15 Ways to Keep Those Pesky Ants Out of Your Home And Garden
Dealing with ants can be a pain and seems impossible, but there are ways to prevent their invasion and get rid of them in an eco-friendly way. The best cure against an ant invasion is prevention. Not only is it a good idea to prevent them from appearing in the first place, but if you already have them and you end up removing them you know how to prevent them from resurfacing.
First, it should be noted that ants are attracted to sweet flavors and water. For the most part Adult ants can only digest liquid type foods. Ants that fetch solid foods have to use their digestive acid juices to dissolve it first. They use their tongues to get the semiliquid food. Any food that remains solid while in the mouth enters a chamber beneath the mouth opening, there it has to go thought a series of screens. These screens filter out the food and turn it into a pellet that the ant will regurgitate out. The food that was liquid will pass into the “crop” which is a sack where liquids are stored for long periods of time without digestion. The food lies here so that the ant can go back to its colony and regurgitate most of the food for the other workers to consume. The way this is done is through a valve known as the proventriculus in the inner section of the crop. The food is allowed to come out and pass into another ant’s midsection.
Ant Prevention
- Maintain a clean household – Pay careful attention to the Kitchen since this is the place where all the food is kept. Ants are attracted to any sweet smelling food just lying around. Maintaining an orderly kitchen, protect and cover all food, and leftovers.
- Make sure not to leave food on the floor or wet messes – Leaving crumbs constantly will attract them. Sweep the floor after meals, make sure to get right in the corners as well. Also make sure not to leave the floor wet. Since they are attracted to the moisture. Make sure to clean any spills and maintain clean and dry floors.
- Don’t leave dirty dishes lying around – This would be really convenient for them since the food has been left there ready. Make sure to wash the dishes after every meal, and dry them. Ants have the habit to seek out water and stay near there.
- Maintain a good trash system – It’s a good idea to keep the trash bins away from the house. If you leave them too close to the house, ants might go inside your home after being in the bin. Make sure to take out the trash daily or as needed. Letting trash accumulate will only attract more ants.
How to Kill Ants Organically from your Home and Garden
Baking soda:
Baking soda is known for having acidic property and is known to be poisonous to ants. Put some baking soda around the plants you want to protect to keep the ants at bay. You can also use this around openings they use to enter the house
