Ant friendly way to move a colony out of my house

[icebird83]

Hello from southern France

I couldn't find a forum topic dealing with this issue.

My bedroom and bathroom are invaded by ants and I want to get rid of them. As I respect life in general I don't want to kill an entire colony. I searched youtube for a method but all I could find was "kill,kill,kill"

I'm looking for an ant friendly way to redirect the colony out of my house into the real outworld. I can't reach the entrance of the ant highway because I would have to tear a wall down and basically deconstruct my bathroom. That's where they are coming from.

thank you for helping

[harvesterant]

One recommended method is to pour lemon juice mixed with water into the nest enterances (if you can find them) to make the ants move out. This should not harm them, but make them try to find a new home.

This is a recommended method, but it did not work for me (I have the same problem). Maybe it will work for your colony though.

Hopefully the ants will move out of your house. Good luck.

Does anyone know any other solutions to the problem?

[icebird83]

Thank you for the answer.

I have seen that method on youtube and it looked like that would help. However before I saw the video I sprayed a mix of vinegar and lemon on their pathway and sometimes even on the ants, but the effect was only temporary. They would just hide and when all was evaporated they came back as if nothing had happened. My fear is that they are now nesting in the walls too as an extension to the outside world. That is strange because there is absolutely nothing to eat around where they are.

I don't know much about ants, therefore I'm going to lure them with honey out of the house and observe if that works and hope they understand that outside is where they belong.

I'll take some photos for ID.

[harvesterant]

The ants will probably eat the honey if they find it and may decide to move out as a consequence of food outside. This may be risky because colonies thrive when there is more food. I hope the method works.

[icebird83]

So. The honey worked to some extent.
The group under the left doorframe accepted the gift to some extent. It wasn't like it was waiting for it. Only a few ants gathered around it and then left.
The group under the right doorframe ignored the honey completely or backed off after sensing it.
The ants don't like light either. The group most exposed to the light remains in their nest while the less exposed group continues its activities.
So far I didn't see any wood deposits which is rather a good sign. There are more like concrete deposits which make me think they nest under floor tiles.

In my next post I will send a photo and hope someone can identify them to tell what their food habits are.

[harvesterant]

Ants are photophobic (scared of light) but only when nesting. Uncovering their nest will make them leave, however judging by your description, that is not possible.

A good way to keep ants from going to certain areas is to use cinnamon or peppermint. Ants dislike the smells and it will interfere with their pheromones (communication).

It is worth sending a picture of one of the ants because there are numerous on the AntsCanada forum can identify the species. Identifying is not easy, and therefore try to send several pictures from different angles. Please try to make sure that the photos have a good resolution, if possible, to make it easier to identify the ants.

[icebird83]

Here are the photos. Hope they are good enough. I took them with my smartphone.
thank you for helping. After all it seems some ants like honey but I don't think it's their favorite.

[harvesterant]

Sorry, I don't think that the photos sent.

[icebird83]

Ok, Hope this time the photo will be sent. Let me know if it is good enough.

thank you

[harvesterant]

Sorry, but I do not think that the photos sent this time either.
Most people on this forum use other websites such as imgur to end photographs due to arising complications when sending photos.