How to get rid of ants in the house?

THE LAST thing anyone wants in their home is to discover an ant invasion, with queues of the tiny bugs crawling all over your counters.

Although ants are usually completely harmless, no one likes to see them in the house – so here’s how to get rid of them.

Why do ants like to come into your home?

Ants may enter your home in order to find a food source.

A scout ant will leave the nest in search of food, leaving a trail of pheromones.

Once it finds food it will follow the trail back, leaving more pheromones, which other ants will follow in their search for food.

If this happens, there could be an army of ants running around the house in search of everything from grains of sugar to dirty dishes.

How to get rid of ants?

As always, prevention is the best cure.

The best solution to ant infestations is simply removing whatever is attracting them to your home.

Ants could be attracted by anything from a drop of honey on the kitchen counter, to a jar of jam, or even a dirty spoon left in the kitchen sink.

By removing the attraction the ants might just pack up and leave you alone.

But if you are worried about ants descending onto your home, here’s what you should do:

• Store all food away, ideally in airtight containers, in cupboards or in the fridge.
• Don’t leave food out in the open air, always cover and store away if possible.
• Clean up any food and drink spills as soon as they occur.
• Keep the house clean, remember to keep cupboards clean too.
• Wash pet bowls regularly, remember ants are partial to cat and dog food too!
• Take out your rubbish regularly.
• Clean your entire kitchen with a natural, homemade anti-ant spray, made with one part water and one part vinegar to destroy their pheromones and present infestations.

The experts at Smiths Pest Management suggested using pepper to throw the insects off the scent.
They said: ‘Ants rely on their sense of smell to navigate the world, and they find the scent of pepper irritating.
To deter them from entering your home, sprinkle ground black or red pepper around your baseboards and behind appliances.

How to keep ants away?

Ants hate the smell of peppermint and lavender oil so mixing the two together and spraying it on entry points such as windows and doors could create an ant-repelling barricade.

There are various other ant deterrents such as salt, chalk, curry powder, and cinnamon –  these can be used to line doors and windows but they might not be ideal if you have pets and/or small children.

As black garden ants are the most likely to invade the home, you should keep food – especially honey, maple syrup and sugar – in airtight containers.

Another way to keep ants out of the house is to follow the ants back to their nest to find out how they are getting in.

Then simply block up any holes with sealant, taking special care around doors and windows.