Natural Ant Killer Tips
Natural ant killer products it would be great if they actually worked. Unfortunately, most natural products don’t have a long-lasting effect on any insects.
Ants are very resilient little fellas and with good reason. We have been trying to kill them since the beginning of time.
They always seem to come back no matter what ant killer product is used. Even the ones passed on by family and friends. Everyone seems to have a great natural ant killer product that they’ve heard of at some point.
Coming from a professional point of view I can tell you natural products don’t work too well. It would be great if we could all mix up some hot water and salt to get rid of ants.
Unfortunately, that just doesn’t work and especially not for long periods of time.
DIY Natural ant killer solutions
Mint: planting mint is meant to deter ants and other insects. Ants apparently don’t like the smell of mint so this deters them although it won’t kill them. Wipe some mint around doors and windows to help keep them out. Using mint will at least make your home smell nice even if it doesn’t kill the ants.
Vinegar: Mixing 50% vinegar and 50% water is another way to try and eliminate ants. Once the mixture is ready either spray it on the ants directly or where they are trailing.
Lemon Juice: Lemon juice is a well-known natural ant killer and is meant to deter ants because of the citrus. It also is meant to disturb the ant’s scent trails. Without scent trails, they are a bit stupid and don’t know where to go. Mix 1 part lemon juice and 3 parts water place into a sprayer and spray away.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon is supposedly meant to suffocate them as they inhale it. You sprinkle the cinnamon on the ant trails and even around a nest opening. There is also cinnamon oil that can be sprayed onto different surfaces where ants frequent. Mix a couple of drops of the oil with water and spray as needed.
Diatomaceous Earth (DE): If using diatomaceous earth as a natural ant killer solution it must be the food grade product. To apply it you simply sprinkle it around doors ways and windows or anywhere you see ants. This product can be purchased online and is ready to use.
Diatomaceous earth works by drying out the ant’s exoskeleton. More treatments will be necessary a number of times during the year for longer effects.
Natural ant killer the professional way
So I have given you some home remedies to help eliminate ants. But in reality, the above solutions aren’t that effective.
To bring ants under control a commercial product is required. The product professional pest control companies use is Termidor.
Termidor is a non-repellent which means it doesn’t kill the ants on contact. It has what is called a transfer effect so results may take a few days.
A mixture is made up and applied to the external of homes. The bottom of the external walls and gardens will be treated. This will leave a residual on the ground that the ants will pick up while foraging for food.
If a thorough treatment is carried out it’s possible to get up to 6-months relief from ants.
Ants are strong and resilient
In the image below and the video top of the page, you can see a couple of ants dragging a much bigger ant along the ground. This really does show just how strong they are.
If we were as strong as ants we would be able to lift about 10 times our own body weight. How good would that be, we’d all be superhuman.
Their main purpose in life is to reproduce and feed the colony to make it bigger and stronger. We have to except that ants are here to stay no matter how many natural ant killer products we try. They will probably be here long after we’re all gone. Maybe can learn something from the humble little ant.
Conclusion
Natural ant killer methods can work but they need to be applied a lot. In some cases, the product chosen may need applying every day.
This can get a little bit frustrating for homeowners and this is when they turn to the professional solution.
There really is only one way to get rid of ant and that’s with a professional pest control service. Think of the natural alternates as a back-up throughout the year or to spot treat areas.
No product on the market today will get rid of ants for good. At best 6 months is about the most you could expect from a professional treatment.
