I keep a clean kitchen (really!), but in the last few days I am being over run by black ants - anyone know of any good natural remedies to get rid of them? I've tried peppermint oil along the door and window frames and I've just watched 2 ants walk across that like it wasn't there 
. I'm going to try washing everything down with vinegar next, but does anyone know of anything else that will definately work?! I can't find where they are coming from as we live in an apartment and don't have a garden, and when I look on the balcony, they don't seem to be coming from there! Help please - I know they don't carry disease, but it's gross - thank god I don't have any cakes due till the weekend! TIA!
I just got an email from someone that mentioned putting cornmeal in areas that you see ants. It said that they will carry it "home" with them but cannot digest it and it will kill them. I don't know if it works, but anything is worth a shot. I'll try it later in summer when they usually try to show up around my kitchen window.
I had the same problem and my husband found a home remedy that said to just sprinkle black pepper and they will go away and they did! The ants are gone 
HTH
Lazy_Susan
Thanks guys! I've got to go out and buy vinegar anyway, so I'll get some cornmeal too - I don't like killing things, but they should stay away from my kitchen lol! At least the apartment smells all minty now (not that it did any good - but if there is a nest in a cavity wall or something then putting a barrier around the doors and windows won't help!) The kitchen still has ants running around it, so I'm afraid it's anything goes now! Thanks again!
Since you are in an apartment, they are probably coming from inside of the walls (thank your neighbors), through molding or an electrical outlet. There's probably a sweet little nest in there somewhere. Are you on the ground level? I live in the land of fire ants, so I would be calling my landlord immediately - black ants or not.
so I'll get some cornmeal too -
What about the pepper? It worked for me.
Got that and I've just ground a load down into the crevices around the kitchen balcony door (where they seem to be the most!). I'll get the cornmeal as well, just to catch those few errent ones that are sure to be lurking somewhere I can't see them! Just hope that that won't attract mice in (a huge problem in this area - ewwww!).
Since you are in an apartment, they are probably coming from inside of the walls (thank your neighbors), through molding or an electrical outlet. There's probably a sweet little nest in there somewhere. Are you on the ground level? I live in the land of fire ants, so I would be calling my landlord immediately - black ants or not.
Nope, we live on the 3rd floor, but the ground floor apartment has a garden though - they may be coming from there, or as you say from inside the walls. I'm going to try all the methods suggested - and we own our apartment - so there is no landlord to fall back on 
!
You need to call a Pest Control Company. I can appreciate your not wanting to kill the ants, however... you don't go hang out in their home, so they should not come frolic in yours! Kill the damn things...today! You definitely have a nest and placing natural ingredients is not going to work. You mentioned mice are a problem, well, you don't want to have them in your home, as well. Think of it as if you were describing your local store bakery kitchen. If you walked in and saw ants and mice???!!! Please, call a Pest Control Company...God will forgive you.
I just read "The Secret Life of Bees" By Sue Monk (forgot last name)~ One of the characters in the book smashed up graham crackers & marshmellows making a trail out the door... it worked in the book! I just use good old ant spray!! We've had a bit of rain here & it always brings the ants in. Good Luck~
Hre in NZ we have a poison for ants called Raid it smells like honey but they take it back to their nest and it kills them may take a couple of goes but they do go hehe its fab stuff we also have here a sand type poison too dont know much bout that. Maybe you can find out what is lethal to them and mix with a bit of honey put in a jam jar lid or something similar. otherwise sounds like pest control to me as for the mice have a cat hehe the smell of a cat keeps them away.
Just to confirm - we don't HAVE mice - but The Netherlands is over-run with them! Where do you think the song 'There once stood a windmill in Old Amsterdam' came from - with the mouse doing a dance in his clogs on the stairs ?! We have a cat, and the odd time we have had a mouse (in the past, not for a long time now, touch wood!), he is a very efficient hunter and killer. As for pest control - yeah, they have a very relaxed attitude to that here - my friend found cockroaches in her house, and a few days later she got a sticky pad through her door from the pest control people saying that her street was infested with them, and here was a pad to help!!! I swear, this country sometimes amazes me (and not in a good way)!!! My ant problem, would not be a problem to them - they would tell me to sort it out myself with the stuff on the market! I did purchase ant boxes whilst I was out - they contain deadly stuff which the ants will take back to the nest and kill them & their friends. We'll see how it goes!
my trick for ants was teatree oil.
i just add it to the water with what i clean floors. maybe 15-20 drops.use it for a week and i think your ants will find another flat to terrorise.
