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How To Get Rid Of Sugar Ants: A Complete Guide

How to kill sugar ants… REALLY kill them.

Last UpdatedByAndrew Helling

Wondering how to get rid of sugar ants? If so, you came to the right place. Our complete guide covers DIY methods to try and when to call a pro. Read on to learn all you need to know.

Disclaimer:;REthority is supported by ads and participation in affiliate programs. We may earn a commission when you click our links.;The information included in this post is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal or financial advice.

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When you see ants hanging around the outside or inside of your home, its time to take action right away. If you dont know how to get rid of sugar ants fast, youll see their numbers multiply quickly.

That makes it even harder to target the infestation.;If you notice that the ants are attracted to things like syrup, sugar, or hummingbird feeders, youre dealing with sugar ants.

How To Get Rid Of Sugar Ants: Tips & Exterminator Quotes

We put together a detailed guide on how to get rid of sugar ants. We included DIY methods as well as 4 free exterminator quotes.

When sugar ants attack your kitchen, you know you are in trouble. These small pesky insects can be a nightmare in your home, not to mention annoying and a nuisance. Once sugar ants invade your home, getting rid of them is never a simple task. Even after you have cleaned every corner of your kitchen, somehow you will miss a few particles of sugar, or maple syrup or a few scraps of food. A few minutes later, you will find hundreds of these tiny pesky insects lined up in your kitchen floor crowding and carrying the small particles of whatever is on the floor on a back and forth match to their nests.

Well, the word sugar here might be misleading a bit. The real sugar ants commonly known as banded sugar ants is a species of ant found in Australia, and its particularly known to be attracted to sugar. Most likely, the ants you see in your kitchen are pharaoh ants or pavement ants. But since most people know them as sugar ants, we will refer to both of these ants as sugar ants for simplicity purposes. Besides, the ants species have the same characteristics and require same removal methods.

Does Baking Soda Kill Ants

Yes, baking soda does kill ants, and it is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of getting rid of them once and for all. It is a good, safe alternative to chemical based, commercial ant killers.

But, leaving a trail of baking soda on its own is unlikely to be effective. Simply because ants arent attracted to it. Its almost as if they know what youre up to, and theyll run right around it, leaving you more frustrated.

With this in mind, you need to trick them. Just mix it with something that ants love, and just like most of us humans, they love sugar.

It has to be powdered sugar, though, or confectioners sugar, because it has a similar consistency to baking soda.

Ants are known to be clever little critters, and theyll sift through your mix and only eat the sugar if its a different size.

Thankfully, powdered sugar is another home staple that you will most likely have to hand already. So mix sugar and baking soda to make an effective bait.

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Check Out The Most Effective Ant Bait

Ants get easily attracted by the food and you must have seen that they also take the food back for their ants colony. Those ants that bring back the food in the rest colony are known as scout ants. To get rid of these ants, you need to prepare a pre-bait in the areas of your house where you have seen the the most amount of ant activity. You just simply prepare a small plate of sugar based food. You can take honey, syrup and jam, which are very tempting for ants. You have to notice which flavor attracts the ants. You dont have to leave this pre-bait out for long to see which types of food are the ants prefer.

As ants food preference can changes depending upon the time of the year. So its a good idea to do pre bait. As pre-bait will surely help you to know the ants preferable food. If you will get a success in getting ants favorable food then you will get rid of sugar ants easily. You just have to buy the poison ants bait targeted to particular taste. As the ants bait poison comes in two different forms that are solid and liquid. Go for the liquid form which is best and easily absorb in the sweet food.

Take Help From Professional

How to Get Rid of Sugar Ants: Try These Natural Remedies ...

You can call a professional if you face problem in dealing with ant problem. In that case, you might need to call an exterminator and have them do an assessment if your method is not working properly.

A professional exterminator would be able to check the entryways and maybe identify the other nests.

Few Tips to Follow Regularly:

  • Cover the leftover food that you are placing in your refrigerator.
  • Always keep your sink and kitchen area clean and dry.
  • Keep your trash cans or garbage bins fully covered and try to place it little far from your house.
  • If any sugary liquid spills on the floor, dont leave it unattended. Try to clean it immediately

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How To Get Rid Of Sugar Ants With Borax

Borax is a universal cleaner that you most likely already have in your home. The reason;borax works as an ant killer;is that when ants ingest it, the borax will disrupt their digestive system to the point of killing them. The problem with this method is that the ants know it will kill them, which means they wont eat it by itself. The borax has to be mixed with other substances as a way to mask it from the ants senses.

Mixing borax with one of these substances can make it an effective ant bait:

  • Sugar water.
  • Honey.
  • Peanut butter.

