Ants work in complex nests, and like any living being, one of their main needs is food! Worker ants have the objective of going out in search for food to bring back to the nest. Foraging leads them into homes, and anywhere they might find traces of edible material. The peak of this activity is found from April until September, with cosumer searches for ant pest control products peaking during these months.

Signs of Infestation

The typical tell-tale sign of an ant infestation is seeing the ants running around. The number of ants you see is an indicator of the size of the infestation.

Small piles of soil or dirt outside holes in the ground can indicate the presence of a nest. These are often located in sunny spots outside, within wall cavities, or under paving slabs. Nests are often intricate tunnels underground, in mounds or within trees.

Prevention

The main way to prevent ant infestations is to ensure spilled food or cooking residues are cleaned up quickly. For example, cleaning down BBQs and keeping food waste secured within a bin and not stored in bags on the ground. Sweet food is high on their priority list, so removing sticky substances from the kitchen countertops & keeping food stored securely so ants can’t gain access to it helps. This goes for pet food as well: make sure it’s cleaned up and kept secured.

When seeing ants inside the home, best practice is to watch to see where they’re gaining entry and seal these holes up to stop future access.

Treatment

Treating the nest is the easiest way to deal with the infestation.

However, if unsure where the nest is, apply ant spray, powder or bait traps where ant activity has been spotted. Ants leave behind natural chemical trails to help mark ‘safe’ routes, which is why you often see ants travelling along the same lines, targeting these lines helps in disrupting their activity.

• Contact powder is great for easy distribution into cracks and crevices, straight into nest sites.

• Aerosol sprays from deliver both a contact killer and residual action to help stop repeat infestations.

• For targeting the source of the infestation, the nest, the Dual Action Gel Ant Bait provides a food source containing poison that the worker ants will carry back to the nest to share with others in the colony.

• During the mating season when flying ants are abound, you may want to install window and fly curtains to allow you to keep fresh air flowing through the house while keeping the flying ants out.