What to do about ants

We have tiny, tiny ants (I think) in the kitchen and pantry. How do we get rid of them? A friend suggested spraying everything down with white vinegar but they are back in less than a day. We are renting and have just arrived. Help!

Take a big bottle of cheap tequila and....... na I don't want to be a smarty for once.
Spray Baygon and leave house for a few hours.
Feliz ano, I mean año nuevo

gm

Really, I hate to be spraying stuff in the kitchen. Is this the best solution? They have to go.

Buy ant gel from the hardware store just west of Telmex. It comes with little plastic trays to put the gel on but I just put a little bit here and there in the ant pathways. Leave it for a day or 2. They take it back to the colony and that's the end of that colony.

Thanks for your help tomorrow is the day that they are going.

Don't spray Baygon around your kitchen or pantry.
The ants are harmless. Boric acid might get rid of them too.

We call them sugar ants in Florida where they are simply a fact of life. You just brush them off the counter before you make your sandwich or whatever.

I am no expert at eradicating them, but I can comment on reducing the problem. Realize they are likely coming out on the counter (or wherever) because there is a food source. Remove the food source. Put anything that is open in the fridge. The absolute worst thing in our experience is honey. Even in what we thought were sealed containers, the ants sensed the honey, came by the hundreds, and found their way in. Of course removing the food source doesn't get rid of the ants...but they will be less of a problem.

A little DE sprinkled along the windows or wherever they're coming in works wonderfully.

I second the diatomaceous earth. The landlord warned me he had a problem with ants so I sprinkled a bit in the cupboards. Bye bye ants

Trailrunner wrote:Don't spray Baygon around your kitchen or pantry.
The ants are harmless. Boric acid might get rid of them too.

Boric acid is great for cockroaches too, and not harmful like Baygon (overkill?) Of course at our age?

gm

We had the same ant problem in our house.  There is a formula of making a sugar water (3-parts water, 1-part sugar) dissolve boric acid into the water(can't remember the amount).  The formula can be found with Google .  Either put the solution in a bottle cap with a cotton ball in the cap (to keep them from floating in the water) or just place a few small puddles of the solution in hidden away places on your counter tops.  The ants will soon surround the puddles and take their deposits back to their nest.  Don't spray the ants, just let them do their natural thing.  These puddles stay active for weeks (sticky/tacky).  Your ant problem will disappear within a few days.  We have one bathroom that they have been feeding on for weeks, but they are taking their takes back to a nest and the queen will sooner or later get her share.  98% of our small ant problem has been eliminated using the solution.  It works!

You can spray them with Windex on the counters and it is safe.

jrm30655 wrote:You can spray them with Windex on the counters and it is safe.

Yes, but Windex only kills the ones that are physically present on the counter when they get hit with the spray. And the colony can have thousands, with new ones being produced every day. So the most effective control methods are those which provide poison bait to be carried back into the colony and eventually to the queen.

tabacone wrote:Buy ant gel from the hardware store just west of Telmex.  It comes with little plastic trays to put the gel on but I just put a little bit here and there in the ant pathways.  Leave it for a day or 2.  They take it back to the colony and that's the end of that colony.  

I bought this stuff yesterday, left one plastic tray on the kitchen counter and the ants are feeding on it like crazy this morning.

It's called "Antex Gel" and was on display on the main counter at Jara Hardware.  It cost 130 pesos.

Get a fumigacion company

"Get a fumigation company"
Wish it was worthwhile...I've tried a local company, no change in the infestation from
standing water from a neighbours burst pipe.
These insects are not just the harmless ants,those I can live with, these little tyrants
bite like mad. Will try the "Antex Gel" on Monday, it might work, thanks for the mention.

Get recommendations for a insect guy who has done good work for others.  Ours, in another area of Mexico, stopped them cold.  They reappear in smaller numbers, but we have him come once every 3 months.  Problems ended.

"Get recommendations" roni..this person was a recommendation.
If anyone on this board knows of a REAL professional, not just a guy with a spray bomb and a mask...please give me their name.
I might have to look further afield to Guadalajara, steaming has been suggested, but it's
not available in the Lakeside area.
Gracias.

Nosnow wrote:"Get recommendations"   roni..this person was a recommendation.
If anyone on this board knows of a REAL professional, not just a guy with a spray bomb and a mask...please give me their name.
I might have to look further afield to Guadalajara, steaming has been suggested, but it's
not available in the Lakeside area.
Gracias.

Our guy baited all the outlets and switches - seems the ants in our area love electrical connections. Our handyman told us that if you ever have a problems with electrical connections here, ants are the first thing to look for.