Ants are one of the most common of the household pests, and they come in several different varieties. Sugar ants are the smallest of the ants that can be found in the home, and aside from being a nuisance don’t pose too much of a threat. Still, no one wants to have a solid double line of ants moving around the house, exploiting every possible food source throughout your living space.

 

Integrated pest management offers a feasible approach to pest control through the least toxic methods possible. This means understanding pest biology and behaviour in order to implement sound prevention and control policies, without having to resort to insecticides which may prove to be more damaging to our own health than to the pests we are seeking to control.

In the case of sugar ants, there are two different areas you need to consider when it comes to prevention. The first is denial of access into your home, and the second is denying them food if an ant does gain access.

 

Sealing off your home

 

The problem with sugar ants, of course, is that they are very small and can take advantage of even the tiniest cracks to get into your home. You need to diligently inspect your house in order to determine if there are seams in the foundation or underneath windows and other openings that sugar ants may get in through. If you do find any entry points, make sure to seal them up tightly. The good news here is that in almost all cases, sugar ants will enter a house through the basement, as they probably have a nest somewhere close to the outside walls at ground level. You won’t have to go over the whole house, therefore, just the lower level.

 

Another means of access for sugar ants is through holes in the floor that were built in for drainage purposes. These are typically found in homes built during the late ’70s and in the ’80s, and don’t serve much of a purpose today. You can seal them up as well.

 

Deny any inside ants food!

 

No matter how careful you are, odds are that a scout ant will eventually make its way into your home. It’s important that she doesn’t find anything to report back to the colony. There are several areas where people end up leaving food out that attracts ants:

 

* Recycling. If you store up recycling for a trip to the depot, make sure it is cleaned out thoroughly first, and that those trips are regular!

* Pet supplies. Sugar ants are drawn to pet food, so take your dog or cat chow out of its original packaging and put it into a sealed container to keep the ants out.

* Spills. Just a small dried up puddle of pop will bring in hordes of ants, so make sure that you wipe up any spill right away!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 at 5:50 am and is filed under Ants, Natural Pest Control. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.