# ANTS!!!



## DunWorkin

_What are the signs of spring round your way? _

The ants are back. We have a real problem with them every year. It is lovely to have a few months without them in the winter.


----------



## donz

the weeds growing a foot a day and yes the ants - have seen quite a few working their busy way around. Might have to be getting the ant powder out soon. Does anyone know a safe product to use on them without affecting the dogs?

Yes it's warmer in bed for sure - no more pj's soon!!


----------



## casa99

donz said:


> the weeds growing a foot a day and yes the ants - have seen quite a few working their busy way around. Might have to be getting the ant powder out soon. Does anyone know a safe product to use on them without affecting the dogs?
> 
> Yes it's warmer in bed for sure - no more pj's soon!!


Hi donz, one thing ants do not like is chalk, I don`t know why but if you put a line of chalk down they will not cross it.:confused2::confused2:


----------



## zilly

I tried the chalk line last year--and it worked well!


----------



## DunWorkin

casa99 said:


> Hi donz, one thing ants do not like is chalk, I don`t know why but if you put a line of chalk down they will not cross it.:confused2::confused2:


What sort of chalk? Where do you get it? How do you apply it?

In the kitchen I put cloves on the worktop. They do not like those.

We have such a problem here. We even have them crawling out of plug sockets . We are very careful not to leave uncovered food anywhere

One morning we came downstairs and one wall was completely covered with a mass of the little b*****s. It was very difficult to get rid of them from a wall without scattering them everywhere.

In the UK I used to grow herbs in my garden but I cannot do that here - when I go to use them they are covered in ants - thousands of them. Even our garden lights have stopped working because ants have damaged the wiring.

Someone told us that bougainvillea attracts them - we have lots of that in the garden. It would be a major project to get rid of it.

We are hoping to move this year to an apartment rather than a house (I cannot manage stairs any more). I have said that I want somewhere not on ground level in the hope not to have such a major problem in the future.


----------



## xabiaxica

DunWorkin said:


> What sort of chalk? Where do you get it? How do you apply it?
> 
> In the kitchen I put cloves on the worktop. They do not like those.
> 
> We have such a problem here. We even have them crawling out of plug sockets . We are very careful not to leave uncovered food anywhere
> 
> One morning we came downstairs and one wall was completely covered with a mass of the little b*****s. It was very difficult to get rid of them from a wall without scattering them everywhere.
> 
> In the UK I used to grow herbs in my garden but I cannot do that here - when I go to use them they are covered in ants - thousands of them. Even our garden lights have stopped working because ants have damaged the wiring.
> 
> Someone told us that bougainvillea attracts them - we have lots of that in the garden. It would be a major project to get rid of it.
> 
> We are hoping to move this year to an apartment rather than a house (I cannot manage stairs any more). I have said that I want somewhere not on ground level in the hope not to have such a major problem in the future.


the only time we have had a major ant problem was in our last place




a 1st floor apartment.........................


----------



## Alcalaina

xabiachica said:


> the only time we have had a major ant problem was in our last place
> 
> a 1st floor apartment.........................


Could you move these posts to a separate thread on dealing with ants and other nasties? I think it could get quite popular!


----------



## jimenato

I use Insecticida contra cucarachas y hormigas - an aerosol branded Bosque Verde 
so I assume it was from Mercadona.

You spray it in a line on the ground or on a wall where the ants run and it stops them dead. We have two dogs and a cat and I'm careful not to spray it close to them and to keep them away from the sprayed area until it is dry - about ten minutes. It mentions that it's very bad for aquatic life and not to spray near food - obvious really. 

What I like about it is that you only have to use a tiny amount - it really works well.


ETA you get very little of it in the air if you're careful which is good. Mrs. jimenata used it as fly spray once - which was not good...


----------



## xabiaxica

jimenato said:


> I use Insecticida contra cucarachas y hormigas - an aerosol branded Bosque Verde
> so I assume it was from Mercadona.
> 
> You spray it in a line on the ground or on a wall where the ants run and it stops them dead. We have two dogs and a cat and I'm careful not to spray it close to them and to keep them away from the sprayed area until it is dry - about ten minutes. It mentions that it's very bad for aquatic life and not to spray near food - obvious really.
> 
> What I like about it is that you only have to use a tiny amount - it really works well.
> 
> 
> ETA you get very little of it in the air if you're careful which is good. Mrs. jimenata used it as fly spray once - which was not good...


hmm - the fly spray works for flies though

& yes - the mercadona ant spray is very good - don't like the smell of it though & you need to keep it away from pet bowls

that was what we used last year - a line sprayed across all the doorways - the ants used to come into the building somehow - never did find out how, up the stairs & along the corridor then under everyone's apartment door!!


