It was a compliment, I’m sure, the way ants descended on my kitchen. The sticky sweet smell of homemade strawberry jam is irresistible if I do say so myself. But after watching them take an afternoon dip in my coconut oil I wasn’t feeling very hospitable.
I draw the line at coconut oil, y’all. It was officially an ant problem.
Certain spices, such as cinnamon and cayenne pepper, are thought to repel ants, but I haven’t had much luck with them. So a few years ago, I dug around on some university entomology pages for effective alternatives to synthetic pesticides. Below are the methods that they recommended, and I’m happy report my kitchen is now ant-free.
Before getting started with the pest control methods below, it’s important to identify whether the invading ant species can cause other problems.
My region has mostly odorous house ants and pavement ants, but there are carpenter ants in the area, too. They can cause structural damage to the home, so I used this identification guide to make sure I wasn’t dealing with them before moving forward.
Fortunately, fire ants don’t usually invade houses, so that’s one less thing to worry about.
This method, combined with the Ant Spray Recipe below, is what has worked best for me. The Borax/sugar water serves as ant bait that the scout ants take back to the colony, then the Borax does its work.