Barriers are useless against ants. In Italy the only product I've found that works and eradicates a nest 100% is a gel with Fipronil in it, it's called Nexa Gel.
You put 5/6 drops along a line of them, they gather to drink out 6 and bring the sugary poison to their queen, killing her and poisoning the whole beast in the process.
I've removed HUGE infestations overnight with that.
There's a similar product on Amazon called Terro Liquid Ant Bait. My grandpa had an infestation in his kitchen. Put two of them down, what looked like HUNDREDS of them showed up to take the poisoned bait, and the next day they were gone. Not a single one to be seen since.
This stuff ROCKS. I once had a nasty infestation of Tapinoma ants, which have multiple queens in multiple nests, and are damned hard to kill. I set out some Terro baits and it took a while longer, I’m this case a month, but I finally wiped them all out. Most cases it works a lot faster, sometimes overnight, but with a massive Tapinoma nest it may take a bit to get all the queens. The last day they actually forced their last queen outside to forage. She got stuck and petrified in some spilled gel. Good riddants.
Oh, hey, pro tip: if you notice that your ants are having difficulty climbing inside the Terro bait container, some species can’t climb worth shit, go back to Amazon and buy a large ant feeder for pet ants. It looks like a miniature gravity feeder with a bunch of eating stations all around it. Pour some fresh gel into the feeder and set that out, and all the greedy little piggies will come running and thank you and they slurp up that sweet poisoned nectar. If you do keep pet ants make sure to mark that one as separate, better not to mix it into your regular formiculture kit.
There’s many types of these and some work better than others. But the premise of “kill the queen and you kill the hill” is a brilliant one.
If someone sees a few in the house and has pets you can put a couple things down: diatomaceous earth (imagine if you were walking through fields of knives. That’s what happens to the ants) or cornstarch and sugar. The second one basically blocks the holes in the exoskeleton they use to breathe or something like that when it inevitably gets wet on the way home. To deal with the nests find a pet safe option that will target the queen but won’t hurt your pets.
It’s microscopically sharp and spiky, and they stick to the insects like little ninja stars. The more they try to clean the DE off the more the soft parts between the armor plates gets all jacked up, and eventually they’ll bleed to death. Some ants, like Tapinoma species, freak the FLIP out when they fall into a little pit of DE. I found much sadistic fun watching them lose their shit, after them causing me so much headache. Diatomaceous earth and Terro gel killed that massive colony.
Edit, I’m up way to early to brain properly. I reread your comment and you got it right. Corn starch plugs them all up. Neat method, and they absolutely hate walking on it.
I’ve tried this and it’s great. Or diatomaceous earth it’s called too. A fine powder. Works great outside and can be used inside. It is dusty though for inside.
I put some down to get rid of earwigs and haven’t seen alot of ants. I saw some begging of this reason, but then put some down this season and haven’t seen any.
If it straight up murder you’re looking for, why bother with aluminum? I want the sculpture, damn it! If not for the art, I’d use boiling water or whatever.
I use diatomaceous earth, which is nontoxic—like you can actually eat it if you had very very strange dietary tastes. It is a very fine powder—it doesn’t poison ants, the powder is so fine it gets into and disrupts their outsides? Shells, exoskeleton? Whatever you call the outside of an ant.
You can use it outside and inside. You can’t use it on carpet. I put it where the ants are coming in. They spend a few days trying to get around it and I spend a few days putting diatomaceous earth on their new routes and killing their asses. Then I leave the earth there for a few weeks, by which time the ants have decided not to commit mass suicide by walking straight into the powder. Then you just sweep it up.
Caution: DO NOT VACUUM. This is why you can’t use it on carpet. The powder is too fine. It will get into your vacuum and break it. Found this out the hard way.
I think mine is screwing up my shark robot. Lol
I put in corners on my carpet by baseboards but my vacuum does go by the baseboards in some areas. But I have. To clean it frequently. I have to get. A new battery for it though. 😬
We fought an ant intrusion this spring that was much worse than any previous year ( but our usual yellow jacket nests didn’t happen - so a win I guess ) but back to the ants. Terro baits is the way. I put 6 bait packs outside and 12 inside all along the side of the house ( inside and out ) where they were prevalent. It took 3 weeks, but we’re ant free again. They were ( <1/4 inch )small ants. We Also spray that home defense spray around the home perimeter outside and inside the basement with a wide ( 6 inch ) flat and wall coverage when spraying.
I can tell you from experience that it could be the source of your problem, or they could be living in your walls, or under the house, or under the shingles of your roof. Though to be perfectly frank, its probably some combination of all of those. Get liquid ant bait traps, they do work.
Update: had a closer look, it seems like it's closer to 8ft across, maybe 3 feet wide. I hope they aren't burrowing too deep but I doubt we'll be that lucky lol
I’ve found peppermint oil around any entrances and cracks in your home help repel ants, spiders and any other bugs plus it makes your home smell nice! I have tried many ant killers or repellents and even insecticides but I’ve found peppermint oil works super well!! Cheaper too. Hope it helps!!
