We’ve all experienced the dreaded curse of ants in the kitchen. There is nothing worse than opening your pantry cabinet only to find it
crawling with ants. It is true that ants love our food, but it also seems that they have a strong preference for some types of food over others. Sweet foods are high on the favorite food list for this pesky crawler.
Sugar is one of an ant’s favorite foods, but do they prefer a certain type of sugar? One thing that is interesting to note about adult ants is that they are more often attracted to sugary solutions rather than sugar itself; adult worker ants often have difficulty swallowing something that is not in liquid form. It is more common to see ants attracted to sugary foods rather than a plain bag of sugar. Sticky, sugary items like popsicles and sugar water are more likely to attract ants than plain table sugar, but that doesn’t mean that ants won’t go straight for any sweet item they can get their hands on. To keep ants away from your sugar, it is best to store all open packages in airtight containers.
Now that you know that ants prefer sugar, you may be able to use that information to your advantage. If your ant infestation is relatively mild, you may want to consider using a sugar bait to trap the ants. Mix a sweetened jelly with boric acid to attract and kill the ants in your home. The jelly attracts the ants and they carry the poisonous boric acid back to their nest. This method will kill off many of your ants, but it probably won’t work at completely eradicating the ants if you have a large pest problem. If you are seeing a lot of ants in your kitchen they have likely built a large nest nearby. They won’t disappear until the nest and its queen is completely wiped out.
Professional Ant Control
If you have a serious ant issue in your home, you will have the best luck at getting rid of the infestation by calling a pest control company like us, Western Exterminator. A professional company can get rid of pests such as ants and help you secure your kitchen so no more food finds itself in the trash.
When I’ve had ants come into the house, I follow the trail back to source and from then on mix a little sugar water and leave near nest for them every few days. This keeps them out of my house, helps them survive as it is their world as much as ours and costs very little for a summer of assisting the colony..
I like this idea,I’ve set out a saucer of sugar water with some leaves,sticks and stones so they won’t drown. It’s only been a day but hardly any ants inside now and we had heaps. They seem to be a bit drunk on it though,sort of in a stupor ,staggering around. They have an important role in nature,just maybe not in my house lol.