Well, the ants are back. In the house, that is. Jodi discovered them sneaking in through a crack in the foundation, using a gap in the bathroom baseboard as an entrance. I sealed the crack as best I could, but it was clear that we needed to draw them elsewhere. We decided it was time to make another great batch of “ant candy”: 2 cups of water, 6 tablespoons of suger, and 1 tablespoon of boric acid. The sugar draws them, the boric acid gives them a delightful tummy ache. Individually, the ants survive the experience (mostly) – but collectively fed to the offspring-producing queen, the nest begins to suffer. It’s evolution in action – well, at least, the natural selection part of it.
I got fancy this time. In the past, I’ve poured the syrup into jars. But ants tended to drown in it while feeding, which seemed inefficient. The last time I made it, I stuffed toilet paper into the jars to soak up the syrup. This largely worked, but made a soggy mess that grew mold quickly. This time, I’m trying a hybrid solution: diced kitchen sponge, loosely packed into the jar to leave gaps. The sponges are then doused in the syrup, soaking it up to make a nice feeding surface. We’ll see how it goes.
I found lots more useful ant-fighting tips on the web:
* http://www.homeandgardensite.com/combating_pests.htm
* http://eartheasy.com/live_natpest_control.htm
