This weekend I discovered I have a pavement ant infestation. They are
entering my home in two places--the decorative wooden framing around my
front door has developed some openings near the bottom, and I see a trail
of
ants going in and out of those openings. In addition, the exterior of my
home is brick, and in several locations (again, in the front of the house)
the mortor has fallen away from between two bricks, and I see ants moving
in
and out of these spaces.
Here's my first question: Should I seal these openings right away, or
should I set out some baits, first? My concern about sealing right away
is
that the ants have established colonies within the walls (I saw some
winged
reproductives leaving the opening in the door frame). I am afraid that if
I
seal right away this will drive them further into the interior of my home
as
they try to find an alternative way out. My thinking is that I should
apply
some baits, first, in the hope that the workers will take the poison into
the colony and kill the queen.
Given that, what bait should I use? I did some research online yesterday,
and bought some baits with fipronil in them. I placed these baits on my
front ****ch late yesterday afternoon. This morning at around 6:15 a.m. I
went out and found worker ants swarming on my front ****ch. They were all
around the bait containers, but I did not see any enter the containers.
I just went out and bought some other types of baits. I bought some Terro
traps with liquid borax in them. I also bought some Real-Kill baits with
indoxacarb. The Terro baits are supposedly good for sweet-loving ants,
and
the Real-Kill baits are good for both sweet- and grease-loving ants.
After
I set out all of these baits, there won't be any room to walk on my front
****ch!
If anyone has any suggestions on how I can deal with this problem I would
love to hear them. Thanks.
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