How to kill ants dirt cheap. Save big bucks.

[felixthecat123]

Bring to boil 1/2 cup of water. Put boiled water in a skull-marked plastic container. Add 3/4 tablespoon of borax powder from Lowes/Home Depot ( or even cheaper...get a box of Mule-Team Borax at Walmart in the detergent section) and 1 cup of sugar. Close plastic container and shake well. That is the basic ingredient for ant death. Don't use anymore than 1 tablespoon or the ants will not take the bait or will not make it back to their nest. Sometimes ants travel great distancesto their nest.

Now...gets some shallow but non slippery containers (about 1/2 inch deep...try a starafoam cup and cut out everything 1/2 inch and above from the bottom) and fill up but leaving room for ants to come down into the side of the cup to drink. Place these cups outside where they can be seen coming in. I suggest near air conditioning freon line into the house...near doors or windows, sometimes from the telephone poles that ants can tightrope until they get onto the roof of your house). Leave your poison in these locations. I would also check by nearby dead wood and trees. Once the outside is taken care of...go to the inside where you see them. Put the ant bait down in corners or other places where ants can find the bait. The ants should easily locate it. Don't allow small babies or small kids near the bait.

You will not have any problems after 48 hours or 4 days maximum. This forumla will kill little ants as well as the big black carpenter ants. It targets all but most importantly it kills the queen such as in the black carpenter ant. This forumula does some interesting things to those poor litttle ants. I'm almost afraid to say(:eek: ). It will distrupt the nervous system of the poor ant...in the final stages the ants even attack each other in a crazy battle when they contact each other(:confused: ). Finally...the large number of of ants twindle to one or none.

I know from experience since I have used this forumla to kill ants in my gassy/heavily wooded area. Sometimes...I can put down the bait and in 24 hours...the ants are gone. I'm talking from seeing a huge ant trail to the next day a desert town. The only bad thing...is that it kills where they rest so I guess you have some ant skeletons left in the walls. Sorry about that.

One more note: Do not try to spray the ants or they will move to another location. Let the bait work its magic. Don't be tempted to kill ants with spray when you see them. Let the bait work against them to kill their colony.

Take care my SD friends. :)

[bolland99]

interesting idea, but I wonder if it is dangerous for pets and neighborhood animals? Will they try to drink it too?

I guess you could just perhaps use a deeper cup or put a screen over the top of it to be sure, but that would involve more work.

[daco_inc]

Maybe put some sort of screen over the cup, small enough so that ants can fit, but pets can't touch?

[deals11]

Ok, so what abotu cemtipedes? What sort of super kill-all is out there for those buggers?

[Made2Act]

Mix powdered sugar and borax. They eat it and die. :nod:

(probably not safe around kids or pets)

[DeathCab]

thumbs up just cause some crapper gave it a TD.

[HookedUpStang]

I spray local children with DDT when they step on my grass!

[aiber]

Gonna try it....

[poohbie]

I've never had much luck with ant baits. Might give this a try intsead.

[redrum1688]

One question here: Does this formula kill anything other than ants? I mean cockroach, spider, flies (if they get to drink it)...

[garycoleman]

gonna have to try this

[skarydrunkguy]

I've done this before, it works! Got rid of my ant problem for a year, they were back in the spring. Did it again though, no sweat. Basically a home maid dealy like the dealies that you buy at the place for like $7.00 each.

Die bugz die!!!

[San-LC]

I dunno where I saw it from (maybe YouTube), but someone took black powder (yes, like explosive black powder) and sprinkled it around one ant pile every day for about two weeks to a month. Then, he put a fuse in the ant pile, lit it, and stepped back. Afterwards, you saw ten to fifteen dirt mounds explode from the ground.

Apparently, the ants mistook the black powder for foliage and used it to construct their piles/mounds. The moral of the story is, don't build a fort out of dynamite. :lol:

[daimos]

Can this be sprayed on? I mean, just getting them wet will still kill them eventually?

[felixthecat123]

One question here: Does this formula kill anything other than ants? I mean cockroach, spider, flies (if they get to drink it)...

