9 Highly Effective Ant Prevention Tips for Homeowners in Maryland and Virginia
Did you know that ants live on every single continent except Antarctica?
Ants are masters of surviving in any terrain, which is one of the reasons they're so good at infiltrating our homes.
But don't worry, with these 7 tips, you'll know how to get rid of tiny ants and prevent them from coming in the first place!
How to Get Rid of Tiny Ants
There are four basic ant prevention tips.
First, you want to emphasize prevention. Keeping ants away in the first place is much easier than dealing with them afterward.
Next, there's the information game. You want to be vigilant to notice the beginning of an ant foray into your home and learn everything you can about where the ants are coming from and how.
Then, there's cutting off the ants' access to your home. You can find ways to physically eliminate entrances, or use repellants to keep ants out of cracks in your defenses.
Finally, you can eliminate the ants themselves.
1. Keep the Home Clean
Keeping your floor and surfaces clean is an important part of making your home inhospitable to ants. If I have no food for them to take, there's no reason to end up with ants in my kitchen.
2. Follow Ants
When you first discover an ant, be careful to follow its path back to where it came from. Ants lay down pheromone trails for other ants to follow, so if you can find out how one ant entered, you'll probably find where future ants will enter.
3. Eliminate Scouts
The first few ants in my house will scout it out for food, and then return to their nest to tell the other ants to come get it.
If I can kill the first few ants, then hopefully I'll never end up with too many ants in my house.
4. Erase Scent Trails
There's a good chance that any ant you see will have already laid down a scent trail. Try using a 3 to 1 mix of water and vinegar to wipe all the surfaces around where the ants have walked.
5. Seal Entrances
Once you've found out where ants are entering your home, try sealing those entrances up with caulk.
6. Use Repellants
Some areas may be harder to seal than others. A repellant can be a good way to create a chemical block against an ant infestation.
7. Make a Talc Barrier
Another solution may be to physically impede ants with baby powder, or talc. Ants don't like it and will stay away.
8. Use Ant Bait
Special any baits exist which are slow-acting and sweet to ants. Place them around where ants travel and they may take the poisons back to the nest to destroy the ants at the source.
9. Find the Nest
If necessary, you can track ants back to their nest and poison the nest directly for the ultimate in ant control. The professionals will know what to do.
Be the Master of Your House
We hope you've learned something about how to get rid of tiny ants. To learn more about how to keep your home free of insects, check out our other articles!
