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10 Ways To Fight Ants Without Chemicals
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- Baking soda is poisonous to ants, spinkle it around your plants to ensure ants will stay away. (But it will change the ground ph so use caution (blue berries will not like it).
- Instant Grits, instant rice or instant cream of wheat can be sprinkled around plants or hives. Keep it dry, replace if the rain gets it wet. The ant will eat a piece of whichever you sprinkle, drink water and the grain expands and kills the ant.
- You can use instant coffee grounds, chili powder, cinnamon, peppermint or black pepper. All deter ants and if you pour instant coffee grounds directly on an anthill, they will eat the coffee grounds and implode. Mint oil and hedges of mint will not be crossed by ants.
- Flour & Baby Powder will keep ants from reaching your plants, ants will not cross the powder - so circle your plants with it.
- Fill a spray bottle with 1 part vinegar and 1 part water and spray on plants. The acid in vinegar will kills ants.
- Mix together one-third cup of molasses, six tablespoons of sugar, and six tablespoons of active dry yeast into a smooth paste. Use the mixture to coat strips of cardboard. Keep out of reach of pets and small children. You can leave mixture on a saucer outside anthill and they’ll eat it and die!
- Fold contact paper in half, with the sticky side out and make a circle around base of plant. The ants get stuck on the paper - problem solved.
- Cut off the bottom of a paper cup and cut a slit up the side of the cup and coat outside with vaseline and place around base of plant. You can also use packing tape.
- Mix one cup of borax, two-thirds a cup sugar and one cup water. Dip cotton balls in the solution and place in areas near your anthill Ants will leave the plants alone and ingest the sweet mixture. The borax kills the ants. Use caution near hives.
- Diatomaceous Earth is a commonly sold organic pesticide that will destroy the insects outer skeletons, causing the pests to die from dehydration. Use caution near hives.
Categories: Beekeeping, Honeybee Health Issues & News, Beekeeping Equipment
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2 Comments
Will any of these ant fighting methods hurt the bees? I tried the cream of wheat and it lessened the ants but did not get rid of them. I did not use cream of wheat last time I visited my hives and tonight the ants were terrible; it seems that they are actually living in the hive at the bottom where the cafeteria tray is. Is that possible?
Laurel Quinn says...
Will any of these ant fighting methods hurt the bees? I tried the cream of wheat and it lessened the ants but did not get rid of them. I did not use cream of wheat last time I visited my hives and tonight the ants were terrible; it seems that they are actually living in the hive at the bottom where the cafeteria tray is. Is that possible?
It is unlikely that bees will be harmed by granuals on the ground, when you find a nest of ants crush as many as possible, be sure to get the white eggs. Be sure the hive is elevated on rails or blocks atleast 12 inches from the ground. A platform above a post (like a mailbox, will minimize the paths and ablity for ants and other insects to get to the hive. This single post method is used in the south in areas of high termite infestation. The wood post is regularly coated with anti termite oils.
