How To Get Rid Of Ants On Your West Palm Beach Property

There are many ways Lake Worth residents go after ant problems. In recent years, more and more people have been turning to natural remedies. Sadly, most natural remedies fall short of stopping ants and they can even make your ant problems worse. If you've learned that a certain concoction made with household items can stop ants, you're likely to be disappointed with the results.

Today, we're going to offer up some eco-friendly ant control methods that, while not nearly as easy as those quick natural remedies, are far more likely to stop ants and provide you with long-term, sustainable ant control.

Find & Remove Food Sources

One reason ants appear in your home is that they find a food source and let the other ants in their colony know where the food is by laying down a pheromone chemical trail. The pheromone of many pests ants won't last for more than a few minutes or hours. If you remove the food source, you can stop more ants from coming in. How do you address food sources?

Here are a few tips to consider:

• You would be amazed at all of the food options an ant can find in your trash. If ants are targeting your trash, remove it and clean the receptacle.
• Store fruit in your fridge and put potatoes in a sealed plastic container.
• Put dirty dishes in soapy water. There are many leftover food products that are desirable as food sources for ants.
• Pick up pet food.
• Deep clean your home and vacuum your rugs to remove crumbs.

Remove Odors

Ants are led by their olfactory senses. If you have something in your home that is giving off an odor that is strong to ants, they'll be drawn to it. You can reduce these odors and make the interior of your home less interesting to ants.

Here are a few examples:

• Clean your floors, shelves, counters, and tables in your home. Ants might be drawn to a decaying organic spot of moisture on your floor or organic matter on your shelf or in your cabinets.
• Clean the sides of your oven. Ants can easily get in there and feed on whatever has gone down through the gap between your oven and counter.
• Clean any recyclables that you have inside your home.
• Check the due dates on the items in your pantry or kitchen cabinets. If you find old items, throw them out.
• Store pantry items in select containers.

Cleaning your home can also remove the invisible pheromone trails ants have created. This too will deter them from coming into your kitchen and exploring areas that have been explored before.

Seal Cracks, Gaps & Crevices

When ants get into your walls, they don't necessarily have to get into your common areas. One layer of protection is to use a caulking gun to limit access from your wall voids to the open spaces in your kitchen or pantry.

• Seal gaps in your kitchen cabinets.
• Seal gaps and cracks in your pantry walls and baseboards.
• Seal gaps around the pipe that comes in underneath your kitchen sink.
• Seal interior gaps around kitchen doors or windows.

Exterior Cracks

Once you've limited entry into the interior spaces of your home, it is time to consider the entry points ants can use to get into your home in the first place. While it is impossible to seal them all, it is well worth the effort. Ants get in because they can. The fewer cracks they can find, the better your chances of repelling them.

• Seal cracks in your foundation walls or the slab of your home.
• Seal areas where wood rot has created a potential entry point.
• Seal around water mains and utility conduits.
• Make sure your weatherstripping and door sweeps make a good seal.
• Protect your vent exhausts.
• Repair damaged mortar.

Attractants

There are many things that can make the exterior of your home inviting to ants. More ants equals more problems. Try reducing these and other potential attractants:

• Properly dispose of trash and keep your exterior trash receptacles free of strong odors.
• Move bird feeders away from your exterior.
• Remove leaves, sticks, and other organic debris.
• Move wood piles away from your home.
• Address any conditions that allow aphids or other plant-damaging insects to create honeydew in your landscaping.

Targeted Ant Products

If you use the tips given so far, you may not have any more issues with ants inside your home. But, when an infestation is particularly difficult, or ant pressures in your yard are higher than normal, targeted ant products must be used to target colonies and eliminate them.

It is best to have a licensed pest professional handle this task. For assistance in Lake Worth, reach out to Above and Beyond Pest Control. We're here to help you with our home pest control or commercial pest management services.