Cheshire Pest Control

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How To Get Rid Of Ants In The Home Safely (Ken Chadwick)

How To Get Rid Of Ants In The Home Safely – Black or Garden Ants (Lasius niger)

Ants in your home can be a horrible experience but they can be cured permanently with professional help

Black ants are commonly found throughout the UK, and although they nest outdoors, they are often found inside houses, causing a nuisance more than anything.

They are social creatures, and live in colonies containing workers (infertile females), males, queens and grubs (larvae). Ants mate on the wing, so the “flying ants” are either males or immature queens.

Where do they come from?

You will find ants nests in dry earth around plant roots, with sandy soil in particular attracting colonies.

The sand used in house foundations, garden paths and patios forms a good site for the queen ant to start a colony. Nests are increasingly being found inside the walls of properties (cavity walls, for example). Once a colony develops it can be difficult to get rid of.

Why do ants come indoors?

The ants found indoors are usually worker ants, which are foraging for food for the queen and the grubs. They have found that buildings inhabited by humans are a good source of provision, particularly sweet or sugary items, and a good dry harbourage.

Do black ants just live on human food?

No, the worker ants are scavengers and collect seeds, nectar, and even dead insects as well to take back to the nest. They also prey on greenfly, blackfly and other small insects, so cannot be considered to be all bad.

Do black ants do any harm?

Although it is unpleasant and a nuisance to find a large number of them in your home, black ants do not transmit any serious diseases.

However, you should remember as well that the ants may have travelled through unpleasant or dirty places during their foraging and before entering your home. This means that they can taint any food, making it unsuitable to eat.

Do not leave food uncovered if accessible to ants, but if they have contaminated food, dispose of in the dustbin (wrapped first to prevent it smelling in the warmer weather).

They are able to bite and squirt formic acid as a defence mechanism, irritate  those with sensitive skin.

How do I get rid of them?

There is no single method available to the general public which is guaranteed to succeed. Often it is better to rely on professional pest control companies.

You can try the proprietary powders available at DIY stores and hardware shops however this often proves only to be a short-term answer, firstly because of the low dosages of active ingredient allowed in domestic insecticides.and  secondly, there can be so many ants in one nest that it is difficult to eradicate the whole colony.

You will often find that the problem re-occurs year after year and it is often worth spending a few pounds to have the problem professionally treated.

The most common treatment that a professional pest control company will carry out is a spray treatment of the infested area. This will usually have the effect of reducing or even removing the problem for a period of some weeks or even months.

The operative should spray inside and outside the property where ants are seen and attempt to get insecticide into the nest itself although this is rarely possible.

The cost for this treatment for an average sized property is in the range £45 – £100 depending on distance travelled and time of call out.

The most successful, but also most expensive method of curing an ant infestation is to drill holes into the cavity walls of the property and inject insecticidal dust into the cavity itself.

This forms an impenetrable barrier, which the ants cannot cross, and is 99.9% successful in removing ant infestations. Although the treatment is more expensive it lasts for several years depending on how dry the cavities are and has the benefit that once the holes are drilled it is a simple and relatively inexpensive matter to re-inject the cavities with insecticidal dust every few years.

Harrier Pest Prevention guarantees the treatment for an initial three years after which an inexpensive top up of the insecticide extends the guarantee for a further three years.

As a rough guide to cost of this treatment measure the external walls of your property, all around the house and multiply the number of metres by £8.

We will be pleased to carry out a survey and provide you with a fixed quotation for this work free of charge.

AuthorThat concludes this article entitled – How To Get Rid Of Ants In The Home Safely

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