Rotten ants in the kitchen

[2littleprincesses]

Hi, I've just come home and found that my kitchen has been taken over by ants. I put talcum powder outside the door and window as they can come in there, but when the wind blows the powder away they can get back in.

What I would like to ask is: does anyone know of any natural ways to keep ants off my benchtops? Or at least to trap them once they're up there?

Rotten little things . . .
Thank you-2littleprincesses

[Mummabear]

Ants hate cloves. Get some bottle tops and put cloves in them and then place the cloves around your kitchen, in the path of the ants and all around. They'll be gone shortly.

[alicesmum]

i tried everything natural in vein including the talcum powder.:( i really HATE killing things, and loathe using anything chemical at all. but in the end I lost the battle and they started to take over.

Eventually my DH made me concede and we got some ant traps :( You put them in the line of their trail and they go inside, take whatever is in them back to their nests and it kills their nest (and them i suppose:eek: ).

Sad, but I tell you what - we have NO MORE ANTS in our kitchen (living room, study, bathroom......they were everywhere!!). i just said a little prayer that they come back as something more likeable in their next lives!!! :p )

[Ffrenchknickers]

have you tried Borax? Works the same as talc but is heavier and wont blow away so easily:)

[Foxymoron]

We've had the little buggers thwarting our every strategy to keep them at bay over the past fortnight. I wish I knew what it was about the humid horrid weather that makes them venture inside!
We don't leave anything on our bench, and yet they are there, scouting around, sometimes catching a whiff of watermelon or something that's been cut on the bench and since wiped up... If they weren't so beastly I'd be amused by the way they arrive after I've cleaned up and still hang about like something good is there.
I'm off to line every nook and cranny with some cloves now :) thanks for that... I love the smell :D

[2littleprincesses]

I've tried the ant traps, but it says not to put them on food preparation surfaces. Plus they walk right across my kitchen floor so I can't put ant traps down as my 7mo would be straight over to them.

I'll give the cloves a go, thanks for the tip.
-2littleprincesses

[happychappies]

Spraying white vinegar along the trail in the kitchen and along their path, the smell is too strong for them to lay down new scents of their own. (Spray all enterances accessable to the ants.