We all know ants are annoying whenever they sneak inside your home, but these pests cause their fair share of problems in your lawn!
From painful bites and stings to crawling through any food you take outdoors, ants are a significant nuisance that disrupts your backyard plans.
To curb an ant infestation before it reaches your home and eliminate the pests outside, consider trying an outdoor ant bait to nip any invasion in the bud!
Ants habitually overtake homeowners’ yards across the country. Because their primary home is the great outdoors, it’s not uncommon to spot a few anthills popping up as the weather grows warm in the summer.
Specifically, ants hang around to find their fair share of food. Your yard is often rife with suitable nourishment from plant byproducts and other insects. Like most other insects, ants flock toward sweet substances like plant nectar, pollen, and sap.
They also consume other items apart from sweet plants. If a group of ants finds insect eggs, decomposing pests, or smaller insects, they will feast on the meat and bring their finds back to the larger colony.
Don’t be surprised to see ant hills in your backyard whenever the summer is warm. These widespread pests can stick around yearly in warmer climates without a strict pest control plan.
Just because ants are normal doesn’t mean you have to deal with them each season! Ants are pesky creatures that overtake your yard and cause issues in your home. These little pests can ruin your hard-earned groceries in your pantry.
Using an ant bait outside can quickly resolve a complex problem before it even starts! Containing the ants outdoors before they invade your home can avoid stress and even save you some cash!
Check out our favorite ant baits that you can try outside!
If you’re looking for a quick and relatively hands-off approach to your ant pest control methods, try purchasing a storebought ant bait. While more commonly used indoors around kitchens, you can find many products designed for outdoor use.
Whether browsing the aisles of your hardware or garden store or doing online shopping, you can find a product that works well for you. There are hundreds of options you can choose from!
These store-bought alternatives either come in a liquid form or small containers. When using bait stations, you won’t have as much control over the placement of the bait. If you want to reach any hidden cracks or crevices, use a liquid outdoor ant bait wherever you’d like.
Typically filled with borax or boric acid, these ant baits can quickly attract and kill the wayward insects overrunning your yard. Plus, ants can interact with the thicker solutions and return to the colony with a poisonous surprise!
You can create a similar solution using ingredients you may already have in your home.
Because many commercial ant elimination products contain borax or boric acid, you can utilize these ingredients in your concoction.
Use a teaspoon of borax or boric acid and combine everything with a bit of water, creating a thick paste. Add sugar or honey to thicken your mixture and attract ants.
After incorporating everything together, place this mixture on a small, shallow plate or bowl and situate it wherever you’ve spotted ants. If ants frequently show up around your porch or doorstep, add a little of the paste here!
Take care to only use this option if you’re sure other animals won’t accidentally consume it, especially your furry friends. Animals and other pests are naturally curious and may sniff around spots they shouldn’t.
Check out our article “Pet Safe Ant Bait: Safely Eliminating Annoying Pests!” to learn more!
Because ants are attracted to sugary sweet substances, they’ll quickly flock to your honey or sugar-based mixture. Ants prefer to spread the love around, so they’ll take everything back to the colony and eliminate the inner members.
If you want to contain the mess of a DIY solution or avoid other animals interacting with your poison, try creating a bait station just large enough for ants to reach.
Look around in your kitchen for any used bowls or bottles. You can use old butter, ice cream, or mayonnaise containers as the base for your trap. Just try to grab something with a small plastic top.
Mix boric acid and water until you have created a thick paste. Like our other outdoor ant bait options, choose a sugary substance guaranteed to attract ants around your yard.
Sugar and honey are excellent choices, but you can incorporate any sweet item in your pantry, like molasses, syrup, or jelly.
After you’ve mixed everything, add it to your container of choice. Poke a few small holes into the lid of your container, just large enough for ants to crawl through, and place your baited trap wherever you have problems with ants.
Similar to our other bait, this should attract ants and reduce the chances of other insects or animals interfering with your pest control efforts.
If outdoor ant bait isn’t working for you, you can try a few options to relieve your outdoor ant woes.
Use the Boiling Water Trick: You can quickly get rid of an ant hill in your yard by pouring boiling water into the dirt. Simply bring a pot of water to a slight boil and target any anthills on your lawn. However, be very careful whenever trying this option to avoid getting hurt!
Diatomaceous Earth Works Too: If you’re struggling with ants sneaking in from outside, try applying a thin layer of diatomaceous earth around the perimeter of your home. As the ants dredge through the powder, the sharp diatoms slowly cut their bodies and cause them to dehydrate.
Contact Zunex Pest Control: We have you covered whenever you need help with pest control problems! Here at Zunex, our trained technicians can lend a hand whenever ants overrun your property. Contact us here today!