How do you kill ants with borax?

[ducks4you]

How do you kill ants with borax?

..yeah..that's it...it's a "how-to" question




You see, ant-killing insecticides give me a severe allergic reaction, and since I really don't wanna die, but I DO want to see few ants in my kitchen, does anybody know how you apply this?

 

[Aidenbaby]

I don't know about borax but I've heard that cornmeal will kill them. From what I understand, their little bodies can't process it as food and more or less they starve to death.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

I can't remember the exact proportions off the top of my head, but you mix borax with sugar water, then soak cotton balls in the solution & place them in jars laid on their side (inside or out).

You can't mix it too strong since it will kill the workers on site or before they get back to the hill. If its a weaker solution they carry it back & it kills the whole colony.

Looking for the proportions now, I've got the recipe at home. I've used it to great effect.

ETA: Quart of water, 4 ounces each borax & regular white sugar.

 

[patandchickens]

If you just want to repel them from your kitchen, you can use ground cloves, or clove oil, placed at the locations they are coming in. I've had good luck with that.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[sufficientforme]

This has a lot of great suggestions
http://www.thefrugallife.com/ants.html

I have also heard that aspertame found in artificial sweettner packets is poison them also. Must contain aspertame and just sprinkle around problem area. Never tried this but I will be this summer.

 

[Gallina Vecchia]

I have had very good luck with peppermint oil in water. Make it strong, use it in a spray bottle around baseboards and threshholds. This is a repellent, doesn't kill anything, which is nice if you have kids or pets. Good luck.

 

[chickenjoe]

I don't remember the portion but you can use just sugar and borax together. I would place it on some like a coffee can lid and out of the way of where animal and childern can get to it. LIke everyone else is saying they carry it back to the nest. I believe it does two things sufficates them and also cut their exoskeleton.

 

[ducks4you]

THIS IS GREAT!! You haven't mentioned ANY ingredient that I cannot rub all OVER my face--that is, none of these things will be making ME sick!
**ducks4you tries rubbing the cloves, the garlic, the cornmeal, the peppermint AND the borax on bill.....hmmmm.. no reaction!!**