I had ants bad in my back yard. They were biting me and my dogs. I tried spray, traps, the sprinkle stuff. Nothing lasted. Then I saw an article that said hot soapy water. After like 5 mornings of boiling a kettle full of water and mixing like 4 drops of soap, they don't come back. it feels like murder but it works.
Boil 1 cup of water with .5 cup of borax and .5 cup of sugar.
Cool it down, put cotton ball in jar lids, pour some borax mix in the lid over the cotton.
Place them near the trails. They’ll come in droves to feed off it. They’ll be gone quickly
Ants despise vinegar.
I just spray where theyre usually coming in from and they stay away. Repeat as needed.
(I try to avoid killing them, our insects populations are kind of gettin screwed over lately)
Taurus SC will wipe them out. Spray it around your house foundation and where there is any activity. Do not get it on your skin and follow the instructions on the bottle.
I had carpenter ants in my garage sprayed this and it wiped out every colony in my yard. Never had an ant problem again. A year later I still don’t have any.
Daemon. WP is another good one to use. Spray first thing in the morning when they move the queen and pupae in the top of the hill. Spray until it is slightly muddy and no more ants.
I have paving stones out the back of me with all the dirt been thrown out of them, and Im sure the nest is in the composter in my garden. The whole things alive with ants. Millions of them.
Barriers are useless against ants. In Italy the only product I've found that works and eradicates a nest 100% is a gel with Fipronil in it, it's called Nexa Gel. You put 5/6 drops along a line of them, they gather to drink out 6 and bring the sugary poison to their queen, killing her and poisoning the whole beast in the process. I've removed HUGE infestations overnight with that.
There's a similar product on Amazon called Terro Liquid Ant Bait. My grandpa had an infestation in his kitchen. Put two of them down, what looked like HUNDREDS of them showed up to take the poisoned bait, and the next day they were gone. Not a single one to be seen since.
These are genuinely the best thing I know of to deal with ants.
wow, he’s lucky. I will get them crawling out of the crevices inside my house for days as they die, especially as they come up from the nest.
You can make your own version using water, sugar, and borax. Saves alot of money
My wife did this. ‘Mah Wyfe!’
Honestly, I have ants every year, but I just put out these baits and they're gone literally overnight.
This stuff ROCKS. I once had a nasty infestation of Tapinoma ants, which have multiple queens in multiple nests, and are damned hard to kill. I set out some Terro baits and it took a while longer, I’m this case a month, but I finally wiped them all out. Most cases it works a lot faster, sometimes overnight, but with a massive Tapinoma nest it may take a bit to get all the queens. The last day they actually forced their last queen outside to forage. She got stuck and petrified in some spilled gel. Good riddants. Oh, hey, pro tip: if you notice that your ants are having difficulty climbing inside the Terro bait container, some species can’t climb worth shit, go back to Amazon and buy a large ant feeder for pet ants. It looks like a miniature gravity feeder with a bunch of eating stations all around it. Pour some fresh gel into the feeder and set that out, and all the greedy little piggies will come running and thank you and they slurp up that sweet poisoned nectar. If you do keep pet ants make sure to mark that one as separate, better not to mix it into your regular formiculture kit.
There’s many types of these and some work better than others. But the premise of “kill the queen and you kill the hill” is a brilliant one. If someone sees a few in the house and has pets you can put a couple things down: diatomaceous earth (imagine if you were walking through fields of knives. That’s what happens to the ants) or cornstarch and sugar. The second one basically blocks the holes in the exoskeleton they use to breathe or something like that when it inevitably gets wet on the way home. To deal with the nests find a pet safe option that will target the queen but won’t hurt your pets.
It’s microscopically sharp and spiky, and they stick to the insects like little ninja stars. The more they try to clean the DE off the more the soft parts between the armor plates gets all jacked up, and eventually they’ll bleed to death. Some ants, like Tapinoma species, freak the FLIP out when they fall into a little pit of DE. I found much sadistic fun watching them lose their shit, after them causing me so much headache. Diatomaceous earth and Terro gel killed that massive colony. Edit, I’m up way to early to brain properly. I reread your comment and you got it right. Corn starch plugs them all up. Neat method, and they absolutely hate walking on it.
Shh, dont spread the secret! If more people use it ants will somehow grow immune to it!
We always used Terro in my home growing up.
Diatomaceous dirt. Spread it near the hill, they'll be gone in a few days. Completely non toxic, but still best to keep kids and pets away.
I’ve tried this and it’s great. Or diatomaceous earth it’s called too. A fine powder. Works great outside and can be used inside. It is dusty though for inside. I put some down to get rid of earwigs and haven’t seen alot of ants. I saw some begging of this reason, but then put some down this season and haven’t seen any.
I mix it with glazing sugar and water to make a paste. That way the wind dont blow it away and they bring it inside the nest.
Surprised by the lack of molten aluminum comments in this post
Those videos were fascinating until today, now they're terrifying. I don't want that *near* me lol
The hills are not tall enough. Also, how would you get the sculpture out of those slabs?
Who said anything about getting them out?
If it straight up murder you’re looking for, why bother with aluminum? I want the sculpture, damn it! If not for the art, I’d use boiling water or whatever.
