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Apr 21, 2018

Best products for dealing with ants?

Fellow City-Costers - I need your help! Living out in the countryside has its perks but spring has seen a bunch of ants wanting to take up residence in our house! What are your favorite products to keep the ants at bay? The less strong (but still efficient!) the products are, the better, since I've got 2 little ones and a pup to consider. Thank you!

genkidesu

genkidesu

Love to travel, interested in J-beauty products and consider myself a convenience store snack aficionado. Navigating the ever-present challenges of expat life, particularly about my TCK's (third culture kids).

5 Answers



Best Answer

  • helloalissa

    on Apr 22

    We use boric acid, as it's only toxic to insects and spiders, although it takes a little time to kill them after they come into contact with it. It's inexpensive and we've had a small box for a while and sometimes put some of the white powder around the sliding doors where ants like to come in. (Housan ホウ酸 is how you say boric acid in Japanese.)

    0
  • edthethe

    on Apr 22

    Same thing as hello alissa I bought mine on Amazonhttps://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/aw/d/B002VTK08K/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1524406862&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=%E3%83%9B%E3%82%A6%E9%85%B8 It works well with carpet beetles too

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  • genkidesu

    on Apr 24

    Thank you to both of you! Love that it's only toxic to the bugs and also love that it's cheap and on Amazon! Gonna order some and give it a whirl :)

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  • helloalissa

    on May 5

    I should let you know, the powder boric acid on its own wasn't too effective. We had more than a few scouts come into the apartment over the last week, so I researched a bit on how to deal with them. Using the boric acid, I made a "bait" of about 60% sugar and 40% boric acid, plus a tiny bit of water to make a syrup. I put a little in some plastic caps that were in the recycle, then put them onto the balcony, where the ants were coming from. They came and ate the bait, then took it back to the nest to feed everyone, and their visits quickly came to a halt. My husband said they probably communicated to each other that our place was dangerous and found another place to look for crumbs.

    1
  • genkidesu

    on May 6

    @helloalissa we actually have had a reasonable amount of luck with it so far....they were all getting in from this sunroom area connected to our house, which is full of gaps...so we sprinkled it along the edging and they have stayed away for the most part! If we get an influx of them again I'll give the bait idea a try! I'm just super glad that most of them have left us alone!

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