You can safely protect your house from ant’s infestation by learning about different kinds of ants around you and the conditions they thrive. You really need to limit the food and environments they prefer. Also, keep an eye on signs that could attract them.
Ants can cause a lot of damage to your house; they could cause a big nuisance. It is unhygienic for your house to be infested with ants. Some bites humans such as harvester and fire ants which can be fatal. while carpenter ants can cause untold damage to your building materials. Ants carry bacteria which can be transmitted to foods or open wounds.
1. Chalk
Chalk is one of the viable home remedies. They contain calcium carbonate that aids in preventing ants from entering your home. As a preventive measure, spray some powdered chalk around the entry points of your house or you can draw a line of chalk at the entry point. It is not exactly clear why these lines prevent ants from infesting your house, but further research has proven that it is really effective.
2. Lemons
Put some lemon peels or squeeze a lemon at the entrance to your house. You can also mix lemon juice with water, and then use it to wash your floors periodically. Apparently, ants detest the smell of lemon, so they will keep off from entering your house. Keep in mind that ants like sugary things, while they avoid anything bitter or sour. Keep your kitchen clean and place a lemon peels right there.
3.Identify Your Ants
This is one of the proven preventive measures. For example, there are about ten species of ants common in Southern California. And they find their ways indoors very easily. Some of the common ants include:
• Argentine ants – these tiny ants are harmless and they don’t bite. However, they carry diseases and they are rampant around the kitchen and several locations around the house. They try to dominate wherever they enter.
• Carpenter ants – highly effective in destroying woods. However, they don’t eat them; instead they build their nests inside. Carpenter ants are dreaded. They can do significant damage to any wooden structure in your house within the shortest possible time. They are easy to spot and are bigger in size than argentine ants.
• Odorous house ants- they usually make their entry to your house when it rains, and they transport aphids. These types of ants are highly resistant to injury, cold and heat.
4. Keep Things Clean
Sanitation of your house is one of the safest ways to prevent ants from entering your house. Ants, like all living creatures will definitely need water, food and shelter to survive. So, you don’t have to make things easy for them. Keep all the surfaces in your house clean, keep your floors sparkling, and foods sealed. While you target the nest, make sure everything in the house is super clean.
5. Seal All the Windows and Exteriors Properly
While it is not possible to shuts ants completely, but you can greatly prevent it if you can keep your house airtight. Some of the relevant measures you can take in this regard include replacing old windows, re-caulking trim, and replacing the weather stripping in your doors. All these activities will also reduce your cooling and heating costs.
6. Limits Aphids by Landscaping Your House Properly
Ants and aphids help each other to grow; they work together. Ants enable aphids to grow their colonies. Aphids thrive in gardens, where they feed on a variety of domesticated plants that serves as sources of food for them.
Aphids damage every plant they inhabit, transmit to other plants, and facilitate the growth of ant colonies. So, there are wonderful reasons why aphids shouldn’t be in your garden.
You can prevent ants and aphids from infesting your house by planting aphid-resistant plants in your garden and also checking your plants for aphids consistently.