What is the most effective way to kill ants that enter your home? To answer this question, it is important to first know the species of ants that invade, and then to consider some key points of ants control :
Ants are better controlled thanks to an integrated prevention, exclusion and control program :
The main reason why ants enter homes is to look for food or water. Once an ant finds it - or both, it brings it back to its nest while leaving a scent for the other ants in its colony to follow to get more. So eliminating these food or water sources is the first step to eliminating ants from your home.
Clean up spilled food and crumbs from floors, cupboards and pantries, entering corners and along baseboards.
Sweep and clean floors regularly.
Do not leave pet food after the animals have finished eating. Although animals need water to be available, you should limit sources of water as much as possible, especially if you think you have an ant problem, and until you can control it.
Empty the trash cans and clean the trash areas regularly to avoid buildup and odors.
If you recycle, always rinse items before storage and store them in pest-resistant, lidded containers. If possible, store containers outside and away from the home
prevent ants from finding entry points by sealing crevices and cracks , keeping screens in good condition, and ensuring doors and windows are well sealed with no gaps.
Check and seal the gaps around electrical wiring, cables, pipes and other potential entry points.
Repair leaks inside and outside the house and eliminate common water sources around the outside of the house
Because spraying ants only kills food-seeking workers, spraying rarely succeeds in killing ants. The main exception is when direct spraying from a nest is applicable, such as for fire ants.
Thus, it is recommended to use bait. Indeed, most of the ants in the colony, including the queen, never leave the nest. They are fed by food brought back by worker ants, which are responsible for finding food to feed the whole colony.
Ant baits consist of food to attract ants with a slow-acting insecticide, so workers can bring the poisoned food back to the nest and feed other members of the colony, before being killed by the bait qu 'they carry. In addition, in this way, the bait kills the entire colony, including the breeding queen, instead of simply killing a few worker ants with a spray, which would simply be replaced by another troop of ants.
At first, it may seem like baiting is a very slow way to rid your house of ants, but it will have a far greater long-term effect than the continuous spraying of a few ants here and there.