I have yet to see this forumula knock off spiders or cockroaches. I use a very powerful spray called Spectracide Bug Stop from Lowes/Home Depot to kill these critters. It kills these bugs on contact because it has a potent chemical called "Pyrethrins": ants, roaches, fleas and ticks, spiders and other insects such as my favorite the silverfish and termites. It carries a 5 star rating and is 1.99 for a large spray can.You can lay down boric powder itself for cockroaches and when they walk on it they will ultimately die. The Spectracide Spary works for about two weeks and then poof...spray time. That is the reason at least for ants I switched to the cheap ant bait forumla for my ant problem. Use Boric powder for longer kill time for roaches and silverfish. I never seen a centipede or silverfish come out of thin air...they come from underneath the baseboards. So place along baseboards.

[silk]

Boric powder will kill most Crustaceans.

[felixthecat123]

I want to remind all...that if you have a large ant problem...let the bait work its magic...if you try to spray them...you will only succeed in killing a few ants while the rest move to another part of the house. Ants are smart and they only want food and water. So give them what they want and they will come to the trough to feed on the posion everytime...unfortunately for them...they can't see to figure it out why they die before its too late. :lol:

[epiphany9x]

awesome, thanks! :D

[PuffyTacos]

Very nice.
Anyone have a good recipe for spiders?
Thanks.

[felixthecat123]

Very nice.
Anyone have a good recipe for spiders?
Thanks.


Great question...if anybody has an answer for the spiders let me know too. Exterminators appear to backoff on the spider dead guarentee. They say the skeleton structure is too tough to penetrate. If you know of a cheap way to kill spiders please post. :)

[MrStank]

How to kill ants free:

Step on them

[devani]

I bought BA from ebay...99% lab grade...less than $5 for one pound...sure thing to kill any hard shelled bugs...they were used long time ago as well as today....they are saying it dries from inside...

[FAMIR]

How to kill ants free:

Step on them

You prob don't have ant problem. Kill one ant, they will reproduce 100 instead.

Does the grocery store sell Ant bait use similar formula? I think this thing is dangerous to kids.

[cyberandroid]

Will have to give it a try!!!

[epiphany9x]

I bought BA from ebay...99% lab grade...less than $5 for one pound...sure thing to kill any hard shelled bugs...they were used long time ago as well as today....they are saying it dries from inside...
what is "BA"?

[SlickFerret]

Great question...if anybody has an answer for the spiders let me know too. Exterminators appear to backoff on the spider dead guarentee. They say the skeleton structure is too tough to penetrate. If you know of a cheap way to kill spiders please post. :)
Diatomaceous earth?
http://www.tidbitsandstuff.com/articles/household/diatomaceous_earth.shtml

[felixthecat123]

interesting idea, but I wonder if it is dangerous for pets and neighborhood animals? Will they try to drink it too?

I guess you could just perhaps use a deeper cup or put a screen over the top of it to be sure, but that would involve more work.

For fish and birds...safe from the literature I read. No longterm effects. For animals, would not be safe over long periods of ingestion. It could decrease their weight if subjected to longterm exposure. However...it is safer than insecticide sprays which can have a larger effect on breathing and health. To me...it is much safer for my kids than spraying which in the long term spraying just falls short of a cure.

I would make sure kids cannot get to the ant bait. I don't advocate any chemicals that could harm children or pets, but I do have to pick from the lesser of the evil if I want to rid my house of ants, roaches, etc.

For carpenter ants, it doesn't matter if you keep a clean house, they are not after the food left on the table or floor. They are after the nesting areas in the walls where rotten wood may exist. They go outside to fetch their food in most cases and bring it back in. :eek:

[ClassicRockMe]

In 2 houses we built, we put 20 Mule Team borax inside the walls (before dry walling) and never had insect problems. It works!

[deals11]

All this talk has put me on a killing spree... I have lined my basement as well as my up and downstairs with this stuff. I have a centipede from time to time which is way too much for me. So, hopefully this sugar poison will get rid of them all.

I'm such a bug killing bad ass

[TheBay408]

i love this solution for ants, i used this for 2 days now and those ants love it! Im just waiting to see the results in maybe a few more days or weeks!

55683

55684

[Collateral5]

I dunno where I saw it from (maybe YouTube), but someone took black powder (yes, like explosive black powder) and sprinkled it around one ant pile every day for about two weeks to a month. Then, he put a fuse in the ant pile, lit it, and stepped back. Afterwards, you saw ten to fifteen dirt mounds explode from the ground.

