Saturday, March 6, 2010

Too many ants? Get rid of them today!

Ants could probably the most organized non-human creatures on the planet. They are also the hardest working, excellent team workers and super strong creatures that can lift at least 20 times of their body weight. Yet, they are also one of the most annoying when they actively roam and march all over the place. I consider it alarming if they start crawling over your body while you're having sweet dreams.

What are the reasons for having too many ants in your house? From my observation, it has always been about food. Human dwelling place, which is normally food rich, is also habitable to those tiny creatures. Once it becomes its happy hunting ground, that's it! You are going to have a very hard time to phase them out.

I'm not an ant expert. I will never be. But living in a tropical country like Malaysia, in which ants are consistently coexistence, have given me a better understanding on their behaviour, how they work and the conditions that draw them to our dwelling places. Therefore, let me share some of my experience, i.e. how to get rid of them.

As a Muslim, what I learn, never kill insects with fire. Except, if they are harmful, they may be killed with insecticides (please refer to your religious scholars for better explanation).

Secondly, I don't believe feeding with sugar or any kind of food outside your courtyard, is a solution for ants removal. Instead, it will make them grow healthier and may end up in larger colony. Besides, what will happen when you stop feeding them?

Family ant bait (available in TESCO and popular store)

If you really want to get rid of them, try to use ant bait. It's clean and huffing free. I used Family Ant Bait (brand name). It works well for tropical ants, regardless the colour whether they are red or black, seriously by God will it works! But of course it is not a minute reaction. It takes days for you to see the result (at least five days).

Simple step: Uncap and place at least two ant baits near your food waste. For my case, I parked them near the rubbish bin. Add more ant baits as required.

Let them enjoy the baits. Black ants crowding the ant baits within two minutes of uncapping. Fast, eh?

Now at my home, ants are almost unnoticed. No more annoyance by ants. Try it!

3 comments:

D.a.a.l.i.a. said...

Assalamualaikum saudara,

May I know where you bought this item to solve your ants problem ? I have similar problem at my bakery ... :(

Azouz Izat Ezwan said...

Wa'alaikum salam

It is available in Tesco and Giant. I found Giant normally sells RM0.50 to RM1.00 cheaper than Tesco, depending on the promotion.

Bakery is definitely a home-sweet home for ants. You may need to use a combination of baits, then observe which combination best suits your bakery. If you are throwing away sugary wastes, make sure they are NOT reachable by this tiny creatures. You can also apply engine oil at the bottom lateral of your dustbins. Ants will not cross over concentrated oil (but don't use cooking oil).

When ants start disappearing, spray lemon grass on their common trails and pathways. I found it helps to repel them too. Serai wangi is abundance in stores.

Remember this is not a two-day process. It may take weeks or longer, but it's worth trying. I hope this helps.

D.a.a.l.i.a. said...

thanks so much Izat for your tips and recommendation