It’s that time of year again, Spring is upon us, we are finally able to utilise our gardens, but as soon as the sun comes out, so do the ants.
In the UK we have several species that are native to us with the black or garden ant being the most common. Generally outdoors their nests don’t cause any damage and it’s only when we find them in our kitchens it starts to be a nuisance. Trying to eradicate ants is very difficult because when ant powder is put down, only the worker ants get killed and are soon replaced with more workers.
What can you do about ants?
To combat the ants you need to put down an insecticide in a food source. The insecticide then gets carried back to the colony to feed the queen, who can live up to five years, producing thousands of eggs. By using this pest control method you are targeting the source of the pest ants.
How do professional pest controllers deal with ants?
Isca Pest Control, just like the home owner, leave ants in our gardens alone, as they are not an issue, and we are happy to let them go about their work. In the home it is a different story so we use an insecticide bait that the foraging ants take back to the nest, so it can be feed throughout the colony.
Even then professional pest controllers are not always successful, as treating ants can often take two or three attempts to finally get on top of the situation. This should be taken into consideration by customers when using a professional pest controller, as treating ants takes time, and can be costly due to the special formula of the chemicals used.
These expensive chemicals act on the nervous system of the ants, but thankfully not on vertebrates, so if pets accidentally come across the chemical it does not harm them – a very important factor to think about if you have a pet dog who eats anything (like most dogs!).
So the next time you are in your garden or yard and you see ants, do please take the time out to stop for five minutes & watch how ants work and communicate with one another. They are very interesting and their work ethos and communication networks is truly amazing.