The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

Does anyone know of a way to remove a fairly large colony of tetramorium from a foundation without the use of poisons? My fiancee is pushing me to buy poison as they have invaded our living room however I would love to force them to move or outright capture them... being they are in the foundation forcing them out with water only caused them to stir up and move a few brood.

Okay,

So you've got a nest of ants in your foundations which as this point is considered to be a source of pests right?

If you could locate their main 'highway' exit, I would try to see if I could get a silicone tube up against that point, leading to a container of some sort, which has a fair amount of dirt for them to dig into... and in which you want to house them for the time being...
In this container offer food like diluted honey, a piece of Mars bar, some chopped up insects and a test tube with spring water and a cotton ball. That combination should hopefully make the container far more interesting as a nest location than the foundations of your home... Thus enticing the colony to move.

Now there's no guarantee that will work in 1 go, so you might want to utilize the strategy Mikey used when ( I think pheidole) ants invaded his room. So keep a number of traps ready and diminish their numbers in the original nest. (Releasing the captured ants into a container of your preference) This will probably be a 'rinse and repeat' exercise until you can convince the colony to send over their queen(s) but hey it still beats using poison.

Maybe not the perfect solution but itdoes give me an idea. I've got a number of unused dark colored totes and some aquarium hose... perhaps if i apply foundation sealer around the primary problem areas leave 2 openings... one to attach the aquarium hose and one to use water to saturate the nest to drive them out... that may work hopefully. Baiting them out will likely fail as i mentioned its a large colony that seems to be uncontested and has satellite nests that extend the entire length of one side of my foundation.

AntChuck wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:13 pm

Maybe not the perfect solution but itdoes give me an idea. I've got a number of unused dark colored totes and some aquarium hose... perhaps if i apply foundation sealer around the primary problem areas leave 2 openings... one to attach the aquarium hose and one to use water to saturate the nest to drive them out... that may work hopefully. Baiting them out will likely fail as i mentioned its a large colony that seems to be uncontested and has satellite nests that extend the entire length of one side of my foundation.

Well I would be hesitant to fill my foundation with water, but that is up to you. If you do want to use a liquid to force them out, you might want to think about vinegar instead? They pretty much dislike the smell of it as much as we do... That should allow you to use far less liquid too. Not sure how you will get rid of the smell afterwards though

AntChuck wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:13 pm

Maybe not the perfect solution but it does give me an idea. I've got a number of unused dark colored totes and some aquarium hose... perhaps if I apply foundation sealer around the primary problem areas leave 2 openings... one to attach the aquarium hose and one to use water to saturate the nest to drive them out... that may work hopefully. Baiting them out will likely fail as I mentioned its a large colony that seems to be uncontested and has satellite nests that extend the entire length of one side of my foundation.

If all else fails, you could always use that 'chalk' stuff which cuts their exoskeleton. Not sure what it is called, I think it is made of very fine pieces of shells? Loads of sharp edges anyway... Mind you this wouldn't actually get to the queen(s), it would only prevent them from sending out ants into your house... So they would have to go elsewhere to forage. Which if you're lucky makes their nest location a lot less interesting...

Hawkeye wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 15, 2019 3:45 am

AntChuck wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:13 pm

Maybe not the perfect solution but it does give me an idea. I've got a number of unused dark colored totes and some aquarium hose... perhaps if I apply foundation sealer around the primary problem areas leave 2 openings... one to attach the aquarium hose and one to use water to saturate the nest to drive them out... that may work hopefully. Baiting them out will likely fail as I mentioned its a large colony that seems to be uncontested and has satellite nests that extend the entire length of one side of my foundation.

If all else fails, you could always use that 'chalk' stuff which cuts their exoskeleton. Not sure what it is called, I think it is made of very fine pieces of shells? Loads of sharp edges anyway... Mind you this wouldn't actually get to the queen(s), it would only prevent them from sending out ants into your house... So they would have to go elsewhere to forage. Which if you're lucky makes their nest location a lot less interesting...

It's called diatomaceous earth. It will kill ants. Diatomaceous earth works by "cutting" their exoskeleton. They leak moisture, dry out and die.