't get me wrong, I TOTALLY understand.  If I were a guest and saw bugs in the house, this might not be a good thing.  

Once upon a time, my husband and I spent the night in a small cottage--very well cleaned--and not occupied for some months.  A little family of spiders had moved in, and in the night, one crawled into my ear.  

OK, it is impossible to prevent this kind of thing 100% of the time... AND bugs inside the house are just gross and disgusting.  Right? 

Right now, in San Diego, I am battling with an army of ants, and I can not use poison... unless I am very careful.  The commercial traps don't work.  I've tried boric acid/water/sugar (very good poison, but they are back for more!), sweeping them out is pretty good, but again--hey! It's HOT outside! They just want to come in!

I dunno.  Any really good tips out there?

Best,

[Linda108]

Hi @Kimberly54.  I hate to admit that I use a monthly pest control company that spray outside perimeter of the home.  I decided to take that step because here in the desert we have scorpions along with other poisonous bugs such as black widow spiders and centipedes.  😛

[Kimberly54]

Hi @Linda108, on the edge of a wildlife preserve, I'm very close to what you describe.

With the chickens and now a Guardian Goose (omigoodness, what a hoot she is!), the insects, lizards and rodents are 'almost' zero, but as clever as everyone is, they don't understand EAT THE ANTS!  GOOD PROTEIN! 

The 'girls' keep the back yard clean--and they eat everything--except ants.

I don't hate ants, I understand that they ariate my land, and I am grateful for that!   I am also grateful that I don't have ants that bite.   It's just the entry into the house--and I GET IT.  IT'S HOT OUTSIDE!  

Grrrrr... balance of nature.  A bit of a battle goes on right now.

Thanks for playing!

Best,

[Lawrene0]

The internet told me to try mint, @Kimberly54. I did. Soaked some strips of cotton in extract to tuck in cracks, and scattered fresh cuttings from the garden on the porch. I felt like it worked, but I cannot say for sure. It made the place smell fantastic, though. 

[Lizzie]

This is so clever, @Lawrene0. I hope it does work, as I too love the smell of mint. 🙂

[Randolph1]

Every now and then I have an ant problem but I just place some pepermint oil down solves the problem. No ants spiders. It works like a charm 

[Mark116]

Terro is very effective in my experience.  It's the stuff they eat and take back to the nest, so there is no residue in the house like with a spray, it's very contained.  If you have though, you will have to put it in a place they can't reach.  

[Sarah977]

@Kimberly54   First of all, I live in the tropics where a huge plethora of insects are endemic, second of all, no, I don't necessarily consider bugs in the house to be "gross and disgusting". They're just little creatures, which I realize some people are terrified of.

That said, a cockroach or a scorpion will get smacked with a shoe in quick order. The spiders I have (by no means an infestation, and if I saw an egg sac, I'd dispose of it) are harmless and keep other annoying insects at bay, so I don't usually kill them, though I make sure the guest quarters are spider-free by thorough vacuuming, even turning the bed frame on its side (foam mattress, so not heavy) and vacuuming the bottom. I also check behind picture frames, as I once found a whole army of big ants, complete with hundreds of eggs, had made a home there.

So my approach is thorough frequent cleaning and not having a lot of stuff around where insects can hide out- quite minimalist, as opposed to poison.

As far as ants go, those little traps with the boric acid/sugar solution in them do work for the tiny sugar ants- it just takes awhile, as they take it back their nests and it takes some time for the nests to be poisoned. But all ants are not attracted to sugar.  If you can follow the trail of ants to their nest, you can use those little pellets that they take into the nest, which kills the nest. Then you are just poisoning the nest, rather than having to use poison in your house.

 And I was told and tried it and it did work- a line of cinnamon is something they don't like to cross. Spread across the window sills, across the doorways and wherever else you determine they are getting in. Smells great, too.

[Kimberly54]

@Sarah977, you are a breath of fresh air!

I've done the boric acid/sugar (thought that was working pretty well... yes and then no), and then I have an automatic robot vacuum that can suck them up... wow, what devious things we have to do!  Sweeping with a broom is also good, but very temporary.   This is very annoyingly seasonal.

And I have other animals to consider (GENUISES).  I can not use any kind of poison.  Might try the cinnamon...

THANK YOU!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Kimberly54

Like @Sarah977 says, not all ants are attracted to sugar - you can try mixing in a little bit of peanut butter. https://www.boricacid.net.au/do-you-have-protein-or-sugar-ants

My dad thinks boric acid recipies are the answer to all pest issues 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 We have many kinds of ants here and some aren't even attracted to any kind of food- the leaf cutter ants come out in droves and can demolish many plants overnight. There are some plants they like way better than others- they fully strip my 2 story high, lush jasmine plant in about 2 nights once or twice a year. And it seems to be most tasty to them just when it's starting to flower 😞  The first time it happened, I was totally distraught. But low and behold, within a week it was all coming out thickly in fresh green leaves. Now I just consider them to be nature's pruners and just sigh when it's sadly denuded yet again. (The leaf cutters take the leaf bits back to their nest where it all ferments and the queen is fed off this mold, or something like that, fascinating, really)

[Sarah977]

@Kimberly54  I have open shelving in my kitchen and colorful dishes- it's part of the decor. Last year I had a friend visiting for a month and her first day here I had to run into town for an hour. I came back to find that she had covered every shelf full of dishes, and most of the counters with paper towels and dish cloths. I was somewhat taken aback and when I asked her what that was all about, she said "There are so many flies". I said "They're FRUIT flies, dear, not house flies, they don't carry disease, all you had to cover was the fruit basket and they'll leave" and promptly uncovered everything 🙂

[Kimberly54]

@Sarah977, an old wisdom:

Time flies like wind.

Fruit flies like pears.

(BTW great trick is to put a little fruit into a jar and then... quitely, and quickly in the morning... snap on the lid and let them go outside.)   THIS IS THE BEST TRICK IN THE WORLD for fruit flies.

Ants aren't quite so easy... and then there are other critters!

Best,

[Mark26]

I suggest you use an ant bait.  Amdro makes a great product that you can spread around the perimeter of your home.  It comes in a plastic jug.  It looks like cornmeal or uncooked cream of wheat.  Ants carry it back to the colony, and kill all their friends.  https://www.amdro.com/all-products/ant-block-home-perimeter-ant-bait-granules

Another product I recommend for "bugs" in general is Talstar (The active ingredient is Bifenthrin) and can be sprayed as a barrier around the perimeter of your home, as well as inside your kitchen, or inside your barn with livestock present.)  Unlike the baits that take time to work (because the workers have to find and carry it back to the colony, and the colony is in turn eliminated over the course of a few days) The Talstar will kill the ants (and spiders, and centipedes, and cockroaches, and mosquitos) it comes in contact with on the spot. You can mix with water it in a Pump type sprayer, or you can purchase it in a granular form to spread around the building and in landscaping as well.  I use both.  It's the same stuff the professional pest control guys use, but you can buy a years supply for less than the cost of a single treatment.  https://www.domyown.com/talstar-talstar-one-p-97.html

[Sarah977]

@Mark26  Kimberly did say she didn't want to use poisons in and around her home because of the danger to her "wanted" animals.

And a quick Google search of Bifenthrin says it is fatal to fish (therefore shouldn't be used anywhere that it could run-off into waterways) and is highly toxic to bees. The rapid decline of bees, which are important pollinators, is now considered a major problem worldwide.