Tips On How To Prevent An Ant Infestation This Summer
Tips On How To Prevent An Ant Infestation This Summer
Ants are common pests in homes and they’re often a big problem during the summer. And while they’re generally harmless, they can be difficult to get rid of. Here are some tips to hopefully keep an ant infestation from occurring in the first place!
Clean Up Food Debris
Ants are attracted to food spills in the kitchen, pantry, or breakroom. They may also be attracted to sweets, such as jelly drips from a child’s sandwich or syrup from your coffee mug. With that said, if you notice ants in your kitchen, it is essential to start cleaning up all food debris and crumbs promptly and thoroughly. This will help prevent an ant infestation from becoming more serious.
Seal Up Entry Points
Ants are highly industrious creatures, and they’ll often use the smallest cracks to get into your home. If you find that ants are coming in through a hole in your siding or around the cable wire that runs from your air conditioning system into the house, you can seal it up to keep them out of your home. Any hole or gap larger than a dime should be sealed, as pests can squeeze through these. Smaller holes can be filled with caulk, and larger ones should be sealed with a combination of steel wool and waterproof sealant.
Eliminate Food Sources
In order to eliminate ants from your home, you must find the food sources that are feeding them. This can be as simple as removing plants that produce honeydew and taking care to clean up spills in the kitchen. When a worker ant finds food, she leaves a chemical communication called pheromones which tell other workers where to find it. They then follow the pheromone trail and carry the food back to the nest where they share it with other members of the colony. So, if you find a pheromone trail in your home, make sure that the ants have been thoroughly eliminated. This is because if you just kill a few ants, others from the nest can always follow their pheromone trail and pick up where they left off.
Crist Termite and Pest Solutions, Inc.
Ant infestations are the number one reason people call pest control professionals. The reason is simple: ants can be hard to eliminate. The best way to get rid of ants is by preventing them from entering your home in the first place. Having a professional perform a thorough inspection of your home and yard can identify where ants are coming in. It also helps to know the exact ant species that is infesting your property. Understanding their foraging behavior, nesting locations, and reproductive habits will strengthen your control efforts. Contact us today at Crist Termite and Pest Solutions, Inc. for a consultation and more information on how we can keep your home ant-free this summer!
Categorised in: Ant Control, Ant Infestation, Preventative Pest Control