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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Kohimarama, Auckland
    Posts
    400

    Default Ant problem anyone?

    We are in a rental house .. weatherboard, in Auckland, set into the hill so one storey at front, two at back, wooden floors upstairs (but with cracks between floorboards) and the downstairs is carpeted.

    When we moved in we noticed a few ants .. not a army load you know .. so we bought a spray from the supermarket and did the sills and skirtings. Then someone recommended a little bait trap - plastic box filled with an oozy liquid that they eat and then take back to their home therefore killing the nest. I put them in the 3 areas most affected. One of them was immediately overrun with ants and it freaked me out, it was in my daughter's bedroom and they were coming in from outside between the weatherboard through the bottom of a sliding door on the balcony .. so I put the bait trap on the balcony instead .. then they stopped visiting it - dead? Not sure. The other one in the house had a mountain of visitors for 5 days (it was only supposed to take 2/3) and then none. Dead? I thought so .. but now they are coming back. The last one I put in the garage - not a lot of activity.

    We now find them in the sink - just a few every morning, in the wardrobe - again just one or two everytime I go in there, in my iron! (of all places) - funnily enough they are NEVER in the kitchen. My daughter left a piece of orange peel in her bin overnight and they had party on that one. But the point at which I decided this has to stop is when I felt one crawling over me in bed.

    Now - I would like any help you can give .. advice from a terminator would be good. I am more than happy to pay to get someone in but I don't want to pay for someone to do what I have already done .. which has failed.

    Has anyone else had a similar problem - have we taken on a problem property? I'm starting to think the things live in the floors, ceilings, electrical points and plumbing system. I have seen more than one emerge from a plug point. HELP

    Dawn

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Eastern Auckland (from UK '05)
    Posts
    3,182

    Default

    We had them last summer, they freak me out too, can't stand them, even though they are pretty harmless.

    We tried the bait stuff, and also installed a robocan. We no longer get any indoors (touch wood), but still see some outside. They hate detergent, so I used to spray them with pine-o-cleen/kitchen cleaner spray when I ran out of fly spray.

    The only sure way to get rid of them is track down the nest... hubby was talking to folks at work, and they said once you find it, pour petrol on it, I will add a word of caution, DO NOT set fire to it.... (like hubby did!) the other fhing is just pour boiling water on it (much safer!)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    North Shore, Auckland
    Posts
    2,801

    Default

    Willowshouse

    I know how you feel, but it does seem to be a common problem with villas. We were having a problem with the kitchen, they were particularly interested in things in the dishwasher, so if you left a bit of jam on a plate in the dishwasher, with the door closed, an hour later everything in the dishwasher was covered in ants.

    We did the same as you did, but with no luck. So we got a company called Boracure in, we just chose them as someone else had used them and thought they were good, there are plenty of other companies out there. We had them spray for flies and ants and for a 3 bed villa it came in just under $300. You have to stay out of the way for about 4 hours - especially the kids.

    They sprayed outside, problem areas ie behind the dishwasher, and then set off a bomb in the roof space. This way all the insecticide floated down into the cavities of the walls and should deal with any nests in the walls. We haven't seen anything for the last week - even managed to leave the honey out with no problem. The flies fly in but don't fly out - you do have to clean them up from the windowsills, but at least they're not sitting on your food!

    One product that did work for a while is Robocan, put it up high somewhere - top of kitchen cupboard, top of wardrobe and just remember to replace the cannister when needed. This was adequate for the rest of the year.

    Various things he told us:

    1) You get sweet & savoury ants, which explains why some go for soap or crisps.

    2) If you're re-doing your kitchen get them in to spray then as they can do a really thorough job.

    3) Cover any fish - ours survived!

    4) Remove plants that grow touching the property.

    5) If you have trees near the house, chop them back to a metre away otherwise you can have problems with rats in the winter.

    6) They love dishwashers and often nest behind them as its warm, humid and they don't have to go far for food.

    They say it doesn't affect humans, but we all developed sniffles, coughs etc within a few hours of being home. It could be a coincidence though, we could have all just got a summer cold! I made sure I washed all the bedclothes straight afterwards-just in case.

    Hope this helps

    Cheers

    Tia

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    1,294

    Default

    I'll second what Tia said - I have my house sprayed by Boracure too.
    We had ants in the bath almost every morning, but thankfully they seem to have gone now. I guess we were lucky that they didn't really seem to be anywhere else.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    East Yorks via Invercargill
    Posts
    679

    Default

    Things might have change a bit since I lived in NZ, but if it's a rental can't the agent/owner take some action? (or at least chip into the costs?)

    Otherwise I wish you all the best with this annoying pest

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Wapping 2 Waiheke, now Sydney
    Posts
    306

    Default

    Virtually all insects hate detergent for a good reason.

    Insects don't drown when it is raining because the oils on the hairs on their bodies keep the water off and keep a protective bubble of air around the insect. Add some detergent to the party and the oils no longer work and they drown.

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