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Shortly after we moved to Florida, we noticed lots of tiny ants in damp spots around the house – near the kitchen sink and in the bathrooms.  We would see trails of them and even though we would kill the ones we could see (by stomping on them), they never really went away.  The previous tenants had left behind a bottle of Terro which we used.  We would put some on a piece of paper and leave it near where we were seeing ants. However, when I started finding them in the cupboards, I didn’t know what to do, so we called in the pros.  It was nice not having to worry about critters in the house – if we found one we could simple call the pest control company and they would send a guy out to take care of the problem (they came quarterly to do checks and we got free callbacks anytime we saw bugs).  The only problem was that it was costing us money.  Money that I was sure we didn’t need to be spending.  They were tiny little ghost ants.  Surely there was a way to get rid of them that didn’t involve paying someone else.  A little research turned up several recipes.

They all involved sugar and borax and since I had both, I mixed some up.  It took less than 5 minutes and I had an effective, cheap ant killer

I dripped the ant food along the outside of our lanai.

We used to put the food inside wherever we were seeing ants and it did work.  The ants would clear up.  However, it seems like that would call more ants in, right?

At some point we got smart and started putting the food outside.  You have to find an ant – just one – to spread the word.  Then they seem to come from all around, but at least they’re not calling more into your house!  It may take several weeks to wipe out the entire nest (colony?).

Just keep treating them and eventually they’ll be gone.

Recipe

1 C Sugar

1/2 C Water

1 T Borax

Mix together in a small saucepan and heat to boiling.  Boil until everything is dissolved – just a couple minutes.  Pour it into a glass jar (I used a pickle jar).  When you need some, just pour a little out either on a plastic lid (like a water bottle or yogurt lid) or on the ground if you’re doing it outside.

 

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