----------



## Alcalaina

The little tiny ants that we see in our houses in warm weather are part of a giant colony of Argentine ants spread right across Europe. They are one of the most successful invasive species on the planet. Spraying with pesticides apparently might make them even more fertile! it is better to use a bait poison which they will take back to the nest - see below.










"Argentine ants are a common household pest, often entering structures in search of food or water (particularly during dry or hot weather), or to escape flooded nests during periods of heavy rainfall. Argentine ant colonies almost invariably have many reproductive queens, as many as eight for every 1,000 workers, so eliminating a single queen does not stop the colony's ability to breed. When they invade a kitchen, it is not uncommon to see two or three queens foraging along with the workers.

Due to their nesting behavior and presence of numerous queens in each colony,* it is generally impractical to spray Argentine ants with pesticides or to use boiling water as with mound building ants. Spraying with pesticides has occasionally stimulated increased egg-laying by the queens, compounding the problem. Pest control usually requires exploiting their omnivorous dietary habits, through use of slow-acting poison bait, which will be carried back to the nest by the workers, eventually killing all the individuals, including the queens.* It may take four to five days to eradicate a colony in this manner.

An effective homemade recipe[13] consists of a solution of granulated white table sugar and boric acid, placed in a shallow dish in the area being invaded:
1/4 teaspoon boric acid powder
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar

The boric acid will dissolve only if the water is hot, or one can mix the ingredients cold, then place the container in a microwave oven to bring the water to boiling temperature. When mixed in small quantities, the solution can be stored in a dropper bottle and dispensed as needed to replenish the bait dish. Although the solution isn't particularly hazardous when used in small quantities as described here, the bait dish should be placed out of reach of pets and children."

Argentine ant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## dunmovin

those little ant traps you get in mercadona work well, you place them where the ants are seen ..as they go through, the get infected and carry the infection back to the nest... a few days later no more ants


----------



## zilly

I also tried talcum powder just outside the door and on work surfaces--that worked too--but it's just a real hassle--I'm fighting ticks and ants at the moment! I feel besieged..................


----------



## 90199

Here also is another similar link
Kill Sugar Ants, Argentine Ants (Little Ants) in Your House Naturally

My problem at the moment is, collard doves, noisy so & so's that nest in the palm tree and crap all over the azotea, catapult is the present weapon,

Hepa


----------



## casaloco

i know i'm not in spain yet but....

i had 5 red ant, 4 black ant and 2 flying ants nests in my garden a few years ago, got NIPPON ANT KILLER and after a few weeks they were all gone. you put drops on something small and flat, the ants take it back to the nest and feed it to the colony, kills them all off including the queen.

Find nippon ant killer on eBay International Market, with worldwide deals on items in all your top categories


----------



## Alcalaina

I have a little lemon tree in a pot, and last year it was covered in black ants. Apparently they "farm" the woolly aphids, which live in little white fluffy bundles on the stems. If anyone knows how to get rid of the both aphids and the ants, without using horrid toxic substances, please let me know!


----------



## andmac

Having just spent the hours around dusk killing thousands of ants, all I can say is aaaarrrrgh!

The herb garden (part 1) is in a massive terracotta urn. Apparently ants hate peppermint, but they made a huge nest in the parsley next to my peppermint.

My Raf tomato plants are looking beleaguered too. I have got my daughter's chalk, my Fiancée's talcum powder and my chemicals. It is a mini war!

The food in the garden is for us, not the ants. I know you need to set aside some garden delights for nature but these ants are so aggressive! 

The other thing is, I don't want to use ant powder as we have a (white) golden retriever puppy. Also, in the UK I was an organic gardener and the use of chemicals is abhorrent to me. However, first season in Spain, and chemicals are the easy method until I learn how to companion plant here.


----------



## 90199

Alcalaina said:


> I have a little lemon tree in a pot, and last year it was covered in black ants. Apparently they "farm" the woolly aphids, which live in little white fluffy bundles on the stems. If anyone knows how to get rid of the both aphids and the ants, without using horrid toxic substances, please let me know!


