It's summer. You might see more insects in your home/kitchen in this hot and humid weather. Ants are hence bound to invite themselves into your space and scout for their stocks.
Let's start by looking into ants and their typical behavioral traits. There are more than 12.000 species of ants. Yes, you read right! What a huge number! But relax, only about 25 types of ants might be interested in getting into your home. Beware, termites are not ants; you can easily tell them apart by looking at them. While termites have white or translucent, straight bodies, straight antennae, and can have a life span of a few years, ants, who are a different type of insect, have pinched waists, bent antennae, and usually live up to a few months only. Besides, termites crave the cellulose found in wood and paper while most ants will not damage wood. A colony of ants can reach hundreds of thousands of individuals, most of which will be workers. The main task of the Queen or Queens is to lay eggs and ensure that the colony survives. The laboring ants, which are females that do not reproduce, scour for food, take care of the newborn, and protect the community. Ants communicate through the secretion of pheromones to lead other fellows to food or warn them in case of a threat. Some species have unique physical attributes: for instance, fire ants can cluster together to float on water, and one Amazon species can build insect traps out of plant fiber.
These amazing little creatures remain a nuisance when they make their way into your kitchen, your bathroom, or even your planters on the balcony. If you see ants crawling on your flowers or plants, you have an infestation of aphids and the ants are eating their poop. I will address this issue in a different article. For now, let's explore the many simple and natural ways to keep ants away.
First, you need to handle the root cause that is attracting the ants and other insects into your home: eliminate the possibility for scouts to take back something with them that will induce hundreds to come forage for their winter supplies. Any spill that contains sugar or honey should be cleaned immediately. Food shouldn't be left out on kitchen counters, tables, or lying on the floor.
Secondly, treat dampness and replace any water-damaged materials, especially wood.
Thirdly, and this is unquestionably important, avoid the use of bug sprays. Chemicals used to make a lot of these mostly affect our hormones and can cause neurobehavioral issues in children and pets.
Since they rely on scents to get their directions, it is no surprise that strong smells can disorient them. Beware, even if it is recommended to keep your space clean, i.e. no crumbs lying here and there that would attract the scouts, detergents and chemicals are not necessarily the best solution. So I curated a list of things I have used myself in the different houses I have inhabited:
- white vinegar: this is a natural panacea that you always should have at hand! Read my previous article on vinegar here and how to make your spray using it
- sometimes, vinegar alone is not enough. In this case, sprinkle some ground cinnamon or even use cinnamon leaf essential oil on any possible entry point for the ants and your home corners
- some people don't like the aroma of cinnamon. How about some peppermint essential oil? This will repel the ants and they will not come back to that place!
- scatter ground black or red cayenne pepper at entrances like window and door sills. This odor irritates insects, not only ants
- a squeeze of lemon in your mopping bucket, and you can be sure ants will not venture into your house and it will smell fresh for a longer time 😁
- alternatively, about 9-10 drops of tea tree essential oil in 2 cups of water can make an ideal repellent for ants. You can drench some cotton balls with this mixture and place them all over the house. Be careful if you have pets and/or kids as ingesting these could be dangerous to them
- some people leave cornstarch or chalk to kill the ants as they cannot digest that. But I always found this method cruel and not necessary since several others can do the trick.
Happy eco-cleaning 🍃🌱
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