How to get rid of ants in house and kitchen

September 27th, 2011 by No comments »

Everyone loves to come out and have fun in the warm weather. Unfortunately, ants also love to come out in the warm seasons of the year. If you are having a problem with ants in your house you are probably trying to find a way to get rid of them. In this article I will tell you the top ways to make sure you finally learn how to get rid of red ants in your home.

If you have ants in your house, you need to make sure that your house is completely clean. The reason ants are visiting your kitchen is because there is food there. You need to make an effort to clean your home daily so that the ants don’t find what they are looking for. When cleaning your home make sure you don’t leave dishes in the sink, that tables and counters are cleaned with cleaning solutions, and that leftover food goes in air tight storage.

how to get rid of ants

Some household products that you probably keep in your kitchen can be good deterrents against ants.  Ants hate peppermint oil, and if you have this in your home you can spray the ants with a mix of peppermint oil and water. You can also wipe the areas they visit with it.  Ants also don’t like vinegar or black pepper. If you see an ant you can spray them with it, and hopefully they will bring it back to their nest and spread it among the other ants, who will then avoid your home.

Ants get into your house through cracks in windows, doors, and other crevices. You will want to go through your house and locate all the possible cracks. Purchase caulk and seal all the crevices so that the ants don’t have a way to enter your home.

If you do happen to find the nest where the ants are coming from, you will want to kill the Queen Bee that produces the ants. Pour hot boiling water so that you flood the nest and kill the Queen Bee. This will destroy the colony.

If you have tried all these techniques and you are still seeing ants in your home, you may have to call an exterminator who will get rid of the ants. A professional will know just what to do about the problem, and how to prevent it from reoccurring. A pest control person can also give you tips on how to get rid of ants in the future in case they do come back.

Once you know how to get rid of ants you can take the steps to solve the problem, so that you can enjoy the spring and summer, while the ants enjoy someone else’s kitchen!

 

How to get rid of fruit flies

December 12th, 2011 by No comments »

In order to get rid of fruit flies, it is essential to understand where the flies are coming from. Fruit flies have a life span of about 10 days. In that period of time, the little pests can invade a kitchen in no time, leaving a person irritated because they can’t have their fresh fruit or vegetable without a fruit fly swarm.

The best way to get rid of fruit flies in the kitchen is to prevent them from entering your home to begin with. Here are a few tips to help prevent fruit flies in a kitchen:

 

1.    Wash the fruit bowl or storage container before you put your produce away

2.    Throw away any rotten or unwanted produce

how to get rid of fruit flies

3.    Store trash in a sealed bin or garbage can

4.    Store fruit in the refrigerator or cover your fruit bowl

5.    Keep your kitchen clean

So we have talked about how to prevent fruit flies, but what should you do once your kitchen has fruit flies. These simple methods below will help anyone get rid of fruit flies in their kitchen

1.    Traps

a.    Create a trap for the flies.

i.    Mason jar trap

ii.    Bowl trap

iii.    Ziploc bag trap

b.    In each of the trap types, put a piece of rotting fruit and leave an opening for the flies to enter

c.    Place the trap by the high concentration of fruit flies

d.    Once the fruit flies are in the trap, cover the trap with a lid.

e.    You can release the fruit flies outside, or suffocate them.

2.    Vacuum Method – in the main areas where the fruit flies gather, suck up the little pests using your powerful vacuum cleaner

3.    Soap Method – using dish soap create sudsy bubbles. Take the bubbles and put them in the bowl or area where the fruit flies are gathering. The flies will land in the bubbles and die.

Using any of the methods above, or even a combination of the methods will help you get rid of fruit flies from your home. However, the best practice is prevention.

 

getting rid of carpenter ants

September 3rd, 2011 by 1 comment »

Carpenter ants are large ants that can grow from 0.25 to 1 inch. They are indigenous to many countries worldwide and they prefer to build nests in dead and damp woods. Unlike termites, carpenter ants to do not eat wood. However, they tend to hollow out certain portions of it. The species that infests many households in the US are the black carpenter ants. These ants may be small but the damage they can bring may be destructive.
Carpenter ants prefer to build nests in moist and rotting woods, around sinks, behind bathroom tiles, dishwashers, showers and tubs. They can also be found in foam insulation, curtain rods and hollow spaces in doors. What make them stay and build nests there is because of humidity. Getting rid of carpenter ants is necessary in order to stop them from damaging the things inside your house.

Damages Made By Carpenter Ants
Unlike termites, carpenter ants don’t eat wood. They only remove wood so that they can make galleries and tunnels for their nests. What they eat are foods that have sugars and proteins, like sugar, honey, syrups and dead and living insects outdoors. They also eat honeydew, a sweet fluid produced by scale insects and aphids.
These ants cause damage to trees but they do not harm them. However, their continuous excavation to build nests makes the woods soft and weak.

Ways On How to Get Rid Of Ants

carpenter ants
There’s no instant and easy way to get rid of carpenter ants. The most important thing in getting rid of carpenter ants is to find their nests and destroy them. In the outdoors, you can try searching for their activities and nests in stumps, wooden structures and rotting wood. On the other hand, it will take you some time to find their nests inside the house because they tend to live in hard to reach places.
The best way to locate them is to get some bait. Once these ants got hold of your bait, patiently follow them until they direct you to the place where they live. The best time to catch them is during the period between sunset and midnight because they are very much active during those times. These ants are color blind and they can’t see the color red. Therefore, it is recommended to place a red film in the flashlight and follow them.
Home Remedies
Calling a professional exterminator is the best way to get rid of ants because they are equipped with insecticides. However, hiring their service in getting rid of carpenter ants may cost you so much. In case you are able to find their nests, immediately expose them and spray insecticide directly to kill the colony.
If you can’t find their nests, bait food with a combination of 10% sugar water and 1% boric acid. Worker ants may easily be attracted by your bait and will share it with the rest of the ants through regurgitation. Doing this may take you 2-4 weeks. Do not attempt to mix insecticide with the food because they will kill the ants before they return and share the bait with the other carpenter ants.