And eventually all the leaves will get soot fungus and turn black, here is the answer, completely none toxic, plus it works on any aphids,

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2281115.htmhttp://

Hepa


----------



## Alcalaina

Hepa said:


> And eventually all the leaves will get soot fungus and turn black, here is the answer, completely none toxic, plus it works on any aphids,
> 
> http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2281115.htmhttp://
> 
> Hepa


Sorry Hepa the link doesn't work - could you tell me the name of the product? Non-toxic aphid-killer sounds good to me.


----------



## 90199

Gardening Australia - Fact Sheet: Horticultural Oils

try again with this Gardening Australia - Fact Sheet: Horticultural Oils

It is a product you make at home 2 cups of vegetable oil with half a cup of washing up liquid,put into a jar and shake. Store in a cool dry place, use two desert spoons per litre of water and spray onto the plant or tree.

Hepa


----------



## Alcalaina

Hepa said:


> Gardening Australia - Fact Sheet: Horticultural Oils
> 
> try again with this Gardening Australia - Fact Sheet: Horticultural Oils
> 
> It is a product you make at home 2 cups of vegetable oil with half a cup of washing up liquid,put into a jar and shake. Store in a cool dry place, use two desert spoons per litre of water and spray onto the plant or tree.
> 
> Hepa


Brilliant! Thanks!


----------



## thrax

We had our first infestation yesterdsy. I made a coffee, sat down to do some work, half an hour later returned to the kitchen to wash my mug (coffee cup not my face although it probably needed too) and the wall was alive with ants that hadn't been there before. My wife has asthma so we have a Dyson cyclonic vacuum cleaner. Ants do not survive a Dyson. Whilst it doesn't get rid of the problem, if you have a sudden influx of a lot of ants, it's the quickest way I have ever found of getting rid of them en masse. The Nippon ant killer is easily the best but I haven't seen any here yet.


----------



## Alcalaina

thrax said:


> We had our first infestation yesterdsy. I made a coffee, sat down to do some work, half an hour later returned to the kitchen to wash my mug (coffee cup not my face although it probably needed too) and the wall was alive with ants that hadn't been there before. My wife has asthma so we have a Dyson cyclonic vacuum cleaner. Ants do not survive a Dyson. Whilst it doesn't get rid of the problem, if you have a sudden influx of a lot of ants, it's the quickest way I have ever found of getting rid of them en masse. The Nippon ant killer is easily the best but I haven't seen any here yet.


"I'm going to live forever, or die trying"

Don't let the ants read your signature ...


----------



## thrax

lol


----------



## Pesky Wesky

I had a problem with ants last year that I couln't find a solution to. It was made more difficult by the fact that they are crawling up the outside wall of the house, starting and finishing in neighbours' gardens, and it seems they were buiding a new nest or halfway inn, in our roof. Anyway, a few weeks ago I found this gel which comes in a syringe. You just squirt it on the wall and there it stays. The ants feed off it and take it back to the nest. So far the numbers have diminished to almost nothing, but have given them a second dose to see if that finishes them off.


----------



## DunWorkin

Pesky Wesky said:


> I had a problem with ants last year that I couln't find a solution to. It was made more difficult by the fact that they are crawling up the outside wall of the house, starting and finishing in neighbours' gardens, and it seems they were buiding a new nest or halfway inn, in our roof. Anyway, a few weeks ago I found this gel which comes in a syringe. You just squirt it on the wall and there it stays. The ants feed off it and take it back to the nest. So far the numbers have diminished to almost nothing, but have given them a second dose to see if that finishes them off.


Where did you get that?


----------



## Pesky Wesky

DunWorkin said:


> Where did you get that?


In a "ferretería", but in Madrid...


----------



## fergie

thrax said:


> We had our first infestation yesterdsy. I made a coffee, sat down to do some work, half an hour later returned to the kitchen to wash my mug (coffee cup not my face although it probably needed too) and the wall was alive with ants that hadn't been there before. My wife has asthma so we have a Dyson cyclonic vacuum cleaner. Ants do not survive a Dyson. Whilst it doesn't get rid of the problem, if you have a sudden influx of a lot of ants, it's the quickest way I have ever found of getting rid of them en masse. The Nippon ant killer is easily the best but I haven't seen any here yet.


Using a Dyson is interesting, do the ants actually die in the cyclone? I have been thinking of using ours on an ant problem we have in the enclosed Naya, is there any chance they might breed within the cleaner?


