Summer is the time of year when certain insects make a appearance. In some homes ants become a huge problem. It seems that no matter how clean you keep your house, and how many of them you have killed, they just keep coming back. That is because the majority of the ants always stay back at the nest waiting for others to bring back food. So how can you get rid of ants without calling an exterminator or paying for commercial ant traps which are more expensive than those you can make yourself.
Here is how to make DIY Ant Traps.
What you Need:
–Boric Acid
–Sugar
–Old, plastic containers
–hammer and nail or something else to poke holes in plastic container
What you Do:
1) Create a mixture of 1 teaspoon of boric acid and 6 tablespoons sugar. Add 2 cups of water. Stir the mixture until the boric acid and sugar are completely dissolved. (Boric acid can be found at most drug or grocery stores in the cleaning aisle. It is poison to insects but safe to use around the house. But do keep out of reach of children and pets.)
2) Now soak cotton balls in the solution. Add one cotton ball for every trap you want to make.
3) Get some plastic containers, like old butter tubs. Clean them out and then poke about 5-6 holes in them so the ants can get in and out. Put a cotton ball on the inside and replace the lid.
4) Place these containers in the areas of your home most troubled by ants.
This process is not instant. It is dependent upon an ant taking the solution back to freed the rest of the ants. But the boric acid will eventually kill the ants. Have a happy, and ant-free, summer!
I did this at my moms in Florida, horrible ants. First couple days you will notice an increase in ants as they find the “food” and take it back to the nest. After that, no more! Good luck!
We have a HUGE ant problem, and so far nothing I’ve tried has worked – even the professionals haven’t totally vanquished them. I’m hoping this will at least make a division in their ranks, and that I’ll eventually win this battle.