Ants!!!!

Other topics that are not covered in the sections above.
Unicorn
Resident
Posts: 1670
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:06 pm
Location: Estepona

Ants!!!!

Postby Unicorn » Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:17 pm

I have a few small ants in the kitchen. Flat high up so no garden.

Could be coming in air vents or vent shaft. No food out at all. All in massive fridge freezer.

Not loads but what is the best way to get rid? Anyone? Help..............

Thanks in advance to those more expert than me.

That is everyone, I guess.... :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave:

User avatar
Enrique
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 9488
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:47 am
Location: Mytchett/Alcala La Real

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Enrique » Fri Jun 28, 2019 9:29 pm

Hi Unicorn,
Its a good year for Ants......everyone I've spoken to recently has had a problem with them.

For me it's usually a foraging party of about 15 - 20 no trail leading back to where they came from, usually use a damp kitchen towel and mop them up.

If there is a trail back to base then ZZ Polvo at the entrance /exit point will clear them up in 10 mins.

https://www.zelnovazeltia.com/productos ... secticida/
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.

Unicorn
Resident
Posts: 1670
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:06 pm
Location: Estepona

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Unicorn » Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:02 pm

Hi Enrique!
How are you?


Pleased it is a general problem and not just me. Yes 15-20 is about right. No idea where the exit place is but there are a couple of possibilities. ZZ Polvo? Carrefour or similar maybe?

Thanks

User avatar
Enrique
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 9488
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:47 am
Location: Mytchett/Alcala La Real

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Enrique » Sat Jun 29, 2019 6:10 am

Hi Unicorn,
ZZ Polvo in local droguería shops up this way.

Good thanks and you to ?
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.

User avatar
Wicksey
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5879
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Axarquia coast

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Wicksey » Sat Jun 29, 2019 9:20 am

I use Zum spray which I have found in Eroski and Dia. It smells like WD40 and is quite strong but when I've had a problem this is the only thing that keeps them away. I spray it all around the perimeter of the house and it does seem to stop them entering.

Unicorn
Resident
Posts: 1670
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:06 pm
Location: Estepona

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Unicorn » Sun Jun 30, 2019 10:06 pm

Hi

I went for ZUM which seems to be highly rated all round. The powder options worry me because of the dog who may do a Boris 'sneeze it up' by mistake.

Anyway, let's see but I have high hopes.......

User avatar
Wicksey
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5879
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Axarquia coast

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Wicksey » Mon Jul 01, 2019 2:00 pm

It's the only thing that's really worked for me, Unicorn, so hope it does for you. I have cats and don't like the powder either and it seems to get trodden everywhere. Once the Zum has dried I've not had a problem with our animals. It has done wonders when I have had a huge infestation in the past and seems to be long lasting.

anyroads
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2252
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 8:53 pm
Location: Hampshire, UK, Lebrija

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby anyroads » Tue Jul 02, 2019 10:52 am

Unicorn wrote:Hi

The powder options worry me because of the dog who may do a Boris 'sneeze it up' by mistake.
I shall still be voting for him !!

anyroads

Unicorn
Resident
Posts: 1670
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:06 pm
Location: Estepona

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Unicorn » Tue Jul 02, 2019 6:04 pm

ZUM seems to have done the trick. Haven't seen any little critters since!!!

A BIG THANK YOU :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Unicorn
Resident
Posts: 1670
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:06 pm
Location: Estepona

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Unicorn » Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:38 pm

Hi there

I thought the problem had gone.

But the ants are back!

It is not like there are hundreds, just really in ones and twos, but I have no idea where they are coming from. Absolutely no food out, all in the fridge. But one will suddenly appear from nowhere.

Are they coming in through the window maybe - but I am high up?

IT is no way a plague, but I daren't leave anything anywhere.

Anyone have
a) the same problem?
b) a solution?
They are only little black ants, obviously not dangerous but irritating.



Helppppppp!!!! :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

User avatar
Wicksey
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5879
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Axarquia coast

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Wicksey » Wed Aug 14, 2019 4:05 pm

We've had one or two strays in the kitchen this summer and no idea where they are coming in. I make sure I squish them so they can't go back and tell their mates about us!

Even though I try to keep everything as clean as possible, when we did have a plague one time, they found their way into the spare bedroom and up onto the top of the wardrobe where the cat food was stored in sealed bags. When I opened the bags the ants had eaten through the plastic wrapper and the food was crawling with them. They will nibble their way through bags and boxes and seem to be able to sniff out food even though it is sealed in.