----------



## Soy guiri

*ants*

I use Borax mixed with honey and boiling water, put in a spray bottle, spray and look again in a couple of hours and wow gone, beware though, it attracts them first, so its worse before it gets better, the only other thing I would swear by other than that methos is frontline animals spray, but that cost a fortune in comparrison. Good luck !


----------



## baldilocks

Pesky Wesky said:


> I had a problem with ants last year that I couln't find a solution to. It was made more difficult by the fact that they are crawling up the outside wall of the house, starting and finishing in neighbours' gardens, and it seems they were buiding a new nest or halfway inn, in our roof. Anyway, a few weeks ago I found this gel which comes in a syringe. You just squirt it on the wall and there it stays. The ants feed off it and take it back to the nest. So far the numbers have diminished to almost nothing, but have given them a second dose to see if that finishes them off.


Sounds very similar to "Terro" that we used in Florida except that it is more lo-tech (just a small squeezy bootle - no syringe)


----------



## Pesky Wesky

Pesky Wesky said:


> I had a problem with ants last year that I couln't find a solution to. It was made more difficult by the fact that they are crawling up the outside wall of the house, starting and finishing in neighbours' gardens, and it seems they were buiding a new nest or halfway inn, in our roof. Anyway, a few weeks ago I found this gel which comes in a syringe. You just squirt it on the wall and there it stays. The ants feed off it and take it back to the nest. So far the numbers have diminished to almost nothing, but have given them a second dose to see if that finishes them off.


BTW - it's called eco gel, but there's nothing eco about it, I'm sure


----------



## Man of Kent

Thank you, most informative now trying out the formula


----------



## VFR

Never had a problem with ants as we put these up when we moved in.


----------



## Pesky Wesky

This the one I'm referring to








Haven't used it this year as have seen any ants. Very few mosquitos here, in Madrid, Ribadesella, or Cantabrian coast either...


----------



## baldilocks

thrax said:


> We had our first infestation yesterdsy. I made a coffee, sat down to do some work, half an hour later returned to the kitchen to wash my mug (coffee cup not my face although it probably needed too) and the wall was alive with ants that hadn't been there before. My wife has asthma so we have a Dyson cyclonic vacuum cleaner. Ants do not survive a Dyson. Whilst it doesn't get rid of the problem, if you have a sudden influx of a lot of ants, it's the quickest way I have ever found of getting rid of them en masse. *The Nippon ant killer* is easily the best but I haven't seen any here yet.


Tried it, no effect whatsoever


----------



## bob_bob

Nothing works for baldilocks LOL

This works 

Home Defense Ant Stop! Killer Bait Station | eBay easy to get in Spain too.


----------



## roseandian

*Bicarb*



donz said:


> the weeds growing a foot a day and yes the ants - have seen quite a few working their busy way around. Might have to be getting the ant powder out soon. Does anyone know a safe product to use on them without affecting the dogs?
> 
> Yes it's warmer in bed for sure - no more pj's soon!!


I use Bicarb and white vinegar. 
Sprinkle Bicarb on ant hills wait 30 mins and then spray with white vinegar works


----------



## Poloss

roseandian said:


> I use Bicarb and white vinegar.
> Sprinkle Bicarb on ant hills wait 30 mins and then spray with white vinegar works


I second that. I simply sprinkle baking soda and just see the ants blow up and explode as it reacts with the formic acid. 

White vinegar with bicarb I've never tried; not yet...


----------



## pedro6

I also use the Mercadona spray by Bosque Verde, make sure it is the one that says 3 meses de duración and it does seem to provide protection for 3 months. I have two dogs and obviously don't spray near their water and keep them out of the room until the spray dries.


----------



## Poloss

To my dying day I'll remember the spanish for "ants" - _las hormigas_

Many years ago (1983), sailing with our 9m60 "Symphony" from Sète to Barcelona,
we had to avoid hitting this group of vicious rocks "las hormigas" lurking somewhere off
St Féliu de Guixols. 

Les formigues in Catalan just off Cap de Planes. 

Would you believe we had the gall to moor our noble vessel between the replica of the Santa Maria and a visiting Soviet warship? We promoted chick pea & lentell sprouts to the evening strollers (good against scurvy).

(sorry no photos)


----------



## Leki

Try ashes, heard was the best to protect plants spreading the ash around on the soil


----------



## pedro6

Leki said:


> Try ashes, heard was the best to protect plants spreading the ash around on the soil


anyone's in particular?


----------

