There is a phrase that gets used a lot in the B.B. household.
“Ant Attack!!”
Oh, no. This is when you know there’s been an invasion of the colonized critters to our cozy abode. Hoards of them descend upon counter tops, floors, sinks, walls, furniture, SKIN (aaack!)… out of nowhere. They end up in places that don’t even make sense — the walls of the bathroom?! I’m sorry, there are no sweet treats to be found there. No ant feast of crumbs to be devoured and hauled back to feed your conniving queen, continuing to populate our bug-hating home.
Why, ants? Why must you plague us with your creepy selves and your incessant seeking of any trace of uncleanliness left behind? You make me feel like the worst homemaker ever. (You strike even when things appear spotless!)
Their ways are mysterious.
But one thing I do understand about the black little buggers is their love for sugar. We’ve tried conventional ant bait with only minimal success — and watched them march right on past the traps toward any remnants of sweet substance that may be left around the kitchen.
So I was not at all surprised to see the other day, a veritable swarm of them hovering around — and stuck inside — a glob of Karo syrup which had been leaked onto a table outside (from having made emergency baby sheep formula…we didn’t buy it for us!).
This gave me an idea.
Perhaps that nasty GMO corn syrup IS good for something, after all!
Natural pest control for ants
What if I mixed some of this tempting, terrible syrup, with something that would actually kill the darn things?
Hmm… I thought I remembered that boric acid was somewhat of a pest poison. We had some in the cabinet under the sink! The wheels started turning.
This…
plus this…
= ?
I just mixed in a small spoonful of boric acid with the karo syrup to make a somewhat thick paste, and spread it onto some lids and cut-up paper plates to put around the house.
Enjoy your delicious slice of death, you vile little vermin!
I looked it up, and sure enough my ant-killing concoction is already a recommended tactic among Hippie-minded pest controllers in Google-land. My invention had already been invented. Happens to me all the time.
But! This made me even more confident that this would do the trick, and kick those awful ants out of the house for good — for now, at least. Corn syrup and poison — what a winning combination!
Now THAT’S a “Sweet Surprise”
It’s been only a couple days now since setting out my traps, and they really do seem to be working quite well. There is a definite decrease in their pesky population.
So, bye-bye, ants. You do not impress me with your super strength, your lifting of leaves much larger than your little, dumb heads. Your complex social systems do not fascinate me — you have a queen? Big deal. Off with her head! Bring her some sweet, sugary death in the form of my Syrup Surprise.
Mmm. Sweet, sweet revenge.
Off they go, back to the hill with a belly full of boric acid! Bwah-ha-hah...
Have you ever tried out any natural pest control methods? How have they worked for you?
Ants give me the heebie jeebies. YUCK! We always make homemade Terro, but this is a great idea! Might as well use the corn syrup for something productive. Ha, ha! 🙂
where do you purchase the Boric acid? I have never seen it in a store.
Thanks=Carol
Thanks! I’ll be using this today! I have teeny, tiny ants that keep sneaking into the kitchen and raiding the dog food bowl. I tried to use just plain borax but I guess mixing it with karo will get them to actually eat it. Thanks!
I was having the same problem earlier this year – ants everywhere in my kitchen and ant traps weren’t working. I used a simple combo of honey and borax (the stuff you find in the laundry detergent aisle at any store), placed on some old jar lids and left around on my counter and within a few days all of the ants were gone! so simple and works like a charm.
I also was fighting tiny ants this summer that ignored the numerous Raid traps I set out. I sprayed down all my kitchen surfaces with vinegar water, and they haven’t been back. I don’t know if it could be that simple, but I have only seen one or two since doing the spray down.
I used good old 20 Muleteam Borax – found in the laundry aisle. It worked well
sprinkled along windows and doors, but I love the idea of using GMO corn syrup to lure the pesky ants in.
I use this same approach with ants–have used it in several states–and it works great! I usually use borax and honey, rather than the corn syrup, but I think anything sticky and sweet does the trick!
Borax=boric acid. It’s in the laundry isle, and much cheaper than the “boric acid” same stuff, different marketing!
Oooh… this is a great tip! My sister always has ants and she’ll love this! (Then, maybe she’ll stop spraying her house with poison…)
Thank you!
Nice! I’m glad I saw this, I’m always seeing those creeps wandering around. I think the whole world has ant colonies underneath…..
We were just invaded this weekend – but not be sweet seeking ants. On, no. They went for my kerrygold butter.
That is definitely crossing the line.
:-O !! for shame! Well, at least they have good taste. Haha. Have you seen that picture floating around Facebook with the butter and the margarine on a plate, and the ants all are eating the butter instead of the fake stuff? Pretty funny that even they won’t touch it.
I once made a friend’s wedding cake, and after having rolled the fondant with powdered sugar, I mustn’t have cleaned up the sugar residue very well. We got a ton of ants in checking it out. This was right when I started making homemade cleaners, and I decided to spray with water/vinegar and they NEVER came back. It’s been a good 3.5 years, and we haven’t had ants in the house since. I think it works good to deter most insects. Though we can’t smell it after it dries, bugs hate the smell of vinegar. 🙂 No bait, no dead ants, easy as pie.