Unicorn
Resident
Posts: 1670
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:06 pm
Location: Estepona

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Unicorn » Wed Aug 14, 2019 4:15 pm

Shame you just can't injure them so they can limp back to their mates and say don't go there!

But I literally have no food in the kitchen other than in the fridge, including sugar, flour etc everything in there. So there is nothing to eat. But I take a slice of bread out of the freezer, put it on a plate on the worktop, and there one is. Amazing.

Just off to the drugstore to search out new killer stuff...............

User avatar
Enrique
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 9488
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:47 am
Location: Mytchett/Alcala La Real

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Enrique » Wed Aug 14, 2019 5:28 pm

Hi Unicorn,
You need a cunning plan............. :shifty:
Like what I've done............. :D

They seem to like dog and cat kibble and walnut pieces ........
So place one piece of the above where you last saw them.....the path finders will soon be on to the bait...........patience now..........they will relax their guard and start to return to their nest........then you will have a trail back to base.
Tracing mine across the speckled tiles ( must have been a job lot middle of last Century, as all the Farm houses up this way have them) took twenty mins, then out with the ZZ Polvo and a light dusting on the skirting board tiles............ten mins later that nest cleared.
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.

User avatar
IreneD
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2347
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:35 pm
Location: Canillas de Aceituno

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby IreneD » Wed Aug 14, 2019 6:27 pm

We co-exist with them - they don't really bother us. Yes, I have to keep work surfaces scrupulously clean otherwise I get hoards but otherwise, they don't bother us. There are a few on the floors in most of the rooms.... should I try to get rid of them? They disappear once the summer is over.

maureenscot
Resident
Posts: 666
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 5:37 pm

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby maureenscot » Wed Aug 14, 2019 7:04 pm

My mum used to swear by chalk and talcum powder. she said they wouldn't cross it

El Cid
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 16058
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 10:42 pm
Location: La Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby El Cid » Wed Aug 14, 2019 7:26 pm

Yes, they are a pain at the moment and ours are the ones that sting! I don’t like using any sort of solid product that could affect our cats. We track down the (usually very small) hole or crack and use a small hypodermic syringe to inject a suitable insecticide.

Sid

Unicorn
Resident
Posts: 1670
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:06 pm
Location: Estepona

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Unicorn » Wed Aug 14, 2019 8:15 pm

I'm stop-gapping with a product called Eco Gel which the local chandlers-hardware shop says is very good. i'm going to use powder as a last resort as up here we have such violent gusts of wind I worry for the dog.

My supposition is the nest is in the ventilation shafts in the building as there are so few of them on scavenger parties. Now they are only in ones or at the most twos.

So fingers crossed with this new stuff..........

User avatar
Wicksey
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5879
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Axarquia coast

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Wicksey » Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:36 am

IreneD wrote:We co-exist with them - they don't really bother us. Yes, I have to keep work surfaces scrupulously clean otherwise I get hoards but otherwise, they don't bother us. There are a few on the floors in most of the rooms.... should I try to get rid of them? They disappear once the summer is over.
It becomes a problem when you get a full on invasion of them and they get into everything .... see my post above :thumbdown: I had a packet of microwave popcorn in the cupboard and they had got into that and were just everywhere in every cupboard, literally hundreds of them, and swarming all over the worktop. They came in once through the living room wall somehow, then marched across under the rug and out across the hall and into the kitchen. Our campo ants are obviously a well organised army and we are probably the only human food source for some distance :(

User avatar
IreneD
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 2347
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:35 pm
Location: Canillas de Aceituno

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby IreneD » Thu Aug 15, 2019 6:18 pm

That's not good, Wicksey :( We are very lucky that they are not in our food cupboards. I wonder why they aren't...... they are on the worktops and the kitchen floor, unless I keep them very clean. If I leave a crumb out, it gets dragged away quickly. Of course, I'm pleased they aren't in the cupboards. Maybe it's because the only access is through the doors, they can't get in via the walls. But they are tiny enough of course to get in through the doors. It's a mystery. I would have to do something about them if they were eating our food.

Unicorn
Resident
Posts: 1670
Joined: Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:06 pm
Location: Estepona

Re: Ants!!!!

Postby Unicorn » Tue Aug 20, 2019 11:53 am

Update.

I got the Eco gel. It is a transparent gel in a syringe so I ran it along the wall side of the counter top last Wednesday and have not seen one ant since. I got the 5 ml tube for 5 Euros, but there is a 10 ml one for about 7 Euros.


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google Adsense [Bot] and 26 guests