You may need to experiment with varying recipes until you find one that works. Though many retail ant baits use boric acid as an ingredient, they can be more expensive than making your bait. The other issue with boric acid is that just one teaspoon can be fatal to a child, thus making it dangerous if left accessible to children or pets.;

How To Get Rid Of Sugar Ants Like A Pro

When summer beginsor dry season for most South East Asian countries, there is an army of tiny creatures that set up to attack and invade your house to hunt for their consumption, i.e., water and food. No worries, this is not a talk about a troop of aliens from the outer space, however.

Theyre not as dangerous as you may have thought of as well. They are just sugar ants. All you need to know now is how to get rid of them from your house, like a pro.

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Keep Your Kitchen Sink Clean

If you have dishes in the sink that have to wait until morning to clean, make sure they are thoroughly rinsed and dont have any food particles remaining.

After washing the dishes, make sure you wash out the sink and run the garbage disposal to get rid of any leftover food particles. Once a week, run white vinegar down the garbage disposal to keep it clean.

Sugar And Honey Ant Bait

Pest Control Tips : Best Way to Kill Sugar Ants

Borax and sugar ant bait will get rid of ants in car by trapping them. These contain elements with a low toxicity level and thus will not affect human beings and pets.

The most common ingredient in these is boric acid or borax. This tends to work really well as most sugar ants are prone to its poisoning. This product is;toxic to;ants and;when the ants take it, they will be wiped out. ;

Since only ;the worker ants tend to forage for food, they are in a position to take the bait back to the nest where the rest of the colony is;hiding. With time, the whole and colony in your car will be eliminated.

To get rid of sugar ants in your car, use the following steps:

  • Put 2 tablespoons of sugar in a container
  • Add 1/2 tablespoon of honey
  • Then add 4 tablespoons of borax powder and mix them
  • Place the mixture in the car and leave it overnight for the ants to eat
  • This will wipe them out completely
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    How Long It Typically Takes For Baking Soda To Kill Ants

    So heres the thing about baking soda, its not a contact killer. Some say that applying baking soda to ants directly has similar results to diatomaceous earth. However, most agree that the best way to utilize this basic compound is to use it as bait.

    That means to get the best results, ants have to eat it first.

    After consuming the baking soda, death for individual ants can occur anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours. Either way, its not instantaneous.

    That might sound like a negative, but its one of the best things about using baking soda for ants. Scout ants can mistake the substance for food and consume some of it to check that its safe.

    Because it doesnt kill them quickly, the scout will think its all safe for the colony. In turn, they call worker ants to haul the soda back to the nest.

    Quick Tip: With baking soda as your main weapon, it will take a few days for infestations to die off if it gets shared with the colony. Smaller nests may take between two to four days to spread the baking soda around. Meanwhile, larger ones can take upwards of a week.

    Baking soda takes time to work, but using it to kill ants is actually one of the more consistent extermination methods around.

    Home Remedies For Sugar Ants

    If you are against the use of chemicals and poisonous substances, you would like to know how to get rid of sugar ants naturally. We can advice you some home remedies to gain your goal. In this case getting rid of sugar ants will be long but safe. This is especially acceptable when there are pets, children or allergy sufferers in your house. Some of these methods lead to positive results.

    Any home remedies can ward off these insects for a while. But you should take into account that you see only worker ants on the surface. The main individuals, which produce offspring, are in secluded places and continue to live and reproduce. Therefore, you will not solve the problem if you repel some of the sugar ants.

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    Cinnamon Leaf Essential Oil

    Compounds in cinnamon leaf essential oil, including trans-cinnamaldehyde, have been found effective at killing and repelling ants, including biting red ants.

    Anecdotal evidence indicates powdered cinnamon is also effective at repelling ants. Try saturating cotton balls with the oil and leaving them where youve seen ants, or sprinkling the powder around on windowsills and baseboards.

    Health food stores often carry cinnamon leaf essential oil. You can also find it online.

    S To Eliminating Sugar Ants Both Inside And Out

    17 Natural Ways to Getting Rid of Sugar Ants (In House And ...

    Do you want to kill the sugar ants roaming around your home, or do you want to kill all the ants everywhere around your entire property?