Apparently, the ants mistook the black powder for foliage and used it to construct their piles/mounds. The moral of the story is, don't build a fort out of dynamite. :lol:

Find it please!!!

[DealsDad]

I want to remind all...that if you have a large ant problem...let the bait work its magic...if you try to spray them...you will only succeed in killing a few ants while the rest move to another part of the house. Ants are smart and they only want food and water. So give them what they want and they will come to the trough to feed on the posion everytime...unfortunately for them...they can't see to figure it out why they die before its too late. :lol:

Thanks, OP-carpenter ants are suprisingly "crafty" and persistent-I will try this. Any comments about what to do when the "winged" versions of the carpenter ants appear-this has plagued my house every May for the last couple of years.

[cpnqn]

I spray with an indoor spray for regular bugs (roaches when it rains and such).

Ants outdoors, I use gasoline on their beds (I know, I know- old time stuff), and I use sevin dust for fleas, ticks and other things in the yard...

I generally don't get anything in the house after treating my yard though- most of the time, darn yellow jackets showed up last year & I've yet to find their home...

[felixthecat123]

Thanks, OP-carpenter ants are suprisingly "crafty" and persistent-I will try this. Any comments about what to do when the "winged" versions of the carpenter ants appear-this has plagued my house every May for the last couple of years.

You bet...I had the same winged carpenter ants born in my house. At first just a few...then...coming in about 100-150 a day. The only thing that cured this was to use this formula mix of 1/2 cup of boiled water mixed with 1 cup of sugar and 3/4 tablespoon of Boric powder. You already know that I placed the ant bait in key locations outside the house where I saw tracks of them going into the house. I also took care of areas beyond the house near dead or dying trees. Main thing is that Carpenter ants don't eat wood, they nest in it. They have a big appetite for sweet things left in the house such as near empty but unwashed coke cans. Reminds me of the eery story when Hurricane Rita hit. A few days later while moving around in a dark house...I heard a rustling noise...going into the dinning room...I located the noise to a white bag left with coke cans in it. While away from the house...the ants came in and crawled into the bag and the sheer number of them made the bag have a crackling sound :eek:

As a final jesture of meaness to the ants(:mad: )...once I knew the queen was dead by the remarkably reduced ant volume (waited three days)...I then went into the attic and moved to the wall that the ants were located. I then set off 2 bombs (I mean ant/roach bombs found at Lowes/HD) and litterly pointeded them down towards the wall. Have not see those terrible ants since laying the bait down. I have been outside a number of times and there are no longer any carpenter ants near the house that I have been able to track. Noticed that I did not try to bomb the ants first because that will only make them move away somewhere else. Better to get to the queen through the worker ants.

If you have any other problems with ants not liking the bait because of regional issues. You can add a little molassis or honey into the mix and that will get'em good. :yummy:

For some reason...this also kills very small snails. Maybe they are attracted to the water mixed into the ant bait mix. Remember...3/4-1 tablespoon...not teaspoon! :)

The ant bait will work all by itself in as little as 24 hours to a maximum of 4 days. The stuff is deadly to ants but in small volume is not at all a problem with humans unless eaten over a
long period of time which nobody should do.

[BosuxRedsux]

Find it please!!!

sorry, but the house also blew up, as the ants also built a nest inside the videographer's house.
would you like to see his house in flames and the ants flying out as the house blew up?

[TheBay408]

i wanna see the video!

[dzap]

i wanna see the video!

:lmao: so are your ants gone since September? I love how you put sticks for them to crossover like a little bridge..:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

[TheBay408]

the population of the ants have been dwindling down since it was going to be winter time. Now its the middle of april, and they are back! I guess our house is old and has some problems. But for sure i'll make more bait and ill see how it goes towards this season + summertime. LOL is funny how i made the bridges, if the ants are stupid, i gave them a course to figure out!

[jon2249]

Thank you op! Very informative!!

Now does anyone know how to kill termites? or repel mosquitos :cool:

[larrythedealguy]

Diabolical, but cool. Too bad I don't have an ant problem though :shake:

Thumbs up anyway!

