Invasion of the ants

from w
In Geelong we seem to be at the mercy of house ants. The little black invaders are making life misery for householders as they advance into our homes to find moisture and food. Their columns are marching on the clean as well as the careless, the McMansions and the lowliest abode into our kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms. Our houses have become restaurants for them as they find any speck of vegetable peeling, crumbs on a toaster, droplets of Cocacola, or speck of honey on a tablecloth. They line-dance over the bathroom soap, they stand and shout from on top of a dental plate in a cup of water. They even squeeze into a refridgerator or microwave oven, though that’s rather dangerous. They will run up your arm if you are not careful in swishing them away and then sting you!


How to get rid of them? Maybe some of the following: (notes abbreviated from the web).
Step1 - Follow the ant line to its source. It might be a window, moulding crevice or floor crack.

Step2 - Form a temporary barrier at the source with boric acid or laundry detergent in powder form.

Step3 - Remove any food the ants have attacked and discard it in a garbage can outside your house.

Step - If the ants have invaded the kitchen garbage can, bring it outside, hose it down and wash it with dishwashing liquid and water.

Step5 - Put food the ants have not found in zipper-lock plastic bags or in plastic containers with sealable lids. Or put these items in the refrigerator.

Step6 - Seal all food items in your cupboards, especially sugar, honey, maple syrup, grains, cereals, cookies, jams and breads.

Step7 - Wash them away with dishwashing liquid, water and a rag if you prefer.

Step8 - Use dishwashing liquid and hot water to wash the area around the ant line and erase any scent of the trail.

Step9 - Seal the area where the ants entered. Apply duct tape or petroleum jelly over holes as a temporary fix.

Step10 - Check the area in an hour. If you see any single ants, or scouts, searching the area, squash them. They're scoping out the area for future invasions.

-Of course if you are a buddhist you might not like to even kill one ant! They have a right to be here too!
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Common ants found in Australia include Bull Ants, Jumper Ants, meat Ants, sugar Ants, green headed or metallic pony Ants, and green tree Ants. Ants are social creatures and exist in colonies made up of 3 social levels, wingless and usually sterile female worker ants, fertile females or queens, and males. The worker females or foragers are the most commonly seen ant, they are a smaller version of the queen ant. Ants can bite or sting, multiple times. If you are bitten by an ant, wash the site and apply a cold compress.