black ant

Ants can be a problem any time of the year, but as the temperature increases in late spring and summer, the heat sends them indoors by the masses.  Two of the most common ants that invade homes are little black ants and sugar ants. These pests come into your home in search of food, which usually sends them straight toward your pantry.  Last week I was at a friend’s house and went to get a box of cereal out of her pantry, and when I picked it up a trail of ants started crawling out of the box.  I looked around and realized several other boxes had these unwanted guests crawling along them as well.  Clearly, we had a serious ant problem on our hands. There are hundreds of home remedies for getting rid of ants, so I’ll offer the ones we found to be successful.

Our first order of business was to remove everything from the pantry, which turned out to be quite a task.  Then we set about inspecting what items were contaminated with the ants and threw those goods away.  It’s a good idea to bag up all your trash and take it to a dumpster nearby; otherwise, you may just move the ant problem to your trashcan.  Of the remaining food that appeared to be untouched, we put all perishable items into sealed containers. The problem with many packaged goods is that once opened, they do not reseal and leave easy access for these culprits to move in.

Next, we wiped down the whole pantry and then sprayed a water and vinegar mix around the pantry.  This will eliminate the scent of the ants that they use to guide other members of their colony to their location.  Finally, we spread a thin line of baby powder around the pantry shelves and along the floorboard.  The talc in the powder is known to repel ants and it is a much more pleasant smell than that of most chemical ant sprays. Even better, it’s a common household item and not harmful to animals or children.

So far, our at-home ant solution has kept these critters at bay. As with any pest problem, if you find that at home remedies are not solving the problem, professional pest control experts can provide you better solutions.