DIY: How to get rid of ants outside and inside the house for less than 10 bucks

darkestfenix

darkestfenix

Well-known member
There are about 4-5 huge ant colonies around the house. They just keep coming back no matter what quick fixes I tried. So hopefully this will be a long term solution that can help everyone else on MR.


Stuff you need:

-Bought some Borax at walmart (~5$) in the laundry detergent section (Enough to kill ants for your entire life)
-strawberry jam
-Bottle caps
-Nails with flat heads
-one spoon/bowl to mix


Mix 10 tablespoons of jam and half a tablespoon of Borax together. (1:20 ratio)


DSC02224.jpg




Pass your nails by hand through the bottle caps.

DSC02226.jpg




Shove the caps where ant activity is present and put your mix inside.










I went and put them outside and here's how they look right after I washed my hands and came back outside.




DSC02233.jpg


DSC02231.jpg


DSC02229.jpg




At the price it costs and if it rains, it washes away, I could go for weeks applying this stuff.


Keep you up to date with activity.

They should be gone in a few days.



First update (June 6th)
Came back to the two largest colonies. The bottle caps were practicaly empty. There was only one or two drops of poison left. Made a new batch, slightly stronger, and refilled. (Ratio: 4.5 spoons of jam + 0.3-0.5 spoon of borax = 6-10% borax)
See where it goes.
 
Last edited:
Your plan is foiled because they have to bring the food to the colony. Now the gatherers die on site but the ants who breed to make the gatherers are still alive and well underground because none of that poisonous jam made it to them.

Of course, if you keep this up long enough, the colony will die because all supply route will be interrupted, like Rome.

In other news, if you burn olive oil it'll release oleic acid vapors which essentially tell ants to pick up their dead and GTFO. Which is perhaps why wops don't mind living in the ant-infested sands.

That is all.
 
dragonfly said:
Your plan is foiled because they have to bring the food to the colony. Now the gatherers die on site but the ants who breed to make the gatherers are still alive and well underground because none of that poisonous jam made it to them.

Of course, if you keep this up long enough, the colony will die because all supply route will be interrupted, like Rome.

In other news, if you burn olive oil it'll release oleic acid vapors which essentially tell ants to pick up their dead and GTFO. Which is perhaps why wops don't mind living in the ant-infested sands.

That is all.
Click to expand...

No. the reason the ratio is 20:1 for the mix is so there is about 5% borax. At such low quantities the,workers bring it down to the colony to feed the queen and everyone else. Itll take a while for it to take effect.
Borax is the poison ingredient in all those raid ant baits and mixed at around 5%. Itll do its job. If u end up more than 10%, theyll die on the spot or before bringing it down.
 
darkestfenix said:
No. the reason the ratio is 20:1 for the mix is so there is about 5% borax. At such low quantities the,workers bring it down to the colony to feed the queen and everyone else. Itll take a while for it to take effect.
Borax is the poison ingredient in all those raid ant baits and mixed at around 5%. Itll do its job. If u end up more than 10%, theyll die on the spot or before bringing it down.
Click to expand...

There are just so many corpses next to your caps I thought they died on site.
 
Je dois être rendu à 50$ de produits pour me débarrasser des fourmis sur mon gazon et rien ne marche. Je vais faire l'essai de ton truc c'est sur. À certain endroit, j'ai tellement de nid de fourmis que le sol est surélevé et mou. Tellement tanné...
 
GTIBOY05 said:
Je dois être rendu à 50$ de produits pour me débarrasser des fourmis sur mon gazon et rien ne marche. Je vais faire l'essai de ton truc c'est sur. À certain endroit, j'ai tellement de nid de fourmis que le sol est surélevé et mou. Tellement tanné...
Click to expand...

C'est quoi l'osti de problème? Vivre et laisser vivre...
 
There are a few problems with your system.

First killing them is bad idea because they smell the dead bodies and go to recuperate them back to the ant colonie. So the ants will keep smelling the bodies and constanstly go there. That's why they keep coming back.

The best thing to use is cucumbers. Slice a couple of cucumbers and the ants won't even come because they can't stand the smell for some reason.
 
940T said:
Isnt that a bit messy for inside? lol
Click to expand...

If its only for a few days to get rid of an ant colony thats infested ur house, I dont see what the problem is!

I can only see it as an issue if u have pets around the house!

Ive spent a lot of money on raid and other products and the ants dont even go to them or die off instantly.

The liquid ant bait is too expensive to use outside as well. Itll wash away with rain and at ~6-8$ a bottle it can get expensive.


Broody said:
C'est quoi l'osti de problème? Vivre et laisser vivre...
Click to expand...

Trust me, when the earth starts to lift about 3 inches off the ground with an area of a diameter of about 2-3 feet and u see hundreds of ants right by ur foundation, u dont want to risk them starting to get inside the house.

flashthunder said:
There are a few problems with your system.

First killing them is bad idea because they smell the dead bodies and go to recuperate them back to the ant colonie. So the ants will keep smelling the bodies and constanstly go there. That's why they keep coming back.

The best thing to use is cucumbers. Slice a couple of cucumbers and the ants won't even come because they can't stand the smell for some reason.
Click to expand...

Ill get rid of the ant colony and then put cucumbers if thats the case. The colony is so big that, when u put anything that kills/bothers them, they just move a feet or two away and continue living there.

2short514 said:
will this work for spiders?
Click to expand...

Probably not... they dont eat sweets on the floor. They eat insects on their webs!
 
btw how ants can bring jam to the queen? lol it's kinda liquid and they sure don't use bottles
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top