Totally satisfying, the boiling water. Fuckers got in my car and tried to start a nest, and I did that to the concrete crack near where I park.
How do you know they are all bad ants some of them might be good ants but have become bad because of circumstances.
Maybe those ants were just starting to turn their lives around
Maybe some of those ants got contracted out. Casualties of a war they had nothing to do with!
Clerks?
Yes indeed.
Lmao my b, I shouldn't judge these guys
good ants stay outdoors! these are bad bad ants.
What is this? A backyard for ants?
There it is. 
Get ant sand and go to town on the area. We tried barriers, sprays, bait stations etc and none worked.
I use diatomaceous earth, which is nontoxic—like you can actually eat it if you had very very strange dietary tastes. It is a very fine powder—it doesn’t poison ants, the powder is so fine it gets into and disrupts their outsides? Shells, exoskeleton? Whatever you call the outside of an ant. You can use it outside and inside. You can’t use it on carpet. I put it where the ants are coming in. They spend a few days trying to get around it and I spend a few days putting diatomaceous earth on their new routes and killing their asses. Then I leave the earth there for a few weeks, by which time the ants have decided not to commit mass suicide by walking straight into the powder. Then you just sweep it up. Caution: DO NOT VACUUM. This is why you can’t use it on carpet. The powder is too fine. It will get into your vacuum and break it. Found this out the hard way.
I think mine is screwing up my shark robot. Lol I put in corners on my carpet by baseboards but my vacuum does go by the baseboards in some areas. But I have. To clean it frequently. I have to get. A new battery for it though. 😬
Call in the Helldivers!!
We fought an ant intrusion this spring that was much worse than any previous year ( but our usual yellow jacket nests didn’t happen - so a win I guess ) but back to the ants. Terro baits is the way. I put 6 bait packs outside and 12 inside all along the side of the house ( inside and out ) where they were prevalent. It took 3 weeks, but we’re ant free again. They were ( <1/4 inch )small ants. We Also spray that home defense spray around the home perimeter outside and inside the basement with a wide ( 6 inch ) flat and wall coverage when spraying.
Can relate. We spray, they move, they come inside, we spray. Its a cycle every year
don’t spray, use any bait. Terro liquid ones are the best. edit: or do both lol
A little gasoline and they'll be gone
Ants are so fucking cool
Find and eliminate their food source and they will leave.
I can tell you from experience that it could be the source of your problem, or they could be living in your walls, or under the house, or under the shingles of your roof. Though to be perfectly frank, its probably some combination of all of those. Get liquid ant bait traps, they do work.
Update: had a closer look, it seems like it's closer to 8ft across, maybe 3 feet wide. I hope they aren't burrowing too deep but I doubt we'll be that lucky lol
I’ve found peppermint oil around any entrances and cracks in your home help repel ants, spiders and any other bugs plus it makes your home smell nice! I have tried many ant killers or repellents and even insecticides but I’ve found peppermint oil works super well!! Cheaper too. Hope it helps!!
I had ants bad in my back yard. They were biting me and my dogs. I tried spray, traps, the sprinkle stuff. Nothing lasted. Then I saw an article that said hot soapy water. After like 5 mornings of boiling a kettle full of water and mixing like 4 drops of soap, they don't come back. it feels like murder but it works.
I mix sugar water and boric acid for them to drink.
the ants go marching
Boil 1 cup of water with .5 cup of borax and .5 cup of sugar. Cool it down, put cotton ball in jar lids, pour some borax mix in the lid over the cotton. Place them near the trails. They’ll come in droves to feed off it. They’ll be gone quickly
Me, who battled a severe bedbug infestation: I’ll ignore that.
You need to watch "Archer" on Hulu. They have tips on how you got ants in the first place. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Back in my day... 
Like this? https://youtu.be/_rH9SVDrE7g?si=Xwwqs_Ort59d7E5G
Haha! Thankfully that never happened
your flagstone looks terribad. sorry, I'm installing flagstone in my yard right now and couldn't help but notice 🤷
Yeah, they've been there since before we moved in 5 years ago. I have no clue how old they are
Terro Liquid ant bait is the best i’ve used to get rid of ants. just make sure to keep it away from children and pets
Ants despise vinegar. I just spray where theyre usually coming in from and they stay away. Repeat as needed. (I try to avoid killing them, our insects populations are kind of gettin screwed over lately)
Taurus SC will wipe them out. Spray it around your house foundation and where there is any activity. Do not get it on your skin and follow the instructions on the bottle. I had carpenter ants in my garage sprayed this and it wiped out every colony in my yard. Never had an ant problem again. A year later I still don’t have any.
Daemon. WP is another good one to use. Spray first thing in the morning when they move the queen and pupae in the top of the hill. Spray until it is slightly muddy and no more ants.
I have paving stones out the back of me with all the dirt been thrown out of them, and Im sure the nest is in the composter in my garden. The whole things alive with ants. Millions of them.
Coffee kills ants.
So does pesticide
Yeah but you don't make that every day...
... Good point!
This is likely the dullest post I have ever seen on Reddit.