I also clean kitchen counters with it.
Also don't leave out even a crumb of food.
I did purchase ant boxes whilst I was out - they contain deadly stuff which the ants will take back to the nest and kill them & their friends.
My husband and I bought some of those too. They work but my dogs ate them. Then I found myself calling Poison Control for my dogs. You said that you have cats so be careful that they don't eat the traps. If they do, poison control told me to be more concerned about the plastic container than the amount of poison ingested. The plastic would kill them before the minute amount of poison would.
There is a poison call Diazanon (Sp). If you have no pets sprinkle this along the baseboard (it is a white powder) The ants will die when they touch this...They will NOT walk through flour either...of course flour is not sweet and you wont get any other pests.
HTH
Christi
You said that you have cats so be careful that they don't eat the traps. If they do, poison control told me to be more concerned about the plastic container than the amount of poison ingested. The plastic would kill them before the minute amount of poison would.
Thanks! I don't think Max will eat the trap, I've put it along the skirting board against the wall where there is a piece of skirting board missing - I think this is where they might be coming in. It's also behind the kitchen bin (which was full of ants this morning - ewwwwwwwwww!), so he can't actually get at it (but the ants can!). I really hope this works! I have to say that since I sprinkled the pepper around the edge of the room, I didn't see any more ants after an hour or so, so maybe your tip has worked - thanks!
Try boric acid. It is a powder you get at the drugstore. Sprinkle it around windows and door frames.
I personally like Terro Ant Poison 
It works!!!!
Well.......................you said they were BLACK ants? Are they larger ants? If so they are carpenter ant. They don't want your food! They like wood!! They are only coming in because of the rain. This is what I was told when I had the same issue from my bug guy. Alo I heard the cinamon work on ants. just sprinkle some ground cinnamon and they should go away. Good luck and I know I hate the little buggers too. Happy Baking.
Well.......................you said they were BLACK ants? Are they larger ants? If so they are carpenter ant. They don't want your food! They like wood!! They are only coming in because of the rain. This is what I was told when I had the same issue from my bug guy. Alo I heard the cinamon work on ants. just sprinkle some ground cinnamon and they should go away. Good luck and I know I hate the little buggers too. Happy Baking.
This is a really gross thought but when we had CARPENTER ants, our exterminator said "For every one ant you see, there is a nest of a thousand" 
YUCK!!
Anyway, here are some remedies I found online, although I haven't tried any of them.
Ant Bait
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup baking yeast
½ cup molasses
6 - 3x5 inch index cards
Mix all ingredients together and then smear a thin layer on each of the index cards. Use a rubber spatula to spread the mixture on the cards. Put the index cards in places that you have seen ants.
Ants and Roaches Killer
For roaches
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 tablespoon boric acid powder.
Mix thoroughly and add the white of one egg, mix into a paste, put on a cookie sheet etc. about 1/8" thick and cook in oven at the LOWEST temp (usually 200) until rubbery, cut into 1/2" squares and put them around the place, under cabinets, in cabinets, etc. Very low toxicity to people and pets. After a couple of weeks, roaches disappear. Do it twice a year and you won't ever have roaches again.
For ants
Use sugar, boric acid, and flour to make a watery paste and put around in bottle caps, etc. It's effective on carpenter ant kill and pismires. For fire ants, cook boric acid into grits and dry, then spread around near mound. They take it to the queen and it kills the entire mound. Effective about 2/3 of the time
Ant Bait Recipe
Mix 12oz Karo's Clear Syrup with 2 Tablespoon of Borax or Boric Acid Powder. Put Mixture in a empty sqeeze Mustard Bottle. Put drops of mixture in areas where ants travel-OR-Mix 12oz of apple jelly with 2 Tablespoon of Boric Acid. (Boric Acid Powder can be found at most drug stores.) Add 2 tablespoons of peanut-butter for carpenter ant kill.
