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Ants

Maggie's Farm Ant FactsMaggie's Farm Ant Control ProductsControl Strategy For a Few Ants

If you have just a few dispersed ants coming into your house, you can spray them with Maggie’s Farm Ant & Roach Killer aerosol or Maggie’s Farm Home Bug Spray. If you can find where they are coming into your house, you can spray that area as well to hopefully keep them outside.

Control Strategy For Lots of Ants

If there are a lot of ants coming in and perhaps forming trails, then you’ll need to get more serious because that means they have found a food source. Bait is the best way to get some control over the nest when you don’t know where it is, if you can’t reach it, or if there are lots of nests. Sometimes the nest may not even be on your property!

Choose one of our three moist bait options: Maggie’s Farm Roach Killer gel bait (yes, it kills ants, too!), contains protein as well as fat and sugar, so it may be the best option in the spring when ants are more likely to be looking for protein. In the summer and fall the best choices are Maggie’s Farm Ant Killer syrup bait or Maggie’s Farm No Spill Ant Kill bait stations. Both baits have the sweets ants crave, but also a high moisture content which is appealing to thirsty ants in the summer. No Spill Ant Kill bait stations contain a unique gel which prevents spills and keeps the bait contained with no mess (Click Here to View Video). Ant Killer syrup is a more economical choice that is very attractive to ants and works great.

Before using a ant bait, try to eliminate any food sources they may be coming inside to eat. Remember ants are also attracted to moisture, so if you have any chronic dampness or leaks, that could be attracting ants (and other insects). Try to see if you can determine where the ants are coming in, and then put the bait as close to that spot as you can.

What often happens is that the ants will find the bait and then start recruiting more worker ants to gather the “food.” If you observe patiently, you can then follow the trail to the entry point. It’s common to see more ants soon after you put bait down, but then the numbers will decrease over time as the colony is killed off.

Resist the urge to spray the ants. Never spray where you put bait down. For a small nest, it may only take a couple of days for the ants to die, and for a large nest, it could take a couple of weeks or even longer. If the Roach Killer gel bait or the Ant Killer syrup bait gets dry, you’ll need to replenish it or remoisten it with a few drops of water. If the ants eat all the bait, don’t forget to put down more!

If You Have Found The Nest

If you have located the nest in your home or outside, you can treat the nest directly by applying a spray like Maggie’s Farm Ant & Roach Killer aerosol or Maggie’s Farm Home Bug Spray. Both can be used indoors or out. 

Maggie’s Farm Spider and Insect Dust can also be used to treat nests directly and will last longer than a spray. Be on the lookout, though, as there may be more than one nest, and nests may be in walls, under the slab, or in other areas you can’t get to. If that’s the case, you’ll need to place bait near where you see the ants trailing.

Checkout How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally

To Prevent Ants (And Other Crawling Insects) From Entering Your Home

To prevent ants from entering your house in the first place, you can apply a barrier of protection around the perimeter of your home using Maggie’s Farm Yard Bug Spray. This product simply attaches to your garden hose and automatically mixes with the concentrate when you turn the sprayer to “ON.” Just spray the lower portion of the foundation (but not the siding), and along the ground next to the foundation around the perimeter of your home to about 3 feet out. Make sure to spray mulch beds thoroughly where crawling insects like to hang out. If ants are already coming in your house in significant numbers, take care of them with bait first, then treat the perimeter to help prevent future problems.

Ant Facts:

  • It is estimated that there are 1.5 million ants for every person on earth, so it’s safe to say we are outnumbered.
  • Most of the time, they don’t bother us, but certain kinds of ants can cause problems if they take over your yard or invade your home.
  • The ants you actually see are only 5-10% of the colony.  The rest are in the nest, ending to the queen and the brood (eggs and larvae).
  • Adult ants can’t eat solid food, they only drink liquids.  Liquid food is collected and taken back to the colony and shared. When ants pick up solid food, like dead insects, seeds or granular bait, they carry it back to the nest and feed it to the larvae.  The larvae digest it and turn it into liquid food that is then shared throughout the colony.
  • Some types of ants, and many of the main pest ants, have multiple queen colonies.  These ants are sometimes called “tramp ants” because they will nest almost anywhere and set up shop at the drop of a hat.
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