[JediAmy]

Does it work on fire ants?

[hardon4life]

I followed the directions and within 30 minutes I had about 30 ants drinking from the little foam cup. I put it in the kitchen. Cant belive that i had that many ants. Will see within couple days if there all gone or not. But they do love the liquid. I love borax!!:lol:

[guesswho]

OMG, this thread is just too funny..I can't stop laughing..Poor poor ants..:lmao:

[hardon4life]

heres an update:

Made the poison liquid at 9pm. within an hr there were hundreds of carpenter ants all over it. I woke up today went in the kitchen and all i see is dead ants everywhere. All the liquid is gone. I think they went back to the colony and died there. This stuff is great. I also put the liquid outside in the backyard and there were bunch of ants dead around that area. Im not gonna have ant problem anytime soon.

[RicFlair]

great thread. bookmarked for future reference!

[garycoleman]

If you don't feel like mixing, Terro Ant Baits are the samething.

[MoonSprite]

I'm gonna have to give this a try. An ant coming out of my laptop was the last straw. I only fear this will draw out the ants more, and they simply skeeve me. I'm also having a hard time figuring out where they come in. I get them in my parlor, under the air conditioner. Also in my pantry. There's one window there.

[tootsie67]

I made a batch of the bait and now we wait...notice my avatar...those little $%&*@s are everywhere :mad:

[LiTeSTriKe]

nice post, op! definitely going to take up on this. i hate ants with a passion. they always come to my house during winter time.

I dunno where I saw it from (maybe YouTube), but someone took black powder (yes, like explosive black powder) and sprinkled it around one ant pile every day for about two weeks to a month. Then, he put a fuse in the ant pile, lit it, and stepped back. Afterwards, you saw ten to fifteen dirt mounds explode from the ground.

Apparently, the ants mistook the black powder for foliage and used it to construct their piles/mounds. The moral of the story is, don't build a fort out of dynamite. :lol:
Would of loved to see that. :lol:

sorry, but the house also blew up, as the ants also built a nest inside the videographer's house.
would you like to see his house in flames and the ants flying out as the house blew up?
:lol:

i love this solution for ants, i used this for 2 days now and those ants love it! Im just waiting to see the results in maybe a few more days or weeks!

55683

55684
That's an awesome picture.

I spray local children with DDT when they step on my grass!
Sounds like a good plan. :thumbsup:

[catguy25]

i love this thread.when i saw it a cpl months ago i went on youtube and watched alot of vids of ppl killing ants,shooting bee nests,having different insects fight in a jar,lots of entertaining stuff :)

[s_T_Blue]

thanks

[MoonSprite]

I have a problem with those "house centipedes". I know they kill and eat other insects, but these things just skeeve me!

[BeLiEvE0101]

Time to own some noobs with this mixture. Thanks a ton OP, I wish I could rep you.

[1BeeVee]

This is great.

[firebull]

Can we just mix the powder 3/4 borax and 1 cup of sugar and leave like that ? Will it work? Or have to mix into liquid?

[Linette]

I tried this formula twice with a total of three batches and the ants keep coming and wanting more. They just won't die! The cups would empty and I kept filling them (I had 13 cups around the home and even in planters). The dog even got tired of us looking at damn cups all day to see if it was working. The formula was great in getting them to come and within 2 to 3 minutes, I would get the curious ones and within five minutes it was party time for them. I gave it six days and I only saw one trail disappear and we concluded they must be the sissy ants (they were smaller and were only bothering a planter with Sago palms). The other ones are even extra juicy when you smash them. The ants usually attacked earth worms and with this formula, the worms would just die in the sun because these guys were busy eating our feed. I even went to a full tablespoon of Borax in case ours are stronger (all the years of attacking them with Raid Max) and they just keep coming for more. It may be a regional issue but it did not work for us. We just had our kitchen redone a year ago and I find them coming out from behind the granite and this year they are even laughing at the Raid Max. I sprayed after giving up on this formula and they have come through three times this week. Hubby will be trying the fogger method in the attic and we are contemplating throwing some Borax up there too. Hopefully we can get some peace. We went over two years without having them inside and forgot how much I hate ants.

Thank you OP for sharing and I am glad this is working for others. If anyone has any other ideas, please share :).