Ant Bait, Home-made
Dissolve 1 tsp. boric acid and 6 tablespoon sugar in 1 cup water. Soak some cotton balls in solution. Make bait dispensers from margarine containers by punching holes in container lids. Put cotton balls inside margarine containers and cover with lids so bait won't dry out. (I have also used berry containers with success). Place containers where you see ants. Ants may increase in number initially, but will disappear within days after worker ants carry boric acid back to nest. For long term control, reduce boric acid from 1 tsp. to ½ tsp.
Ant deterrent
Spray vinegar around door and window frames, under appliances, and along other known ant trails.
Ant invasion
Get rid of ants in pots by soaking them, lifting out the plants then removing any ant nests at the base. Now stick your pots on bricks which are wiped every month or so with eucalyptus oil, or some other sticky substance, to repel another invasion. A ring of white pepper around the pot may help, too.
Ants are about
Repel ants rather than kill them if you can. Sprinkle a mix of talcum powder and white pepper into paving crevices to make life uncomfortable for them ... it's also great sprinkled around the clothes line if ants are a problem there.
Good Luck! 
Gail
When I put the traps down, they suddenly appeared from nowhere - dozens of them!!!! A lot went into the traps and hopefully got some of the stuff to take back to the nest to kill them all! They do seem very attracted to the traps, as most are concentrated in that area (with only one or two stragglers!). Fingers crossed!
These are definitely standard black sugar ants - it's been 75-80F here for the last few days and it hasn't rained in about a fortnight!
it hasn't rained in about a fortnight!
What's a "fortnight"? LOL
it hasn't rained in about a fortnight!
What's a "fortnight"? LOL
that'd be 2 weeks to you - isn't it amazing how we say we speak the same language, but we don't really - a British person would have no trouble understanding what I meant 'fortnight' = 14 nights (get it?!) = 2 weeks. That concludes your British English lesson for today - class dismissed 
Here's Mad Max the mouser - still going strong at nearly 13!
it hasn't rained in about a fortnight!
What's a "fortnight"? LOL
that'd be 2 weeks to you - isn't it amazing how we say we speak the same language, but we don't really - a British person would have no trouble understanding what I meant
'fortnight' = 14 nights (get it?!) = 2 weeks. That concludes your British English lesson for today - class dismissed
*gives the teacher an apple* Thank you!
We have been having ant problems as well. I was told to put instant grits on the nest. They said the instant grits work better than the regular for some reason. What it does is when they eat it, it sucks up all of the moisture out of there bodies and they basically dehydrate. Also use ground clove and put in the areas you don't want them. They don't like the smell and will not go in thaat area. I put it in my daughters window. They were trying to come in there. I've noticed since I put the instant grits out, they haven't been coming around. HTH.
OMG!! I have those little buggers in the summer. Last summer, I got a bowl of cereal from an upper cabinet (kept in plastic cereal box) and after eating about 1/2 of it, noticed little black specs -- Ants. Nearly gagged... They come in around my electrical receptacles as well as in the windows and doors and aroung the kitchen sink. I have been using Terro w/ not a whole lot of effect. I put out fresh mint and I swear I saw them making mint juleps. I need help too
I hate these dang ants!! We had these two years ago. We had to call the exterminater to get rid of them. It took 2-3 months to get rid og them. We did not cook during that whole time. It was so nasty. I hope you find a way to get rid of them because I know how you feel. Good luck
Your cat is georgous. When I saw the pic I just smiled really big.
Edited to say my cats name is Max too.
it hasn't rained in about a fortnight!
What's a "fortnight"? LOL
that'd be 2 weeks to you - isn't it amazing how we say we speak the same language, but we don't really - a British person would have no trouble understanding what I meant
'fortnight' = 14 nights (get it?!) = 2 weeks. That concludes your British English lesson for today - class dismissed
I just came back from living 5 months with an english family. I didnt realize how much imperial english i had picked up in that time. My family laughs at me when i use it.
As for the ants, they hate chalk dust and will not walk through it.
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