    To get rid of those ants for good and stop them from coming back, there are steps you can take:

  • Locate the trail: Figure out where the sugar ants are coming in. Follow the trail as far back as you can and try and notice the entry point into your home. You can also go outside and look for their colony small mounds with a hole in the center.
  • : Do you want to go organic? Are you interested in killing the ants right then and there or do you want to bait them? Go over your options and then decide which killing method would work the best for you.
  • Kill: Be diligent and keep up with the method you use. If youre going with ant bait, make sure its replenished regularly. Check the baits and ant trails and notice if the number of ants is diminishing.
  • Repel: For further home protection against sugar ants, spray ant repellent around your property and home. Herbs, plants, oils, and products meant for keeping future ants away do their job well and are readily available.
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    How To Get Rid Of Sugar Ants In House With Maintenance

    Another answer to your question of how to get rid of sugar ants in the house is with some important maintenance. Older homes seem to attract pests more than others and this is often due to cracks.

    Follow these steps to success:

    • Seal your foundation
    • Seal any cracks around the windows or doors
    • Replace decaying shingles or wood frames
    • Replace the old and damaged roof
    • Spray your foundation with a pesticide
    • Seal any pipes or cracks around the pipes

    Read more:5 Things You Can Use to Kill Roaches Naturally

    Where Are They Coming From

    Ants can come from both inside and outside your home. To get in your home, they seek out cracks, crevices, vents, and any other sort of entry point they can find in search of food and water.

    Certain ants will also set up shop inside your home if given the opportunity. They can build nests in undisturbed spaces by burrowing out soft wood or nesting among unused items.

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    Fun Facts About The Sugar Ant

    • Actual sugar ant species only reside in Australia.
    • Sugar ants are capable of biting but it doesnt hurt like a fire ant bite.
    • They are nocturnal so oftentimes you wont even see them.
    • Sugar ants arent normally around during winter months.
    • This name is commonly used to refer to many species of ants including pharaoh ants, acrobat ants and odorous house ants.
    • They like to collect sugary plant secretions, nectar and honeydew sap from other insects.
    • They will be found in forests, woodlands and suburban areas.
    • Ants prefer to be in warm and humid climates.
    • They will often be most active during summer.
    • Sugar ants are just 2 15mm in length.
    • Winged male sugar ants will be black all over while the female workers have the orange-colored bodies.
    • Ant colonies can have several rooms and tunnels.
    • When the queen ant dies, the entire colony usually dies.
    • Ants live longer than any other insect.

    Control Sugar Ant Invasions With Bay Leaves

    Pest Control : How Do You Get Rid of Sugar Ants?

    Similar to whole cloves, bay leaves can be used to keep sugar ants from entering your home. Placing bay leaves under windows, in cracks, and under counters can help control a sugar ant infestation.

    You can also wrap fresh bay leaves in some cheesecloth and place it in your kitchen drawers and cupboards.

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    Q Are Sugar Ants Attracted To Water

    A: Like any animal, ants need water to survive. In particularly dry areas of the country, leaky pipes, sinks full of dishes, bathrooms, and even condensation will draw ants. With that in mind, fix any plumbing leaks, wrap pipes;which have;condensation, thoroughly rinse dirty dishes and drain the sink of any standing water. A sink-based garbage disposal may be a big draw for sugar ants as well. To destroy their pheromones, pour a little bleach into the garbage disposal every few days and activate it. That should be enough to destroy any attractants.

    What Kills Sugar Ants

    There are a number of home remedies and over-the-counter products that promise to kill sugar ants. However, many of these products are not safe to handle. One of the best solutions for handling a pest problem is to call a pest management professional who can help you assess which problem areas of your home need to be addressed.

    Discovering a sugar ant infestation doesnt have to mean the end of pancake breakfasts. Just remember to clean up the leftover syrup, investigate any non-food related ant problems and reach out to a professional for help when you need it.

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    How To Make An Ant Car Bait

    In this method of usage, there are three main steps in setting up the trap. These include mixing up the ingredients, creating and filling the traps as well as trap placement. Done as it should, this should help you get rid of the ants.

    What you need:

    • Water

    What to do:

  • Measure borax and the sugar in a ratio of 1 part borax for every three parts of sugar and add them to a mixing bowl.
  • Determine the amount you need depending on the severity of infestation but ensure that the ratio is maintained.
  • Using a whisk or fork, stir up the mixture until ingredients are evenly distributed. In case there are any large clumps, crush or get rid of them so that the end product is a fine powder.
  • To the mixture, add water and stir. This should be done in bits until a thick paste is formed. Warm water helps in dissolving the mixture better than cold water does.
  • Add syrup in an equal amount as the borax into the mixing bowl and continue to mix.
  • A perfect borax sugar ants killer mixture should have a consistent color. Stir up the ingredients until this achieved.
  • Place this into the trap;which could be a plastic container or a box that has perforations.
  • Place this in your car especially where you always see the ants crawl
  • Leave it overnight and repeat the process until the entire colony of sugar ants is wiped out of the car.
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