[poohbie]

I tried the pre-mixed Terro liquid ant bait, partly due to not feeling like mixing up my own batch and partly due to thinking they've got the ratio of ingredients down right.

I've had mixed results. It seemed to eliminiate a couple trails, but on a couple others the ants just seem to keep on coming back for more, like what Linette experienced.

[edson5]

I have had great success with 3 parts sugar to 1 part Borax(laundry stuff) mixed in a bowl and I would cut out the cardboard of cereal boxes into 4x4 squares or so and scoop some into the middle. Then I would use a dropper and put several drops along the edge of the pile and 1 or 2 on top in the middle just to get it mixed in but not a full liquidy blob and the ants would love this. Had a huge problem on my deck probably because there was an apple tree next to it before and saw no activity within 1 day. Started putting them all over outside and moving them to where I saw activity and one side of the house had a constant stream of ants coming from the neighbors yard for 4 days. But not anymore. The cardboard made it easy to clean up afterward and replace with fresh ones. Had them in my dog run and my pooch never showed even the slightest interest in them(the baits that is). I ended up cancelling Orkin after doing this because I got better results than with their professional baits.

[xUnKnOwNx]

thanks! i'll give it a try. theres been a ton of ants in my room lately. crawling on my desk, carpets and sometimes on me! but i have no idea where theyre coming from...

[1southern1belle]

Great topic OP!
For those not having success with the mixture inside, maybe use outside as well. A place that we found that ants were coming from was the gutters along the porch ceiling and then down around the molding of the window. We could never find the typical "ant trail" because they were crawling along the ceiling!
The gutter had leaves in it and the ants liked it there as well as the roof over the garage. Once the hubby cleaned the roof the ant population dramatically decreased.

Another tip that for those that can see the ant mounds outside. To kill the ants there all you need to do is use a shovel to move part of one ant hill to the other. This will cause an ant war and they will fight till the death.

Oh another little tidbit- years ago, and possibly in some homes still, boric acid was mixed up in the home to apply to a newborn baby's eyes as an anti-infective treatment. Much like the antibiotics used in a newborn's eyes at the hospital now. The problem is of course that the Boric acid mixture, if not done properly or contaminated, can be toxic and damaging.

[JJLL]

I know this is an old thread but my house is just getting infested again with ants, and this tip will help tremendously! Thanks OP and rep'ed!

[felixthecat123]

Hey thanks JJLL...I haven't seen the blank ants since I used that receipe last year. Powerful bait and cheap. I'm sure you will see success in no time.

[Neets]

Hey sorry about the bump, but does this work on other kinds of bugs?:confused:

[greenlaser]

Thanks for bringing it up, this should be a sticky. :)

[sportsdoll]

So glad this got bumped, I am losing my mind !! Thanks OP

[tootsie67]

This works. I had spent hundreds paying 'professionals' who came to spray numerous times. The ants would disappear for a little while (probably reappearing by the time the pest control truck rounded the corner out of the neighborhood :rolleyes:) then come back.
I found this thread and tried it-within 1 week, the ants were gone and I haven't seen them since. we battled them for years before this thread. I keep the recipe saved in my computer now 'just in case' :) good luck!

[sportsdoll]

So I bought my 4lb 120z box of Mule team and a package of styrofoam cups at WM yesterday which came to $4.12 Put several around the inside of the house this morning and will do outside if it ever stops raining. Hope DH is happy because this will be way cheaper that me going to the beach for the summer to escape. Will report back. Also, on a side note, I had no idea of the multi uses of Borax.

[tootsie67]

So I bought my 4lb 120z box of Mule team and a package of styrofoam cups at WM yesterday which came to $4.12 Put several around the inside of the house this morning and will do outside if it ever stops raining. Hope DH is happy because this will be way cheaper that me going to the beach for the summer to escape. Will report back. Also, on a side note, I had no idea of the multi uses of Borax.
I think you can also use Borax to make silly putty....multi-use indeed :D :whee:

[GTA]

I went to the kitchen and seen ants in my sink, Hot water and got them down the drain. I dont have anymore ant spray, i gotta pick some up at the Dollar Store. ugg.. Flea killer does work too but i am outtttt.