ants feeding at liquid bait As warm weather arrives in the spring higher temperatures may activate ant nests both inside and outside your home. You will see increased ant activity as nests resume nest-building and production of young worker ants. All this activity requires food so ants will be out foraging for new food sources. Control of the common household nuisance ants (not carpenter ants) is best done with baits, rather than insecticide sprays which only kill the ants the spray contacts. And the simplest and least expensive is a drop of sugary liquid food that has been combined with boric acid (borate). During spring ants are most attracted to sugary foods (carbohydrate) because of the high energy demand of nest building. If a scout worker finds a bit of sugary food she (all worker ants are female) will recruit her nestmates to the food source (see photo above). bait station on wax paper Borate, a salt of boric acid, is toxic to insects when consumed. So a simple bait mad
Least-toxic control of ants, bed bugs, cockroaches, fleas, head lice, lawn/garden pests, mosquitoes, termites, wood boring insects, yellowjackets and most other household pests.